Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for II Chronicles 7:7

וַיְקַדֵּ֣שׁ שְׁלֹמֹ֗ה אֶת־תּ֤וֹךְ הֶֽחָצֵר֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י בֵית־יְהוָ֔ה כִּֽי־עָ֤שָׂה שָׁם֙ הָֽעֹל֔וֹת וְאֵ֖ת חֶלְבֵ֣י הַשְּׁלָמִ֑ים כִּֽי־מִזְבַּ֤ח הַנְּחֹ֙שֶׁת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֣ה שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה לֹ֣א יָכ֗וֹל לְהָכִ֛יל אֶת־הָעֹלָ֥ה וְאֶת־הַמִּנְחָ֖ה וְאֶת־הַחֲלָבִֽים׃

Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings; because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat.

Rashi on II Chronicles

And Solomon consecrated the interior of the court Our Sages differ in this matter (Zeb. 59): Rabbi Judah says: He consecrated the floor of the forecourt with the sanctity of the altar to burn offerings on the floor, because the copper altar was too small to contain [the offerings], because they brought many sacrifices. Rabbi Jose said to him: Was it not already stated (1:6): “And he offered up on it a thousand burnt offerings” on the altar that Moses had made? When you compute the number of cubits and the number of burnt offerings, you will find that this one of stones was larger than that of Moses, for on Moses’ altar, the place of its pyre was a cubit by a cubit, whereas on Solomon’s, the place of its pyre was twenty-four by twenty-four. The result is that Solomon’s [altar] was 576 times as large as that of Moses. If so, what is the meaning of (I Kings 8:64): “the king consecrated the interior of the court”? That he set the stone altar into it, fastened to the floor.
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Rashi on II Chronicles

could not contain He is talking about Moses’ [altar], like a person who says, “So and so is a dwarf and is disqualified from performing the sacrificial service.”
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