Synopsis of the Chapter
Solomon builds a magnificent temple and places before it two columns, Jachin and Boaz.
Verse 1: On Mount Moriah ¶
1. ON MOUNT MORIAH — on which Abraham of old had offered his son Isaac to God, Genesis XXII, 14; whence on the same mountain Christ the antitype offered Himself as a holocaust to God for the salvation of the world. For the mount of Calvary is a part, or an extension, of Mount Moriah.
Verse 3: Cubits According to the First Measure ¶
3. CUBITS IN LENGTH ACCORDING TO THE FIRST MEASURE — because there was a second measure, by which these 60 cubits were divided and measured into two sections, namely so that the Holy Place had 40 cubits from them, and the remaining 20 belonged to the Holy of Holies. See what was said in 3 Kings chapter VI, verse 1, toward the end.
Verse 5: The Greater House ¶
5. THE GREATER HOUSE (so he calls the Holy Place, which was larger than the Holy of Holies) HE COVERED WITH FIR BOARDS — of fir, but interspersed with "cedar panels," as is said in 3 Kings VI, 9.
Verse 7: The Gold Was of the Finest Quality ¶
7. AND THE GOLD WAS OF THE FINEST QUALITY — In Hebrew, it was gold of Parvaim, that is, dug from a place called Ophir, and by aphaeresis Parvaim, or as the Septuagint translates, gold from Pharnaim. So also Pagninus, Vatablus, Arias, Marinus, and others who think Parvaim is Peru. For the word seems to be the same in both cases, and the same letters. And Parvaim is said to be in the dual form, because the region of Peru is twofold, namely greater and lesser. But the name Peru was then unknown, and is still unknown to the natives of Peru. For it was given to that region recently by the Spaniards, from a nearby river so named, as Joseph Acosta, who lived in Peru for fifteen years, testifies in book I of De Novo Orbe, chapter XIV.
Marinus in his Lexicon writes that some derive Parvaim from par, that is, a young bull, because the gold of Parvaim is reddish like the blood of a young bull.
It is better to say that Ophir and Parvaim are in the East Indies, and that they are Sumatra, Taprobane, Pegu, and other gold-bearing regions there, which were called Ophir by Solomon and the Hebrews, and Parvaim from the root phara, that is, "it bore fruit," because they are supremely fruitful and most abundantly productive of gold.
Verse 10: In the Oracle ¶
10. IN THE ORACLE — that is, as in the oracle. For these little chains were on the columns, similar to the little chains of the oracle, or the Holy of Holies.