In this section of Chapter 3, we move from the description of the Heichal to the heart of the Beis HaMikdash: the Kodesh HaKodashim (the Holy of Holies), its dimensions and overlays, the keruvim made by Shlomo, the Paroches (curtain), and the two pillars standing before the Heichal - Yachin and Boaz. The guiding principle throughout this chapter, as the Malbim consistently notes, is that Ezra in Divrei HaYamim does not simply repeat what has already been stated in Sefer Melachim; rather, he comes to add new details or resolve what was left unexplained there.
וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת־בֵּית־קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים אׇרְכּוֹ עַל־פְּנֵי רֹחַב־הַבַּיִת אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וְרׇחְבּוֹ אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וַיְחַפֵּהוּ זָהָב טוֹב לְכִכָּרִים שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת׃ - And he made the room of the Holy of Holies; its length along the width of the house was twenty amos, and its width was twenty amos, and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
The Malbim explains: Since the keruvim stood from north to south, from wall to wall, Scripture describes the Kodesh HaKodashim and measures its length specifically in this direction. The Beis HaMikdash as a whole ran lengthwise from east to west, so its overall length was measured from east to west. In the Kodesh HaKodashim, however, the north-south axis was significant, so that we would understand how the keruvim stood - hand touching hand, wing touching wing, from north to south. Therefore, the verse terms this direction "length," measuring the length "along the width of the house."
Here we must emphasize a point we already studied in depth in Sefer Melachim: there were two distinct kinds of keruvim. The keruvim made by Moshe Rabbeinu were atop the kapores, the cover of the Aron. "Keruvim" is related to the word keravya (like a child), in the form of a male and female child, like angelic figures spreading their wings over the kapores with their faces toward each other - and when Israel did not do the will of the Omnipresent, their faces turned toward the sanctuary. In contrast, the keruvim made by Shlomo were standing keruvim, positioned against the western wall. One entering the Kodesh HaKodashim would see the Aron in the center before him, and behind it, adjacent to the wall, two keruvim facing him, like a person standing with outstretched arms to the sides. Each keruv, from wingtip to wingtip, spanned ten amos. The two stood side by side, their backs to the western wall and their faces toward the entrance, with wing touching wing - thus together spanning the full twenty amos.
"And he overlaid it with fine gold" - earlier, Scripture spoke of overlaying the walls, whereas here it refers to overlaying the floor. As we noted, the floor of the Heichal was overlaid with gold on top of wood: wooden planks were laid down, and gold was placed over them. In the Kodesh HaKodashim, however, everything was overlaid with gold. The Malbim explains that one cannot apply gold leaf directly over stones, as a thin coating on stone will not hold. Therefore, this overlay was exceptionally thick - solid gold plates upon which one could actually walk. And since a single plate twenty amos long was impossible, they fashioned gold floor tiles of a specific size and fastened them to the ground. This required six hundred talents: according to the Malbim's calculation, every square amah of flooring required one and a half talents of gold.
וּמִשְׁקָל לְמִסְמְרוֹת לִשְׁקָלִים חֲמִשִּׁים זָהָב וְהָעֲלִיּוֹת חִפָּה זָהָב׃ - And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
The Malbim explains that this verse connects to the preceding one: since gold could not simply be plastered onto stone but had to be laid as thick plates, they had to be secured to the floor with nails. They drilled into the stone and inserted golden nails to hold the plates firmly in place, each nail weighing fifty shekels. While in our modern times this might seem like a simple construction detail, nothing in the Beis HaMikdash was arbitrary, for "All this, in writing from the hand of Hashem, He made me understand," and every single detail was directed toward deep, inner meanings. "And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold" - referring to the upper chambers above the Kodesh HaKodashim, and perhaps all the upper chambers as well. None of these details are mentioned in Sefer Melachim; it was Ezra who came to detail them.
וַיַּעַשׂ בְּבֵית־קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים כְּרוּבִים שְׁנַיִם מַעֲשֵׂה צַעֲצֻעִים וַיְצַפּוּ אֹתָם זָהָב׃ - And in the house of the Holy of Holies he made two cherubim of sculptured work, and they overlaid them with gold.
In Melachim it says shenei cherubim ("two cherubim," in the construct state), whereas here it says cherubim shenayim ("cherubim, two"). What is the difference? As we have explained several times: shenei indicates identical items, while shenayim indicates differing items - and the mnemonic is: shenayim (שניים) shares the letters of shonim (שונים, different). "Upon the two he-goats lots" (al shenei hase'irim goralot) - Chazal say that they must be completely identical, even purchased at the same price. By contrast, "By the mouth of two witnesses shall a matter be established" (al pi shenayim edim) - for if the witnesses are identical, reciting word for word, it is suspect, coached testimony; each one must recount what he saw from his own vantage point, and ultimately there must be harmony between the testimonies (one cannot say Sunday and the other Monday), but by no means total identicalness. Similarly, "And God made the two great luminaries" (et shenei hame'orot hagdolim) - they were originally identical, which is why both were called "great"; and from the fact that it subsequently says "the greater" and "the lesser," we learn that something changed, and the phrasing shenei teaches that initially they were identical.
We therefore seem to have a contradiction: in Melachim it says shenei cherubim - identical, whereas here it says cherubim shenayim - different. The Malbim resolves this: Ezra taught us that they were two unequal figures, for in one respect they were equal, and in another respect they were different. The difference lay in that one was male and the other female, in the form of a young boy and a young girl (keravya); the male in the aspect of the giver (mashpia) and the female in the aspect of the receiver (mekabel). This was already expressed in the Torah itself: in the command it says, "And you shall make two cherubim" (ve'asita shenayim keruvim), while in the execution it says, "And he made the two cherubim" (vaya'as et shenei hakeruvim) - identical in their general form, yet different in that one had the form of a male and the other the form of a female.
If you were to tell someone that the word tza'atzu'im (toys, in Modern Hebrew) is mentioned in Tanach, he might not believe you, but here it is right before us - certainly not in the sense of children's toys! The Malbim explains that it means they appeared as if in flight, for their wings were fashioned like the wings of a bird, which contracts and stretches its wings. The word stems from the root tz-'-h (צעה), which denotes internal motion, as in "The wanderer (tzo'eh) hurries to be freed" (Yeshayahu 51:14), and it is related to zo'ah (from the root of moving and trembling) and so'ah ("a rushing wind and storm" [Tehillim 55:9]) - all terms of motion. Thus, tza'atzu'im means as though they were in dynamic motion.
The more widely known and accepted interpretation is that of the Metzudat Tziyon, following the exposition of Chazal, that it is related to tzo'atza'im (offspring, children), as in "the offspring and the issues" (hatzetza'im vehatzfi'ot, Yeshayahu 22:24); the letters aleph and ayin are both gutturals and interchange. The Targum likewise translates "children and grandchildren," indicating that they had the likeness of a youth (demut ravya). In this regard, one must realize that when Chazal say "a male child and a female child" (tinok vetinoket), they do not mean an infant in a cradle, but rather children aged seven, eight, nine, or ten - as in tinokot shel beit raban (schoolchildren), or "a man had a tinok and a tinoket and wished to marry them off." They thus had youthful faces, which is why Scripture calls them tza'atzu'im, like tzo'atza'im, childlike faces. And why are the tzadi and ayin doubled rather than saying ma'aseh tzo'im? The Malbim explains: it follows the grammatical pattern of sha'ashu'im (delights) and ta'atu'im (illusions).
"And they overlaid them with gold" - in Melachim, the overlay is mentioned at the end, after the measurements, which might have led one to think that the dimensions were stated before the overlay, and that after the overlay they were larger, since the plating takes up space. Ezra comes and mentions the overlay first, and only then provides the measurements - to teach you that the dimensions apply after the overlay.
וְכַנְפֵי הַכְּרוּבִים אׇרְכָּם אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים כְּנַף הָאֶחָד לְאַמּוֹת חָמֵשׁ מַגַּעַת לְקִיר הַבַּיִת וְהַכָּנָף הָאַחֶרֶת אַמּוֹת חָמֵשׁ מַגִּיעַ לִכְנַף הַכְּרוּב הָאַחֵר׃ - And the wings of the cherubim, their length was twenty cubits: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
וּכְנַף הַכְּרוּב הָאֶחָד אַמּוֹת חָמֵשׁ מַגִּיעַ לְקִיר הַבָּיִת וְהַכָּנָף הָאַחֶרֶת אַמּוֹת חָמֵשׁ דְּבֵקָה לִכְנַף הַכְּרוּב הָאַחֵר׃ - And the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, joined to the wing of the other cherub.
כַּנְפֵי הַכְּרוּבִים הָאֵלֶּה פֹּרְשִׂים אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וְהֵם עֹמְדִים עַל־רַגְלֵיהֶם וּפְנֵיהֶם לַבָּיִת׃ - The wings of these cherubim spread out twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, with their faces toward the house.
First, the plain meaning of the verses: "The wings of the cherubim, their length was twenty cubits" - referring to both cherubim together, with the wingspan of each spanning ten cubits. Scripture now details the calculation: for the right cherub, one wing of five cubits reached the wall of the house (the southern wall), and its other wing of five cubits reached the wing of the other cherub. And for the left cherub, one wing of five cubits reached the wall of the house on its side (the northern wall), and its other wing of five cubits joined and touched the wing of the right cherub. Thus, their wings spread across the full twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet, facing the house.
Why was all this elaboration necessary? The Malbim explains: in the Book of Melachim, it is only mentioned that there were ten amot from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing of each cherub, so one might have thought they stood one behind the other - in which case there would have been no miracle at all. Yet Chazal taught, "The cherubim stood miraculously." Where was the miracle? In the fact that the total span of the wings was twenty amot, exactly the width of the Devir. For if you take a dove, spread its wings, and measure each wing separately, its total length from tip to tip will be greater than the sum of the two wings alone, because there is also the body, and the wings extend from its sides. Just as someone measuring my arms cannot claim that this equals my total width from tip to tip, since the body must also be factored in. If so, if the wings alone measured twenty amot and the width of the Holy of Holies was twenty amot - where was the body? Inevitably, they stood miraculously, meaning that the space occupied by the cherubim took up no physical room. This is not surprising, for "the space of the Ark was not part of the measurement": someone measuring from the Ark to the northern wall found ten amot, and from the Ark to the southern wall found ten amot; where, then, was the Ark itself, which was two and a half amot wide? Rather, it stood miraculously.
We already learned there that according to the peshat, one does not necessarily need to invoke a miracle, as the commentators of peshat explain: unlike human arms, the wings of the cherubim did not emerge from the sides of the body, but rather from a single point in the middle of their back; and when measuring from that point, you naturally get twenty amot without leaving any extra space for the body.
In any case, Ezra comes to explain that they stood side by side, their backs to the wall and wing touching wing, with their total span measuring twenty amot - which necessitates that they stood miraculously. And lest you say they stood facing each other like the cherubim atop the Ark, in which case one could again account for the twenty amot without a miracle, it therefore states: "and their faces were toward the house," ruling out that possibility. And lest you say that one was tall and the other short, with the wing of the shorter one extending beneath that of the other without overlapping, once again eliminating the need for a miracle, it therefore states: "and they stood on their feet," meaning they stood at equal height, and the wing of one directly touched the wing of the other.
The Malbim explains: according to the peshat, "their faces were toward one another" was said regarding the cherubim atop the Ark, whereas regarding the cherubim that Shlomo made, it is written, "and their faces were toward the house." There is no contradiction here at all: the cherubim made by Moshe always faced each other, and the cherubim made by Shlomo always faced the house. However, Chazal expounded this regarding Moshe's cherubim as well: when the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent, their faces are turned toward one another; and when they do not do the will of the Omnipresent, their faces are turned toward the house. There is an allusion in this: doing the will of the Omnipresent means "their faces were toward one another," caring for one's fellow; but when each person turns to his own house and looks out only for himself, that is not the conduct the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the Jewish people to display toward one another.
The Malbim adds: the cherubim atop the Ark symbolize a time when the Jewish people perform the will of the Omnipresent, and then divine bounty flows through the Ark of the Covenant itself - "the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Torah are one" - direct influence from Him, blessed be He. Meanwhile, the cherubim made by Shlomo, which stood before the Ark, were intended to symbolize that even when they do not do the will of the Omnipresent, they still receive divine bounty, yet it comes through an intermediary rather than directly from the Ark.
וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת־הַפָּרֹכֶת תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְכַרְמִיל וּבוּץ וַיַּעַל עָלָיו כְּרוּבִים׃ - He made the curtain of blue, purple, crimson yarn, and fine linen, and worked cherubim upon it.
He hung the curtain over the doorway within the Amah Teraksin. As recalled, in the First Temple there was a one-amah-thick stone partition between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, which was the Amah Teraksin, containing an entranceway through which one entered the Holy of Holies, and this entrance had doors. In the Second Temple there was no Amah Teraksin, only a curtain, which is why they hung two curtains, and the Kohen would enter and walk between them to burn the incense - since there was no clear resolution as to whether the space of the Amah Teraksin belonged to the Sanctuary or the Holy of Holies; thus they hung two curtains, leaving the area between them unresolved. In the First Temple, where there was an actual stone wall, Shlomo placed a curtain at the entranceway in addition to the doors - and this is what the verse is describing.
Even though there were doors there - in accordance with the commentary attributed to Rashi, that the entrance of the House had inner doors to the Holy of Holies, as we will see further on - he nevertheless placed a curtain there, "and worked cherubim upon it," meaning depictions of cherubim, images of angels. The Malbim adds that this detail, the matter of the curtain of the Holy of Holies, is not mentioned at all in the Book of Melachim, and it is Ezra who comes to teach us that the Holy of Holies had a curtain as well.
וַיַּעַשׂ לִפְנֵי הַבַּיִת עַמּוּדִים שְׁנַיִם אַמּוֹת שְׁלֹשִׁים וְחָמֵשׁ אֹרֶךְ וְהַצֶּפֶת אֲשֶׁר־עַל־רֹאשׁוֹ אַמּוֹת חָמֵשׁ׃ - Before the House he made two pillars, thirty-five amot in length, and the capital that was atop each was five amot.
In the Book of Kings it is mentioned that each pillar was eighteen cubits high, whereas here it says thirty-five. The Malbim explains that Ezra comes to teach us that when they cast the pillars, they cast them all at once as a single long pillar, thirty-five cubits in length. Afterwards, they hammered each part with a mallet, elongating it by half a cubit: thirty-five divided by two is seventeen and a half, and we need eighteen - so he hammered each with a mallet and it lengthened from seventeen and a half to eighteen. It turns out that the measurement of thirty-five mentioned here refers to the single long pillar before it was divided into two.
"And the capital that was upon its head was five cubits" - the tzefet is the capital (koteret). The term derives from tzofeh, looking out from above, or from tzaf, floating above, as in "and the iron floated [vayatzef]" (II Kings 6:6), for it rose and floated. It also relates to tzanif (a turban or headdress), as it was fashioned like a headdress atop the head. Since the capital consisted of two parts, Scripture refers to both together as tzefet - that is, the entire upper ornamentation of the pillar.
וַיַּעַשׂ שַׁרְשְׁרוֹת בַּדְּבִיר וַיִּתֵּן עַל־רֹאשׁ הָעַמֻּדִים וַיַּעַשׂ רִמּוֹנִים מֵאָה וַיִּתֵּן בַּשַּׁרְשְׁרוֹת׃ - "And he made chains in the inner sanctuary, and placed them on the top of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains."
The Malbim notes: Here Scripture does not mention the network (latticework), which it will discuss in chapter 4, verse 12. The chains were covered at their top by a network, and at their ends the pomegranates were suspended, and the base of the network is called here devir. This does not refer to the Devir of the Holy of Holies - after all, the pillars stood outside - rather, devir here means the enclosed, inner chamber: the chains appeared as if resting within an inner compartment, inside the network that covered them, like a room within a room. Therefore, they are called "chains in the devir."
"And he made a hundred pomegranates" - on each chain, one hundred pomegranates hung. In Kings it says, "and the pomegranates were two hundred," because there were two pillars, and on each there were one hundred - making two hundred in total. Here Scripture refers to a single chain, arranged in two rows, each row containing one hundred pomegranates.
וַיָּקֶם אֶת־הָעַמּוּדִים עַל־פְּנֵי הַהֵיכָל אֶחָד מִיָּמִין וְאֶחָד מֵהַשְּׂמֹאול וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם־הַיְמָנִי יָכִין וְשֵׁם הַשְּׂמָאלִי בֹּעַז׃ - "And he set up the pillars before the Temple, one on the right and one on the left; and he called the name of the right one Yachin, and the name of the left one Boaz."
"Before the Temple" - at the entrance of the Heichal from the outside, in the Ulam (vestibule), that is where the two pillars stood. At their tops were lily-work capitals, that is, shaped like a lily flower. One stood to the right of the entrance and the second to its left.
Regarding the pronunciation: the name Boaz differs from most biblical names, the vast majority of which are stressed on the final syllable (milra) - David, Moshe, Aharon, Shlomo, Yosef, Yaakov, Avraham. But the name Boaz is never milra; it is always stressed on the first syllable (mile'el): Bó'az, not Bo'áz. Some people, attempting to sound "biblical," pronounce it Bo'áz - but this is an error. This is true both here regarding the pillars and in Megillat Ruth. A father once mentioned this to his daughter, and she replied that her teacher had said otherwise; he told her to tell the teacher that it must be read Bó'az. She asked how this is known, and the answer is simple: when a word has cantillation marks (te'amim) and appears clearly in the verse, one simply looks at where the accent lies; if it is on the final syllable, it is milra, and if on the first syllable, it is mile'el.
And why were they given these names? The commentary attributed to Rashi explains: "Yachin" refers to the kingdom of David, which the Holy One, blessed be He, will establish and make firm (yachin veyikhonen), as in "like the moon, established forever" (Psalms 89:38); and "Boaz" corresponds to the sun that goes forth in might, alluding to oz (strength). A further explanation is brought in the commentary attributed to Rashi in the name of yeish omrim (some say): since Hiram was from the tribe of Dan, he named one "Yachin" after his ancestor Shimshon, of whom it is said, "And Shimshon took hold of the two middle pillars" (Judges 16:29), and he named the other "Boaz" after Shlomo's ancestor, similar to "And Lavan called it Yegar Sahaduta" (Genesis 31:47). The Radak explains that according to the plain sense (peshat), he gave them these names as an auspicious omen: "Yachin" from the language of preparation and establishment, that Hashem should establish the Temple forever, and "Boaz" from the language of strength (oz), that it should have strength and endurance. This itself requires explanation, for it is not customary to give personal names to parts of a building - people give names to human beings, not to this wall or that wall; every house has general functional names, such as the kitchen or the living room, but to erect pillars and give them individual names? Rather, he wished to signify that the pillars standing at the entrance of the House are an auspicious omen for the Temple: that it should possess both establishment and strength, enduring and remaining firmly established forever.
We learned in the Malbim in Sefer Melachim an explanation regarding the pillars, and because of the importance of these matters, we will review them here as well. The Malbim explains that Shlomo hinted through these two pillars at two modes of Providence through which the Holy One, blessed be He, governs His world. Natural Providence, established since the six days of Creation, is always attributed to the left, and is called "Boaz" - an expression of oz (strength), which is the aspect of Gevurah, and Gevurah is on the left side (while Chassadim are on the right). This is the dimension that never changes, the constant and perpetual strength of Hashem, which requires no special preparation but is rather the orderly course set from the six days of Creation.
In contrast, the miracles of Hashem appear through the right - "Your right hand, Hashem, is glorious in power," and with His right hand He performs wonders. Miraculous Providence operates according to the preparation of those below: if we are prepared and worthy of it, the Holy One, blessed be He, performs a miracle, and if not, He does not perform one; and He renews this each time according to the need of that moment. Therefore, the right pillar is called "Yachin" (He will prepare), meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, prepares the miracle according to what is needed and in accordance with the preparation of those below.
The Malbim adds that the godly sages, the Kabbalists, have already explained that these correspond to the trei samchei keshot ("two supports of truth") - the two thighs, representing Netzach and Hod. These pillars correspond to them: the right one represents the bestower (mashpia, Netzach) and the left represents the recipient (mekabel, Hod). This also corresponds to Yesod and Malchut, which are likewise aspects of right and left: Yesod is on the right, the bestower. When we say Yesod, it generally refers to the overall influence flowing from the entire Partzuf of Ze'ir Anpin - Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, all six extremities - which channel flow into the aspect of Malchut, the Nukva (female), while Yesod is the Dechura (male). Miraculous Providence is channeled through Yesod, the foundation of the world, called Chai HaOlamim (the Life of the Worlds).
Therefore, it is not for naught that the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits. For Yesod draws from Tiferet Yisrael, and Tiferet is the central column, and Yesod is also in the central column - as the Sefirot are divided into three columns: right, left, and middle, ChaBaD, ChaGaT, NeHY"M, as we have already detailed at length on other occasions. Tiferet corresponds to the torso, and from there Yesod draws - via the spinal column, which is connected to the brain, for the drop descends from the intellect (mochin) through the spinal column to the aspect of Yesod, and from there to the aspect of procreation. In the spine there are eighteen vertebrae; therefore, the length of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, corresponding to the spine that channels into Yesod. This is the pillar of the bestower, the aspect of dechura, the aspect of "Yachin" - Yesod, which embodies the miracle.
Natural Providence, on the other hand, is channeled through the attribute of Malchut, which is the recipient. For Malchut has nothing of its own (leit lah migarma chalum), as we have explained several times - it has no light of its own, but only the abundance it receives from Yesod, and whatever Yesod receives from the five extremities it brings down to Malchut. There we find the twelve permutations of the Tetragrammaton and the twelve diagonal boundaries (gevulei alachson), which is reflected in the Sea made by Shlomo that stood upon twelve oxen, and in what is written: "and a cord of twelve cubits encircled" the second pillar. These are Kabbalistic concepts, but the principle is clear: the two pillars signify two kinds of divine influence - the constant natural order, and the miraculous order that is renewed according to our preparation.
In this part of the chapter, Ezra teaches us details that were not stated in Melachim: the dimensions of the Kodesh HaKodashim measured according to the positioning of the Keruvim from north to south; the plating of the floor with thick golden plates fastened with nails and the six hundred talents; the overlaying of the upper chambers; the Keruvim being "two" - identical in form yet distinct as male and female; "sculptured work" (ma'aseh tza'atzu'im) depicted as flying or with faces of children; their dimensions after plating, and their standing side by side on their feet facing the House - from which Chazal deduced that they stood miraculously; the Parochet of the Kodesh HaKodashim which was not mentioned in Melachim; and the pillars that were cast as a single thirty-five-cubit column and divided into two. Ultimately, Yachin and Boaz standing at the entrance were not merely decorative: they were an auspicious sign for the Temple to be established and endure, and an allusion to the two modes of divine Providence - the constant natural order set from the six days of Creation, and the miraculous order granted according to the preparation of those below.