Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 7:15-22

"For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits compassed either of them about. And he made two capitals of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. There were nets of checker-work, and wreaths of chain-work, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. So he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital. And the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily-work, four cubits. And there were capitals above also upon the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other capital. And he set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz. And upon the top of the pillars was lily-work: so was the work of the pillars finished." — 1 Kings 7:15-22 (ASV)

With regard to the two pillars, Jachin (“He shall establish”) and Boaz (“In it is strength”), the text gives no account of their destination, except that they were set up in the porch of the Temple (1 Kings 7:21). Mr. Fergusson considers that they were supports for the roof of the vestibule; and if this were thirty cubits high, the twenty-seven cubits of each pillar, allowing for the slope of the roof to the apex, would suit well enough.

But the absence of all reference to their position as parts of the building, and the entire separation of the description of their fabrication from the account of the building itself, rather favoured the other supposition: that they were isolated pillars set up in front of the porch as symbolic monuments, conveying the idea of Psalm 46:0, “God is our hope and strength;” “God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed.”

It is particularly noticed (2 Kings 25:13–16; Jeremiah 52:17; Jeremiah 52:20–23) that they were broken up by the Chaldeans on the capture of Jerusalem, and the brass carried away. The description is exceedingly elaborate and, except in one or two parts, clear enough. The shaft of each pillar was twenty-seven feet high, and its diameter something less than six feet.

Josephus says that it was hollow, but of considerable thickness. Above the shaft was a capital of great proportionate size (seven and a half feet high), covered with a network and festoons of metalwork, and ornamented with two rows of pomegranates, one hundred in each row. Over these again was “lily-work” of six feet in height—probably some conventionalised foliage, technically known by that name, like the “honeysuckle ornament” in classical architecture, or the conventional “dog-tooth” or “ball-flower” of Gothic.

The whole height, even if there were no base or plinth below, would be twenty-seven cubits, or forty and a half feet. In the Dictionary of the Bible (Temple) a drawing is given of a pillar at Persepolis, which bears a considerable resemblance to the general description given here; however, being executed in stone, it is far less elaborate in ornamentation.

The whole style of the narrative shows that these pillars were regarded as monuments of the highest artistic skill and were well known to all, as, from their position, they would be constantly before the eyes of both priests and people. So far as can be seen, there was nothing to correspond to them in the Tabernacle.