Capital (Heb. kaftôr, kôthereth, tsefeth and rô’sh). The top of a column or pillar (1Ki 7:16; etc.). Its style, ornamentation and shape have varied with the buildings and over time. The oldest stone capitals found in Palestine are those of Megiddo, they date from the time of Solomon and are classified as proto-Ionian, because they resemble a type of capital found on early Ionian columns. Bib.: Y. Shiloh. BASOR 222 (1976 Apr):67-77: PEQ 109 (1977):38-52. Expensive. See Face.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
Top of the column. (Comes from caput or head). It is an ornamental element in architecture. Its types, functions, even expressive languages, have been many in the various architectural styles and schools.
It has often been a support for religious iconographic creativity, as occurs in Romanesque and Gothic art, or in certain Arab forms.
The beauty, for example, of the religious scenes on the capitals of the Cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos constitutes in itself an admirable, profound and captivating catechesis for those who know how to use artistic language in their training plan.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
Piece decorated with moldings or sculpted to finish off a column at the top. The Jakin and Boaz columns of Solomon’s temple were topped by imposing capitals. (2Ch 3:15-17) Both these capitals and the columns on which they rested were made under the direction of the craftsman Hiram when the temple was built (1034-1027 BCE), and lasted more than four hundred years, until that the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 607 BC. CE (2Ch 4:11-13; Jer 52:17, 22) Whenever these capitals are referred to, except on one occasion, the Hebrew word ko·thé·reth, which comes from the root ka·thár, is used. (†˜encircle†™, Judg 20:43) and is related to ke·ther (†˜headdress†™, Es 1:11). The Hebrew word for “capital” at 2 Chronicles 3:15 (tze·feth) comes from the root verb tsa·fah, which means “to clothe”. (Ex 25:11.)
The columns were made of cast copper, they had a diameter of approximately 1.7 m. and a height of 18 cubits (8 m.). The capitals measured 5 cubits (2.2 m.) in height. (1Ki 7:15, 16) In view of passages indicating that the height of the capitals was five cubits, a number of scholars have concluded that the reference to “three cubits” in 2 Kings 25 :17 is a scribal error. Because of this, some Bible translations (eg, BJ, CI) have substituted “five cubits” for “three cubits.” As the columns were hollow and their walls measured about 7.5 cm. thick, it is reasonable to assume that the capitals were of similar characteristics and that they were also cast in clay molds “in the Jordan District”. (2Ch 4:17; Jer 52:21)
What is said about these bowl-shaped capitals does not allow us to determine their exact appearance or design. Around the base were seven copper meshes, from which hung two rows of one hundred copper pomegranates each, suspended from copper chains. These were placed like necklaces around the capitals. (1Ki 7:17, 18, 20, 42; 2Ch 3:16) It seems that four pomegranates out of a chain of one hundred were not clearly visible on the side of the capital facing the temple, for Jeremiah says that “there happened to be ninety and six, on the sides† (literally, “windward,” “outside” (MK), “visible” (Str). (Jer 52:23) Above these ornamental pomegranates was a “lily-work” of 4 cubits (1.8 m.) (1Ki 7:19, 22.)
Other capitals mentioned in the Bible are the “capitals” (Heb. kaf·toh·rim) of Nineveh, doomed to be frequented by the “pelican and the porcupine”. (Zeph 2:13, 14)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
1. Heb. Kaftor (a) ornamental head of columns, Am. 9.1; sofa 2.14; (°vrv2 “lintel”); (b) ornamental round bump (LXX sfairōtēr) in the *lampstand, Ex. 25.31–36; 37.17–2 (°vrv2 “apple”; °vm “balloons”; °bj “knots”).
2. Heb. ˓kôṯereṯ (a) spherical capital 5 cubits high on each of the columns, *Jachin and Boaz, in *Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings 7:16–42; 2 Chr. 4.12; Jer. 52.22; (b) circular lip projecting upwards around the edge of the hole in the top of the pedestal where the basin of each of the mobile lavacros was placed, 1 R. 7.31, °vm (°vrv2 “auction”).
3. Heb. ṣefeṯ2 Chron. 3.15, identical to 1. (b).
4. Heb. rō’š, (lit. ‘head’), term used for the capitals on the columns in the tabernacle, Ex. 36.38; 38.17.
DWG
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary