2 Chronicles 3:13 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 3:13 mean?

2 Chronicles 3:13 describes two large figures called cherubims inside Solomon’s temple. Their outstretched wings together measured twenty cubits, about 30 feet, and the figures stood upright with their faces turned inward.

The verse is part of the narrator’s account of the temple’s construction. After describing how the wings touched in verse 12, the narrator gives their combined span and describes the figures’ posture.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 3:13

• “cherubims” — כְּרוּבִים (keruvim): The word refers to winged heavenly beings. Here, the word names figures made for the temple, rather than living creatures in the room.

• “inward” — בַּיִת (bayit): The word means “house.” In this setting, it refers to the temple building and helps locate the direction the figures faced.

Why 2 Chronicles 3:13 matters

• The twenty cubits describe the span of the wings together, not the height of either figure. Verse 12 says the inner wings touched each other, while the outer wings reached the walls.

• The figures faced toward the temple building, rather than toward each other. The KJV’s “inward” can be clarified by the Hebrew reference to the “house.”

• The figures were made as part of the temple’s inner room. Verse 10 places them in the “most holy house,” the innermost room of the building.