2 Chronicles 27:3
in 2 Chronicles 27Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD, and he worked extensively on the wall at the hill of Ophel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.
KJV
He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 27
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHe built the high gate in the house of the Lord,.... See the note on 2Ki 15:35. and on the wall of Ophel he built much; which Kimchi interprets an high place; it was the eastern part of Mount Zion. Josephus (f) calls it Ophlas, and says it joined to the eastern porch of the temple; and some have thought the porch of the temple is meant; the Targum renders it a palace; it is a tradition of the Jews that it was the holy of holies (g). (f) De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2. (g) Vid.
This site's exposition
the high gate of the house of the Lord
on 2 Chronicles 27:3-4
Kings gives Jotham's building in one clause, the higher gate of the house of the Lord at 2 Kings 15:35; Chronicles keeps that gate and adds the wall of Ophel, cities built in the mountains of Judah, and castles and towers in the forests. Ophel is the high ground between the temple mount and the Kidron valley, and the fortified cities read as continued defensive building, the same posture Uzziah kept at 26:9-10. Chronicles' fuller list matches its habit of recording what a king leaves standing, not only what battles he fought.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ophel was the name given to the long, narrowish, rounded spur or promontory, which intervenes between the central valley of Jerusalem (the Tyropoeon) and the Kidron, or valley of Jehoshaphat. The anxiety of Uzziah and Jotham to fortify their territory indicates a fear of external attack, which at this time was probably felt mainly in connection with Samaria and Syria (2Ki 15:37 note). The faithless trust put in fortifications was rebuked by the prophets of the time Hos 8:14; Isa 2:15.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
He built, that is, repaired or embellished. and on the wall of Ophel--Hebrew, "the Ophel," that is, the mound, or eminence on the southeastern slope of the temple mount, a ridge lying between the valleys Kedron and Tyropœon, called "the lower city" [JOSEPHUS].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-curly-quotes
On the wall of Ophel - The wall, says the Targum, of the interior palace. Ophel was some part of the wall of Jerusalem, that was most pregnable, and therefore Jotham fortified it in a particular manner.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
as all that his father Uzziah the good deeds that his father had done. That is what R. Simeon ben Yohai said in Tractate Sotah (sic.
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. 4 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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ה֗וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| בָּנָ֛ה | banah | he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שַׁ֥עַר | shaar | [the] gate of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| בֵּית־ | beit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הָעֶלְי֑וֹן | haelyon | <the> upper | H5945 → | 53 times |
| וּבְחוֹמַ֥ת | uvechomat | and on [the] wall of | H2346 → | 133 times |
| הָעֹ֛פֶל | haofel | <the> Ophel | H6077 → | |
| בָּנָ֖ה | banah | he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| לָרֹֽב׃ | laro | to abundance | H7230 → | 149 times |
ה֗וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
בָּנָ֛הhe built
banahH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שַׁ֥עַר[the] gate of
shaarH8179 →374 times
בֵּית־[the] house of
beit-H1004 →2046 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הָעֶלְי֑וֹן<the> upper
haelyonH5945 →53 times
וּבְחוֹמַ֥תand on [the] wall of
uvechomatH2346 →133 times
הָעֹ֛פֶל<the> Ophel
haofelH6077 →
בָּנָ֖הhe built
banahH1129 →376 times
לָרֹֽב׃to abundance
laroH7230 →149 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 20:2he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 37:13
But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
- Jeremiah 1:19
They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 16:10
Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- Zechariah 14:10
All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the…
- Jeremiah 37:13
Through
2 Chronicles 33:14After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 1:33
“Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
- Nehemiah 3:3
The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
- Nehemiah 12:39
over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of…
- 1 Kings 1:33
Through
2 Chronicles 23:20He also took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 11:19
He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the…
- 2 Kings 11:19
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 Chronicles.