1 Kings 7:15
in 1 Kings 7He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits compassed either of them about.
KJV
For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
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This verse in 1 Kings 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits
on 1 Kings 7:15-22
The two freestanding pillars are dressed like a garden, chain work, two hundred pomegranates in rows, lily work at the crown, Eden's vocabulary cast in brass at the temple door. They are named at 7:21, Jachin, he shall establish, and Boaz, in him is strength, a sentence a worshipper read every time he went in, and Boaz is also the name of Ruth's redeemer in David's own line. The narrator will inventory these same pillars broken in pieces and carried to Babylon at 2 Ki 25:13-17, and the naming here is what makes that later verse land.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Hence it is good that we are told that two bronze pillars of excellent and marvelous work were set up in this porch and that capitals worked to resemble lilies were placed on top of them. The pillars stood in front of the door of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For he cast two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
He cast two pillars - eighteen cubits high - That is, about thirty feet in English measure. A line of twelve cubits - In circumference. It would be difficult even now to procure a founder who could cast such massive pillars, whether solid or hollow.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
These famous pillars, which were broken in pieces by the Babylonians when they destroyed Jerusalem 2Ki 25:13; Jer 52:17, were probably for ornament, standing by themselves under or in front of the porch. It is certain that the Phoenicians used isolated metal columns as sacred ornaments, so that Hiram would be familiar with such a mode of ornamentation. Eighteen cubits appear to have been the height of the shaft only.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The two columns. Which he placed at the entrance hall, 21 He placed them at the entrance to the Temple’s hall. See v. 21 below. Yachin and Bo’az.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
A coppersmith. A craftsman. 18 I.e., an expert in his trade, in the works of copper. The Chirom mentioned here is not King Chirom mentioned earlier [above:15].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֛צַר | vaiyatzar | and he fashioned | H6696 → | 38 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁנֵ֥י | shenei | [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| הָעַמּוּדִ֖ים | haamudim | the pillars | H5982 → | 111 times |
| נְחֹ֑שֶׁת | nechoshet | bronze | H5178 → | 140 times |
| שְׁמֹנֶ֨ה | shemoneh | [was] eight- | H8083 → | 109 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֜ה | ʾesreh | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| אַמָּ֗ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| קוֹמַת֙ | komat | [the] height of | H6967 → | 45 times |
| הָעַמּ֣וּד | haamud | the pillar | H5982 → | 111 times |
| הָאֶחָ֔ד | haechad | <the> one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וְחוּט֙ | vechut | and a line of | H2339 → | |
| שְׁתֵּים־ | sheteim- | two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֣ה | ʾesreh | ten | H6240 → | 338 times |
| אַמָּ֔ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| יָסֹ֖ב | yaso | it went round | H5437 → | 161 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעַמּ֥וּד | haamud | the pillar | H5982 → | 111 times |
| הַשֵּׁנִֽי׃ | hasheni | <the> second | H8145 → | 156 times |
וַיָּ֛צַרand he fashioned
vaiyatzarH6696 →38 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁנֵ֥י[the] two
sheneiH8147 →768 times
הָעַמּוּדִ֖יםthe pillars
haamudimH5982 →111 times
נְחֹ֑שֶׁתbronze
nechoshetH5178 →140 times
שְׁמֹנֶ֨ה[was] eight-
shemonehH8083 →109 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֜הteen
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
אַמָּ֗הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
קוֹמַת֙[the] height of
komatH6967 →45 times
הָעַמּ֣וּדthe pillar
haamudH5982 →111 times
הָאֶחָ֔ד<the> one
haechadH259 →971 times
וְחוּט֙and a line of
vechutH2339 →
שְׁתֵּים־two [plus]
sheteim-H8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֣הten
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
אַמָּ֔הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
יָסֹ֖בit went round
yasoH5437 →161 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעַמּ֥וּדthe pillar
haamudH5982 →111 times
הַשֵּׁנִֽי׃<the> second
hasheniH8145 →156 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Jeremiah 52:13He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:19
Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value.
- Psalms 79:1
The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
- Lamentations 2:7
The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of…
- 2 Kings 25:9
He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- 2 Chronicles 36:19
Through
1 Kings 7:21Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 3:17
Then he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south and one on the north. The pillar on the south he named Jachin, and the pillar on the north…
- 1 Kings 6:3
The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17
Through
Jeremiah 52:21Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.
it leads to
- 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.
- 2 Kings 25:17
About 1 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2.25; 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) and Keil, The Books of the Kings.
