Jeremiah 52:21

Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the physical specifications of Solomon’s temple furnishings during the account of Jerusalem’s fall and the temple’s dismantling. The description addresses the historical reality of the bronze pillars as they stood before being cut down and removed by the Babylonian army.

The words — The text specifies קוֹמַת (qomat), meaning “the height of,” and חוּט (chut), translated literally as “a line of” or circumference. These terms anchor the measurement of the pillar’s vertical dimension and its circular girth.

The thread — Parallel descriptions of these pillars appear in 1 Kings 7:15, 2 Kings 25:17, and 2 Chronicles 3:15. While the Kings accounts match the eighteen-cubit height, the Chronicles passage records a combined height of thirty-five cubits for both pillars rather than repeating the single pillar measurement.

Why it lands — The verse demands precise attention to the architectural scale of the temple’s supporting structures. It requires the reader to recognize the deliberate documentation of sacred space before its destruction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְהָעַמּוּדִ֗יםve./ha./'a.mu.Dimand/ the/ pillars שְׁמֹנֶ֨הshe.mo.Neh[was] eight-עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה'es.Rehteen אַמָּה֙'a.Mahcubit[s]קוֹמַת֙ko.mah[the] height of הָעַמֻּ֣דha./'a.Mudthe/ pillar הָאֶחָ֔דha./'e.Chad<the>/ one וְח֛וּטve./Chutand/ a line of שְׁתֵּים־she.teim-two [plus]עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה'es.Rehten אַמָּ֖ה'a.Mahcubit[s]יְסֻבֶּ֑נּוּye.su.Be./nuit goes round/ it וְעָבְי֛וֹve./'a.ve.Y/oand/ thickness/ its אַרְבַּ֥ע'ar.Ba'[was] four אַצְבָּע֖וֹת'atz.ba.'otfingers נָבֽוּב׃na.Vuvhollow

King James Version

And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

Cross-references

2 Kings 25:17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar.
1 Kings 7:15 He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.
2 Chronicles 3:15 In front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits high, each with a capital on top measuring five cubits.