מלכים א, פרק ז׳, פסוק מ״ב

The intricate design of the copper pillars in Solomon's Temple featured detailed decorations crowning their tops. Copper latticework was installed at these highest points, adorned with hundreds of hanging pomegranates that completed the grand appearance. The four hundred pomegranates were divided equally between the two pillars, resulting in two hundred for each. These were carefully arranged in two rows per network, with exactly one hundred pomegranates in every row. Rather than being scattered randomly, they were threaded together in chains, much like beads on a string [רש״י].

These decorations were placed high up on the pillars, a position conceptually compared to a face, just as the human face is located at the highest part of the body [מצודת ציון]. They hung specifically at the bottom of the latticework [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Their main purpose was to serve as a visual covering, though commentators differ on exactly what they concealed. One perspective suggests that the pomegranates dangled from the bottom of the network to cover the upper portion of the lower capital on the pillars [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Another approach proposes that the pomegranates were meant to cover the latticework itself, resting directly upon the nets [אברבנאל].