וּשְׁתֵּ֨י כֹתָרֹ֜ת עָשָׂ֗ה לָתֵ֛ת עַל־רָאשֵׁ֥י הָֽעַמּוּדִ֖ים מֻצַ֣ק נְחֹ֑שֶׁת חָמֵ֣שׁ אַמּ֗וֹת קוֹמַת֙ הַכֹּתֶ֣רֶת הָאֶחָ֔ת וְחָמֵ֣שׁ אַמּ֔וֹת קוֹמַ֖ת הַכֹּתֶ֥רֶת הַשֵּׁנִֽית׃
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.
Rashi
and the capital - Heb. וְהַצֶּפֶת. That is the overlay (צִפּוּי) like (verse 10): “and he (sic) overlaid them (וַיְצַפֶּה) with gold.” I.e., it was made like a sort of hollow (conical) hat, whose thickness was half of a cubit from below, and when it is inverted and placed on the pillar, it is found to be eighteen cubits: in I Kings (7:16-20), it is called chapiters (כֹּתָרוֹת), an expression of a crown (כֶּתֶר), as it is written: “And two chapiters (כּתָרוֹת), etc.”
Rashi
The height of the crown was three amohs. And in the beginning of the Book [of Melochim] it states, ”five amohs [high].”9Melochim 7:16. I reconciled the verses there.10Rashi reconciled the difference as follows: The crown was actually five amohs high but its two lower amohs are not counted because the column was inserted into the crown two amohs deep and it served as a base for the crown.