1 Kings 7:20

And the chapiters upon the two pillarshad pomegranates also above The italics are without justification. The R.V. gives the sense; -And there were chapiters also above upon the two pillars." What is now being described is that portion of the capital which was below the lily work. But the writer uses -chapiter" for the part, as well as for the whole capital.

over against the belly whichwas by the network R.V. close by the belly which was beside the network." The prepositions make the difficulty here. The first has something of the idea of -all along" and describes the way in which the pomegranates went close up to the bellying portion of the capital. Probably the two rows ran round the pillar, one just above, the other just below the enlarged part. Then the network appears to have been over the belly. The preposition intimates that if you could have looked from the woodwork, the metal nets and chains were just in front of you. So that in the -beside" of the R.V. we must understand the notion of overlying.

two hundred, in rows As we have taken 1 Kings 7:18 the rows were two for each capital, so that 100 pomegranates were in each row. Apparently in 2 Chronicles 3:16 the number specified is only for one single row. In the parallel passage of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 52:23) this appears more clearly. For the pomegranates are said to have been arranged one at each of the four cardinal points and the other 96 used to complete the circuit. This can only be a description of a single row.

round about upon the other chapiter Here there is the same sort of omission, be it intentional or not, as in 1 Kings 7:15. What is meant, we should express by -round about (upon the one chapiter as) upon the other chapiter."