וְאָמְר֗וּ עַל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָֽזְב֜וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹתֵיהֶ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר הוֹצִיאָם֮ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַיִם֒ וַֽיַּחֲזִ֙יקוּ֙ בֵּאלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲו֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם וַיַּֽעַבְד֑וּם עַל־כֵּן֙ הֵבִ֣יא עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם אֵ֥ת כָּל־הָרָעָ֖ה הַזֹּֽאת׃ (פ)
And they shall answer: Because they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them; therefore hath He brought all this evil upon them.’
Rashi
thirty-five cubits long i.e., the height. And in I Kings (7:15): “And he cast the two pillars of copper, eighteen cubits, etc.” Rabbi Solomon (Rashi to Kings) explained that he cast them both together and subsequently divided them in two, and the missing cubit is not counted because it is unlike the work of the rest of the pillar, as is written there in the section (7:22): “And upon the top of the pillars was lily work.” Rabbi Joseph [Kara] also explained it in this manner, but it is not acceptable to me, for what is the meaning of its height being eighteen, but this is how I heard it, that he surely cast them both together, and then divided them in two; so we find that each one was seventeen and a half cubits, and the capital, which was the chapiter, as is stated there, its thickness was half a cubit, making each one eighteen cubits.