Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 7:20
And the chapiters upon the two pillars [had pomegranates] also above, over against the belly which [was] by the network: and the pomegranates [were] two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
20. And the chapiters upon the two pillars had 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 which was 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 1Ki 7:18 the rows were two for each capital, so that 100 pomegranates were in each row. Apparently in 2Ch 3:16 the number specified is only for one single row. In the parallel passage of Jeremiah (Jer 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 1Ki 7:15. What is meant, we should express by ‘round about (upon the one chapiter as) upon the other chapiter.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In this verse also a portion of the original text is supposed to have fallen out in consequence of the repetition of words. The full phrase of the original has been retained in 1Ki 7:16-17. It may be restored thus: And the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the one chapiter, and two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter. The four hundred 1Ki 7:42; 2Ch 4:13, are obtained by counting the pomegranates of both pillars together. In Jer 52:23, is an account of the arrangement of a single row of pomegranates, whereof each pillar had two.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Over against the belly; so he calls the middle part of the chapiter, and that which jetted furthest out.
The pomegranates were two hundred: these pomegranates are variously accounted in Scriptures. They are said to be ninety and six on a side of a pillar, i.e. in one row, and in all an hundred, Jer 52:23; four great pomegranates between the several checker-works being added to the first ninety-six. And it must needs be granted that there were as many on the other side of the pillar, or in the other row, which makes them two hundred upon a pillar, as is here said, and four hundred upon both pillars, as they are numbered 2Ch 4:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15-22. two pillars of brass ofeighteen cubits highThey were made of the brass (bronze) whichwas taken from the king of Zobah (1Ch18:8). In 2Ch 3:15 they aresaid to have been thirty-five cubits high. There, however, theirjoint lengths are given; whereas here the length of the pillars isgiven separately. Each pillar was seventeen and a half cubits long,which is stated, in round numbers, as eighteen. Their dimensions inEnglish measure are as follows: The pillars without the capitalsmeasured thirty-two and a half feet long, and seven feet diameter;and if hollow, as WHISTON,in his translation of JOSEPHUS,thinks (Jer 52:21), the metalwould be about three and a half inches thick; so that the wholecasting of one pillar must have been from sixteen to twenty tons. Theheight of the capitals was eight and three-fourths feet; and, at thesame thickness of metal, would not weigh less than seven or eighttons each. The nature of the workmanship in the finishing of thesecapitals is described (1Ki7:17-22). The pillars, when set up, would stand forty feet inheight [NAPIER, Metal].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network,…. The supplement is needless, according to Dr. Lightfoot; the sense being only, that the chapiters were above the lily work, which wrought out as far as the belly of the chapiters, or the middle cubit of them, which the pomegranates filled up:
and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other chapiter: there were so many in each, which in all made four hundred, as in 1Ki 7:42. In Jer 52:23, it is said there were ninety six on a side, and yet one hundred round about; the meaning of which is, either that there were twenty four to every wind, as the word there is, and four on the four angles, and so in all one hundred; or, as the above learned writer, when the pillars were set to the wall, only ninety six appeared in sight in a row, the other four being hid behind them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(20) Over against (or rather, close to) the belly which was by the network.The belly here (like the bowls or globes of the chapiters in 1Ki. 7:41-42) seems to signify the rounded form of the capital, where it comes down to join the shaft. At this junction the bands of pomegranate ornament ran round the shaft. In this verse it is obvious that there is an omission in the text. It should be, were two hundred in rows round about the one chapiter, and two hundred in rows round about the other chapiter. Hence the four hundred of 1Ki. 7:42 and 2Ch. 4:13.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Had pomegranates There is nothing corresponding to these words in the Hebrew, and their insertion by our translators was an error. This verse is a repetitious explanation of the preceding, and defines more particularly the position of the lily work part of the capitals. It should be rendered: And the capitals upon the two pillars were also above in immediate connexion with the belly, which was beyond the network.
The belly which was by the network That is, the oval shaped form of the capital at the place upon which the network was wrought, (literally, beyond, that is, behind the network,) called bowls in 1Ki 7:41, and pommels in 2Ch 4:13.
Two hundred in rows Two hundred in both rows of each pillar, making four hundred for the two networks of both pillars, (1Ki 7:42; 2Ch 4:13,) and one hundred for each row or chain. 2Ch 3:16; Jer 52:23.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 7:20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars [had pomegranates] also above, over against the belly which [was] by the network: and the pomegranates [were] two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
Ver. 20. And the pomegranates were two hundred. ] On each side a hundred, hanging down front the rows or borders upon the networks, which yet they hid not. 2Ch 3:16 Jer 52:23 This might signify the strengthening of our faith by the two sacraments, unto holiness and fruitfulness in good works; but especially by Christ, who is a double pillar unto his Church.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
belly = swell, or protuberance.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and the pomegranates: 2Ki 25:17, 2Ch 3:16, 2Ch 4:13, Jer 52:22, Jer 52:23
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 7:20. Over against the belly So he calls the middle part of the chapiter, which jetted farthest out. The pomegranates were two hundred They are said to be ninety and six on the side of a pillar, in one row, and in all a hundred, (Jer 52:23,) four pomegranates between the several checker-works being added to the first ninety-six. And it must needs be granted that there were as many on the other side of the pillar, or in the other row, which makes them two hundred upon a pillar, as is here said, and four hundred upon both pillars, as they are numbered, 2Ch 4:13.