This verse may be a later addition to the text; but as it stands now, it appears to refer to the two pillars named Jachin and Boaz in verse 21.

The capitals … were of lily-work: A lily is a rather large flower that may be red or white. Cogan (2000) argues that the Hebrew word rendered lily refers to the white lily, not to the lotus plant (that is, the water lily). But Hepper argues for “the open lotus water-lily flower with four … sepals corresponding to the four sides of the capital” (page 184). It is not clear from the Hebrew in this context whether (a) the capitals curved outward at the top as lily leaves do or (b) whether long, narrow lily-shaped leaves were carved onto the capitals. Good News Translation, New Living Translation, and Revised English Bible, which read “… shaped like lilies,” seem to be based on the first interpretation. New American Bible may reflect the second interpretation by saying “… finished wholly in a lotus pattern.” If the lily is unknown, translators may simply say “flower.”

Good News Translation leaves implicit the fact that the pillars were in the vestibule. For vestibule see the comments at 1 Kgs 6.3.

Four cubits is “almost two meters” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) or six feet. The Hebrew does not actually state that the four cubits refers to the height, but that is most likely. Good News Translation makes explicit that the reference is to height with its rendering “6 feet tall.” Since verse 16 says the capitals were five cubits tall, the four cubits may refer to the length of the lily-shaped leaves carved on the capitals. Another way to understand the relationship between verses 16 and 19 is that the verses refer to two separate capitals, the one on top of the other. For this verse Bible en français courant says “On each column, there was a second capital, two meters high, in the form of a lily” (similarly Parole de Vie).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .