2 Chronicles 3:4
New International Version
The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits long across the width of the building and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

New Living Translation
The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

English Standard Version
The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.

Berean Standard Bible
The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

King James Bible
And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

New King James Version
And the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

New American Standard Bible
The porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height twenty; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.

NASB 1995
The porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.

NASB 1977
And the porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, 20 cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.

Amplified Bible
The porch in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it inside with pure gold.

Christian Standard Bible
The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet; he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet wide; its height was 30 feet; he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold.

American Standard Version
And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he made a porch on its face; its length on the face of the open place of the house, twenty cubits, and its height, twenty cubits, and he overlaid it from within with pure gold.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the portico in front of the house, its length in front of the breadth of the house was twenty cubits, and its height a hundred and twenty cubits: and he gilded it within with pure gold.

Contemporary English Version
Across the front of the temple was a porch 9 meters wide and 9 meters high. The inside walls of the porch were covered with pure gold.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

English Revised Version
And 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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The entrance hall in front of [the main room] was 30 feet wide (the same as the width of the temple) and 30 feet high. He covered its inside walls with pure gold.

Good News Translation
The entrance room was the full width of the Temple, 30 feet, and was 180 feet high. The inside of the room was overlaid with pure gold.

International Standard Version
A portico extended in front of the Temple for its entire width of 20 cubits, and was 120 cubits high. Inside he had it overlaid with pure gold.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the porch that was before [the house], the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

Literal Standard Version
As for the porch that [is] on the front, the length [is] by the front of the breadth of the house—twenty cubits, and the height one hundred and twenty [[or twenty]], and he overlays it within with pure gold.

Majority Standard Bible
The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

New American Bible
the front porch along the width of the house was also twenty cubits, and it was twenty cubits high. He covered its interior with pure gold.

NET Bible
The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its height was 30 feet. He plated the inside with pure gold.

New Revised Standard Version
The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, across the width of the house; and its height was one hundred twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.

New Heart English Bible
The porch that was in front of the house was the same as the width of the house, thirty-four feet and five inches, and the depth was seventeen feet and three inches; and he overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the hight was a hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

World English Bible
The porch that was in front, its length, across the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

Young's Literal Translation
As to the porch that is on the front, the length is by the front of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty, and he overlayeth it within with pure gold.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Temple Construction Begins
3The foundation that Solomon laid for the house of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide, according to the old standard. 4The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

Cross References
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.

Ezekiel 40:48
Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side.


Treasury of Scripture

And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

the porch

John 10:23
And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

Acts 3:11
And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.

Acts 5:12
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.

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Best Breadth Building Covered Cubits Equal Front Gold Height Hight House Hundred Inside Length Nave Overlaid Overlayeth Porch Portico Pure Temple Twenty Vestibule Wide Width Within
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2 Chronicles 3
1. The place and time of building the temple
3. The measure and ornaments of the house
11. The cherubim
14. The veil and pillars














(4) And the porch . . . twenty cubits.--Heb., and the porch that was before the length (i.e., that lay in front of the oblong main building), before the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits (i.e., the porch was as. long as the house was broad). This curious statement answers to what we read in 1Kings 6:3 : "And the porch before the hall of the house, twenty cubits was its length, before the breadth of the house." But the Hebrew is too singular to pass without challenge, and comparison of the versions suggests that we ought to read here: "And the porch which was before it (Syriac), or before the house (LXX.), its length before the breadth of the house was twenty cubits." This would involve but slight alteration of the Hebrew text. (Comp. 2Chronicles 3:8.)

And the height was an hundred and twenty. This would make the porch four times the height of the main building, which was thirty cubits. The Alexandrine MS. of the LXX., and the Arabic version, read "twenty cubits;" the Syriac omits the whole clause,, which has no parallel in Kings, and is further suspicious as wanting the word "cubits," usually expressed after the number (see 2Chronicles 3:3). The Hebrew may be a corruption of the clause, "and its breadth ten cubits." (Comp. 1Kings 6:3.)

And he overlaid it within with pure gold.--See 1Kings 6:21. . . .

Verse 4. - The porch... an hundred and twenty. The "porch" (אוּלָם, Greek, ὁ πρόναος). It is out of the question that the porch should be of this height in itself. And almost as much out of the question that, if it could be so, this should be the only place to mention it by word or. description. There can be no doubt that the text is here slightly corrupt, and perhaps it is a further indication of this that, while the parallel contains nothing of the height, this place fails (but comp. our ver. 8) to give the breadth ("ten cubits"), which the parallel does give. The words for" hundred" and for "cubit" easily confuse with one another. And our present Hebrew text, מֵאָה וְעִשְׂרִים, read עְמות עְשֵׂרִים, will make good Hebrew syntax, and be in harmony with the Septuagint (Alexandrian), and with the Syriac and Arabic Versions. This gives the height of the porch as 20 cubits, which will be in harmony with the general height of the building, which was 30 cubits. Thus far, then, the plan of the temple is plain. The house is 60 cubits long, i.e. 20 for the holy of holies (דְּבִיר or קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים);40 for the holy place (הֵיכָל); and for breadth 20 cubits. The porch was in length the same as the breadth of the house, viz. 20 cubits, but in breadth it was 10 cubits (1 Kings 6:3) only, while its height was 20 cubits, against a height of 30 cubits for the "house" (1 Kings 6:2). Overlaid it within with pure gold; i.e. covered the planks with gold leaf, or sometimes with plates of gold (Ovid., 'L Epp. ex. Pont,' 1:37, 38, 41, 42; Herod., 1:98; Polyb., 10:27. § 10). The appreciation, as well as bare knowledge, of gold belonged to a very early date (Genesis 2:12). The days when it was used in ring or lump (though not in coin) for sign of wealth and for purposes of exchange, and also for ornament (Genesis 13:2; Genesis 24:22; Genesis 42:21), indicate how early were the beginnings of metallurgy as regards it, though much more developed afterwards (Judges 17:4; Proverbs 17:3; Isaiah 40:19; Isaiah 46:9); and show it in the time of David and Solomon no rare art, even though foreign workmen, for obvious reasons, were the most skilful workers with it. There are four verbs used to express the idea of overlaying, viz.

(a) חָפָה, in hiph. This occurs only in this chapter, vers. 5, 7, 8, 9; but in niph. Psalm 68:13 may be compared.

(b) עָלָה in hiph. This occurs in the present sense, though not necessarily staying very closely by it; in 2 Chronicles 9:15, 16, and its parallel (1 Kings 10:16, 17); and perhaps in 2 Samuel 1:24. The meaning of the word, however, is evidently so generic that it scarcely postulates the rendering "overlay."

(c) צָפָה in piel. This occurs in our present verse, as also in a multitude of other places in Chronicles, Kings, Samuel, and Exodus. The radical idea of the verb (kal) is "to be bright." . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The portico
וְהָאוּלָ֡ם (wə·hā·’ū·lām)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 197: A vestibule

at
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the front,
פְּנֵ֨י (pə·nê)
Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

extending across
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the width
רֹֽחַב־ (rō·ḥaḇ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7341: Breadth, width

of the temple,
הַבַּ֙יִת֙ (hab·ba·yiṯ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1004: A house

[was] twenty
עֶשְׂרִ֔ים (‘eś·rîm)
Number - common plural
Strong's 6242: Twenty, twentieth

cubits [long]
אַמּ֣וֹת (’am·mō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 520: A mother, a cubit, a door-base

[and]
מֵאָ֣ה (mê·’āh)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 3967: A hundred

twenty [cubits]
וְעֶשְׂרִ֑ים (wə·‘eś·rîm)
Conjunctive waw | Number - common plural
Strong's 6242: Twenty, twentieth

high.
וְהַגֹּ֖בַהּ (wə·hag·gō·ḇah)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1363: Elation, grandeur, arrogance

He overlaid
וַיְצַפֵּ֥הוּ (way·ṣap·pê·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6823: To lay out, lay over

the inside
מִפְּנִ֖ימָה (mip·pə·nî·māh)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 6441: Toward the side or inside, within

with pure
טָהֽוֹר׃ (ṭā·hō·wr)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2889: Clean, pure

gold.
זָהָ֥ב (zā·hāḇ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2091: Gold, something gold-colored, as oil, a clear sky


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OT History: 2 Chronicles 3:4 The porch that was before the house (2 Chron. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr)
2 Chronicles 3:3
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