Jeremiah 52:17-23

C. The Plunder of the Temple Jeremiah 52:17-23

TRANSLATION

(17) As for the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of the LORD, the bases, the bronze sea which was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans smashed them and carried away all the bronze to Babylon. (18) They also took with them the pots, shovels, snuffers, sprinkling bowls, forks and all the bronze utensils used in the service. (19) The captain of the guard took away the small bowls, the firepans, basins, the pots, lampstands, the incense bowls, the libation bowlsboth the ones that were of gold and the ones of silver. (20) As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve oxen of bronze which were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of the LORDthe bronze of all these vessels could not be measured. (21) As for the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, twelve cubits in circumference, and their thickness was four fingers (it was hollow). (22) Upon it was a bronze capital five cubits high; and all around the capital was a latticework with pomegranates, all of bronze. The second pillar also had similar decorations and pomegranates. (23) And there were ninety-six promeranates on the sides. In all there were a hundred pomegranates upon the latticework.

COMMENTS

The description of the fate of the Temple furniture is much fuller here than in the parallel passage in 2 Kings 25:13-17. In order to facilitate transportation, the larger items of Temple furniturethe brazen pillars, the bases and the seawere broken up (Jeremiah 52:17). The two eighteen cubit bronze pillars stood immediately in front of the Temple proper. When they were set in place back in the days of Solomon they were given names. One was called Jachin (He shall establish); the other Boaz (In it is strength). See 1 Kings 7:13-22. Just what purpose these pillars served is still debated. The bases were the supports of the ten portable lavers at which animals about to be offered as burnt-offerings were washed (1 Kings 7:27-37), The brazen sea was a huge laver at which the priests washed their hands and feet before offering sacrifice (1 Kings 7:23-26).

The smaller Temple vessels of brass, gold and silver were transported to Babylon where they became trophies of victory in the temples of the gods. In Jeremiah 52:18 the objects of brass are enumerated. The pots and the shovels were used in the Temple for carrying away the ashes after sacrifice. The basins were probably used in the sprinkling of the sacrificial blood (cf. Exodus 27:3; Exodus 38:3; Numbers 4:14). The spoons were incense-cups (cf. Numbers 7:14). The word translated snuffers is of uncertain meaning. In Jeremiah 52:19 the vessels of gold and silver are enumerated. The pots, basins and spoons (incense cups) are mentioned a second time in this verse simply because such utensils were made of gold and silver as well as brass. Of the new items mentioned in Jeremiah 52:19 the function of the cup is unknown. The firepan was used for transporting hot coals. Ten candlesticks or lampstands illuminated the interior of the Temple (1 Kings 7:49). The bowls of Jeremiah 52:19 were connected with the table of showbread and were probably used for libations (Exodus 25:29; Exodus 37:16; Numbers 4:7). Now a problem arises with regard to the golden vessels. According to 2 Kings 24:13 all the vessels of gold were carried off to Babylon in 597 B.C. How then can it be said that the golden vessels were carried away by Nebuzaradan some ten years later? It is possible, of course, that the golden vessels were replaced after the deportation of 597 B.C. More likely, however, only the most valuable vessels were removed in 597 B.C. The golden vessels of less value were left in the Temple along with the silver utensils to await the plunder of 587 B.C.

The total amount of the brass carried away by the Chaldeans was so great that it seemed to merit the special emphasis given to it in Jeremiah 52:20. The mention of the twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases presents a two-fold difficulty for the Bible student. In the Book of Kings the bases were under the lavers, while the bulls supported the molten sea (1 Kings 7:25; 1 Kings 7:43). Furthermore, it is stated in 2 Kings 16:17 that Ahaz had already taken away the twelve bulls and sent them as tribute to Assyria more than a century earlier (2 Kings 16:17). The second difficulty is easier to cope with than the first. It is entirely possible and even likely that the twelve bulls had been replaced since the days of wicked king Ahaz, perhaps during the reforms of king Hezekiah. As for the first difficulty it is perhaps best to follow the reading of the Septuagint which reads: the twelve bulls which were under the sea. In other words, one Hebrew word may have dropped out of the standard Hebrew text during the course of its transmission.

Jeremiah 52:21-23 are in the nature of a supplement to the foregoing description of the loot taken by the Chaldean soldiers. The focus here is on the two pillars of brass already mentioned in Jeremiah 52:17. Each pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet) high with a circumference of twelve cubits (eighteen feet). The pillars were hollow with the metal being about four inches (fingers) thick (Jeremiah 52:21). These pillars were crowned with capitals of brass which were an additional five cubits high (Jeremiah 52:22). A lattice work (network) surrounded the capital upon which were surmounted one hundred ornamental pomegranates, twenty-four on each side and one at each corner (Jeremiah 52:23). The account in 1 Kings 7:20 states that each pillar had two hundred pomegranates arranged in two rows. Either the account here ignores one of the rows of the pomegranates or else one row had been removed before this time.