eighteen cubits high apiece
1 Kings 7:15
7:15 eighteen cubits high apiece. The parallel description in II Chronicles 3:15 says these pillars were thirty-five cubits high. The apparent contradiction has been attributed to a copyist error in the Chronicles reference. The eighteen-cubit dimension is confirmed in II Kings 25:17 and Jeremiah 52:21. These two pillars were evidently free standing; their names, Jachin and Boaz (I Kings 7:21), are believed to have meant “Established” and “Strong,” referring to God and His purpose as depicted in the temple and its ministry. It has also been suggested that the two pillars could have been first cast together in a thirty-five cubit mold, then later divided into the two pillars.