=3.= _these are the foundations_] i.e. the measurements which follow state the ground-plan of the Temple. _cubits after the first measure_] The _cubit_ was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, about 17½ inches. A difficult verse in Ezekiel (xl. 5) seems to have given rise to the idea that in early times the cubit was a somewhat longer measure, and that may be what the Chronicler intended by the present phrase “cubits after the first (or _former_) measure.” Exact measurements on the site of the Temple have now demonstrated that about 17½ inches was at all times the standard length of the cubit (see _Palestine Exploration Fund Statement_ October, 1915, pp. 186 f.). =4= (= 1 Kings vi. 3). THE PORCH. ⁴And the porch that was before _the house_, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. =4.= _And the porch that was before_ the house] The Hebrew text is corrupt, but the sense of the original reading has probably been correctly guessed by the Revised Version. _the height an hundred and twenty_] So also LXX. As the Temple was only 30 cubits in height, this building was rather a tower than a porch. In 1 Kings nothing is said about height. Most probably the true reading was “twenty,” not “an hundred and twenty”; the “hundred” being a marginal gloss added by someone who was thinking of Herod’s Temple of which the porch was 100 cubits in height. =5‒7= (compare 1 Kings vi. 15, 21, 29, 30). THE TEMPLE. ⁵And the greater house he cieled with fir¹ tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and wrought thereon palm trees and chains. ¹ Or, _cypress_. =5.= _the greater house_] i.e. the holy place. It was _forty_ cubits long (1 Kings vi. 17), whereas the shrine was _twenty_ (1 Kings vi. 16, 20). _he cieled_] i.e. _lined_ or _boarded_. The same Hebrew word is translated _overlaid_ in this same verse. _wrought thereon_] perhaps in the form of reliefs. _palm trees and chains_] The “chains” perhaps connected one palm tree with another. In 1 Kings vi. 29, “cherubim and palm trees and open flowers.” ⁶And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. =6.= _precious stones_] Not mentioned in the parallel account, but according to 1 Kings v. 17 _costly stones_ (the same expression in Hebrew) were used for the foundations of the house, their _costliness_ being due presumably to their immense size. Here, however, the phrase “for beauty” suggests that the Chronicler is thinking of rare and precious stones to be set in the walls――an exaggeration not out of keeping with the references to “pure gold” in verses 4, 7, etc. _Parvaim_] Apparently the name of a place, but nothing certain is known about it.