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1 Kings 7:20

in 1 Kings 7

On the capitals of both pillars, just above the rounded projection next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows encircling each capital.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And there were capitals above also upon the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other capital.

KJV

And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.

This verse in 1 Kings 7

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network,.... The supplement is needless, according to Dr. Lightfoot; the sense being only, that the chapiters were above the lily work, which wrought out as far as the belly of the chapiters, or the middle cubit of them, which the pomegranates filled up: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other chapiter: there were so many in each, which in all made four hundred, as in 1Ki 7:

This site's exposition

two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high

on 1 Kings 7:15-22

The pillar to the south is Jachin, meaning he will establish, and the pillar to the north is Boaz, meaning in him is strength. Boaz is also the name of Ruth’s redeemer in David’s line. The book of 2 Kings 25:13-17 records these pillars broken and carried to Babylon.

This site's exposition

the two hundred pomegranates

Albert Barnes holds that words fell out of this verse by repetition, and he restores two hundred pomegranates on each capital. John Wesley reads the same count. John Gill takes the pomegranates as filling the middle cubit of each capital.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.15 · Written before 735.

proposed

We have said that the pomegranates were a type of either the whole church or of each individual believer, but the number one hundred that was originally applied to the right hand was sometimes apt to be used as a figure of eternal beatitude. There …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

And it must needs be granted, that there were as many on the other side of the pillar, or in the other row, which makes them two hundred upon a pillar, as is here said, and four hundred upon both pillars, as they are numbered, 2 Chron. iv, 13.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

In this verse also a portion of the original text is supposed to have fallen out in consequence of the repetition of words. The full phrase of the original has been retained in 1Ki 7:16-17. It may be restored thus: “And the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the one chapiter, and two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.” The “four hundred” 1Ki 7:42; 2Ch 4:13, are obtained by counting the pomegranates of both pillars together.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

two pillars of brass of eighteen cubits high--They were made of the brass (bronze) which was taken from the king of Zobah (1Ch 18:8). In 2Ch 3:15 they are said to have been thirty-five cubits high. There, however, their joint lengths are given; whereas here the length of the pillars is given separately.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְכֹתָרֹ֗תand [the] capitals

    vekhotarotH3805 →24 times

  • עַל־[were] on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • שְׁנֵי֙[the] two

    sheneiH8147 →768 times

  • הָֽעַמּוּדִ֔יםthe pillars

    haamudimH5982 →111 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • מִמַּ֙עַל֙from above

    mimaalH4605 →140 times

  • מִלְּעֻמַּ֣תfrom to near

    mileumatH5980 →

  • הַבֶּ֔טֶןthe bulge

    habetenH990 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לְעֵ֣בֶר[was] to [the] side of

    leeverH5676 →90 times

  • הַשְּׂבָכָ֑הthe network

    hasevakhahH7639 →16 times

  • וְהָרִמּוֹנִ֤יםand the pomegranates

    veharimonimH7416 →32 times

  • מָאתַ֙יִם֙two hundred

    matayimH3967 →581 times

  • טֻרִ֣יםrows

    turimH2905 →26 times

  • סָבִ֔יב[were] all around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • עַ֖לon

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • הַכֹּתֶ֥רֶתthe capital

    hakoteretH3805 →24 times

  • הַשֵּׁנִֽית׃<the> second

    hashenitH8145 →156 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

7 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 4:13

    the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars);

    it leads to

    • Exodus 28:33–34

      Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them,

    • 1 Kings 7:42

      the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars);

    • Song of Solomon 4:13

      Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

    • Jeremiah 52:23

      Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network.

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 7:15–22

      He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.

    • Jeremiah 52:21–23

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

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 3:16

    He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 6:21

      So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, Sir Edward John Poynter, 1890. Public domain.
The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, Sir Edward John Poynter, 1890. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.15; F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Kings.