Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 4:21

"and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold;" — 2 Chronicles 4:21 (ASV)

And the flowers ... gold. —See 1 Kings 7:49.

And that perfect gold. — It was perfection of gold. The word miklôth, “perfections” (an intensive plural), occurs nowhere else. It is derived from kâlâh, “to be finished,” not kâlal (Bishop Wordsworth). The Septuagint omits the clause, but the Vulgate does not, rendering it “all were made of purest gold.”

This small detail, added to heighten the effect, is very characteristic of the chronicler and should certainly not be doubted, as Zöckler asserts. Perhaps we should read miklôl, “perfection” (Ezekiel 23:12), instead of the isolated miklôth.

And the snuffers. —Before this expression, and the basons (1 Kings 7:50) has probably been omitted from the text.

Snuffers. — These were shears or scissors for trimming the lamps.

The spoons, and the censers. —Or, trays and snuff-dishes. See 1 Kings 7:50 and Exodus 25:38.

And the entry of the house. —This included both the doors of the nave (or holy place) and those of the chancel (or most holy place).

The words are explained by what follows: “namely, its inner doors to the holy of holies and the doors of the house—namely, to the nave (hêhâl, great hall).”

In 1 Kings 7:50 we read, And the hinges to the doors of the inner house—namely, the holy of holies, (and) to the doors of the house—namely, to the nave, were of gold.

The word rendered hinges (pôthôth) resembles the word rendered entry (pethah); and some have supposed that pethah is a corruption of pôthôth, and would alter our text accordingly.

Two reasons seem to be decisive against such a change:

1. The word Pôthôth, “hinges,” occurs nowhere else in the Bible; and may not be genuine. It is likely enough that the doors of the Temple were plated with gold (1 Kings 6:32; 1 Kings 6:35), but hardly that their hinges were made of gold.