(Heb., yakhin, he will establish, bo†™az, agility, strength).
The names of the two symbolic columns in the portico of Solomon’s temple; Jachin on the south side, Boaz on the north side. These columns were designed by Hiram of Tire (1Ki 7:13-22).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
Name given by Solomon to the two bronze columns that were placed in the porch of the †temple. Jachin was on the right and Boaz on the left (1Ki 7:21). They were not part of the structure but were isolated. As for his height, 1Ki 7:15 and Jer 52:21 say that he was eighteen cubits; 2Ch 3:15 says thirty-five cubits. At the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans they were broken and the bronze taken to Babylon (Jer 52:17). As for the meaning of the names there are several theories. One of them: Jaquín = May God establish (or make strong). Boaz = In him (God) is strength.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
The names of the decorated bronze pillars or columns that flanked the entrance to *Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 7.21; 2 Chron. 3.15–17). When Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in 587 BC they were broken and taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25.13).
I. Description and construction
The columns were eighteen cubits high (about 9 m) and twelve in circumference (about 1 m in diameter), and on top they had capitals five cubits high (about 2.5 m) (1 Kings 7.15– 16). The Chronicler gives its height as 35 cubits (2 Chron. 3.15), but it is believed that it indicates the combined height of both columns, if we calculate a light of one cubit for their insertion in their bases and capitals. At the time of the destruction of the temple the capitals are said to have been three cubits high (2 Kings 25.17); this reduction in height may have been a consequence of the renovations that Joash (2 R. 12.6ff) or Josías (2 R. 22.3ff) carried out in the temple (cf. Jer. 52.22). This explanation is preferable to the opinion according to which it was an error in the reading or transmission of the text.
Various attempts have been made to imagine the decoration in the way it is described (1 Kings 7.17-22, 41-42; Jer. 52.22-23). It would seem that the capital had four open and inverted lily petals (susan) four cubits wide (bā˒ūlām1 Ki. 7.19, “of the vestibule”, vpso Yeivin) and had a balloon above it (gullā). This knob or globe was surrounded by a net (śeḇāḵâ) on the edge of which were two rows of pomegranates.
The columns and capitals were cast by Hiram, a craftsman from Tire (1 Kings 7:13–14), who worked in the clayey soil between Sukkot and Zarethan (1 Kings 7:46). They were hollow (Jer. 52.21) and may have been cast with a technique similar to that used by Sennacherib when he had great mythical beasts cast in bronze (ARAB, 2, 1927, pp. 169; see also Underwood, Man 58, 1958, pp. 42), or some method similar to that used for casting medieval cannon might have been adopted for this immense task.
II. Purpose
Although it has been suggested that the columns served to support the roof of the atrium, the OT description includes them with the furnishings of the temple rather than with the architectural elements, and we see that they were placed “in” or “near” (1 Kgs. 7.21) and “in front” (2 Chr. 3.17) of the temple. There is considerable evidence for the existence of free columns at the entrances of temple sanctuaries. in the ss. Columns were found in the temple of *Hazor and Kamid el-Loz in a Phoenician temple at Chithion and an Israelite temple at *Arad in the 13th century BC, but it is impossible to determine whether they were free columns or not. We can imagine the appearance of the columns based on models of clay sanctuaries found in Palestine and Cyprus (13th-9th centuries BC) and on ivories found in Arslan Tash and Nimrud. Impressions of temples on Greek and Roman coins from Cyprus and Phoenicia, and descriptions by Herodotus (2.44), Strabo (3.4.170), and Lucian (de dea Syria 15.27) reveal that pairs of columns continued to be placed at the entrance to the temples until the ss II AD at least.
While it is clear that the columns served no architectural purpose, what religious significance they may have had is obscure. They may have indicated the divine presence, as was the case with the columns of cloud and fire during the pilgrimage through the desert (Ex. 33.9; Dt. 31.15). Various stones and columns in use from prehistoric times to the present day apparently have a similar meaning.
III. Names
The names of the columns could serve to perpetuate the memory of David’s lineage on his mother’s side (Jachin appears as a Simeonite name and from a priestly family), and also by the paternal line (* Boaz). However, a more plausible theory is that the names may be the first words of oracles that gave power to the Davidic dynasty; perhaps “Yahweh will establish (yaḵı̂nyukse) your throne forever” and “in the fortress (be˓ōz) the king will rejoice in Yahweh”, or something similar.
Bibliography. A. Parrot, The Temple of Jerusalem, 1962, pp. 16–20; EH Maly, The World of David and Solomon, 1972, pp. 143–146; GE Wright, Biblical Archaeology, 1975, pp. 196–208.
RBY Scott, JBL 57, 1939, pp. 143ff; HG May, BASOR 88, 1942, p. 19–27; S. Yeivin, PEQ 91, 1959, p. 6–22; J. Ovellette, RB 76, 1969, p. 365–378.
DJW, CJD
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary