1 Kings 7:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Kings 7:23
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
molten
יָצַקyâtsaq
H3332
properly
sea
הַיָּ֖םhai.Yam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ten
עֶ֣שֶׂר'E.ser
H6235
ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
cubits
בָּ֠אַמָּהBa.'a.mah
H520
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
brim
מִשְּׂפָת֨וֹmi.se.fa.To
H8193
the lip (as a natural boundary) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
other
שְׂפָת֜וֹse.fa.To
H8193
the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
round
עָגֹ֣ל'a.Gol
H5696
circular · adjective, masculine singular absolute
about
סָבִ֗יבsa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
height
קוֹמָת֔וֹko.ma.To
H6967
height · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
five
וְחָמֵ֤שׁve.cha.Mesh
H2568
five · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
cubits
בָּֽאַמָּה֙ba.'a.Mah
H520
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
line
וְקָו֙u.ke.veh
H6957
a cord (as connecting) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
thirty
שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםshe.lo.Shim
H7970
thirty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
cubits
בָּֽאַמָּ֔הba.'a.Mah
H520
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
compass
יָסֹ֥בya.So
H5437
to revolve · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
about
סָבִֽיבsa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Kings 25:13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Ch…
2 Chronicles 4:2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits…
Jeremiah 52:17 Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chald…
Exodus 30:18-21 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congr…
Exodus 38:8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of t…
1 Chronicles 18:8 Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pil…
Jeremiah 52:20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass…
2 Kings 16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that wer…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 7:13-47
We have here an account of the brass-work about the temple. There was no iron about the temple, though we find David preparing for the temple iron for things of iron, Ch1 29:2. What those things were we are not told, but some of the things of brass are here described and the rest mentioned.
I. The brasier whom Solomon employed to preside in this part of the work was Hiram, or Huram (Ch2 4:11), who was by his mother's side an Israelite, of the tribe of Naphtali, by his father's side a man of Tyre, Kg1 7:14. If he had the ingenuity of a Tyrian, and the affection of an Israelite to the house of God (the head of a Tyrian and the heart of an Israelite), it was happy that the blood of the two nati…
he made a molten sea--In the tabernacle was no such vessel; the laver served the double purpose of washing the hands and feet of the priests as well as the parts of the sacrifices. But in the temple there were separate vessels provided for these offices. (See on Ch2 4:6). The molten sea was an immense semicircular vase, measuring seventeen and a half feet in diameter, and being eight and three-fourths feet in depth. This, at three and a half inches in thickness, could not weigh less than from twenty-five to thirty tons in one solid casting--and held from sixteen thousand to twenty thousand gallons of water. [See on Ch2 4:3.] The brim was all carved with lily work or flowers; and oxen were ca…
The right pillar - Jachin - That is, He shall establish. The left pillar - Boaz, that is, in strength. These were no doubt emblematical; for notwithstanding their names, they seem to have supported no part of the building.
John Gill on 1 Kings 7:23
And he made a molten sea,.... A large vessel made of molten brass, which, because of the great quantity of water it held, is called a sea; as it was usual with the Jews to call a large collection of waters a sea, as the sea of Tiberius and Galilee. This was made by the man of Tyre, as the pillars, by the order of Solomon, and answered to the brasen laver in the tabernacle, only larger than that; and was not only for the priests to wash their hands and feet in, but to dip upon occasion, and by the Jews (p) is expressly said to be a dipping place for the priests, see 2 Chronicles 4:6,
ten cubits from the one brim to the other: which was the diameter of it: it was round all about; spherical or…
The Church Fathers
"He also made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, completely round." This molten sea was made as a figure of the laver of salvation in which we are cleansed for the remission of our sins. For priests were washed in it, as the Chronicles assure us; but it is agreed that all the elect are called priests in a typological sense in the Scriptures since they are members of the high priest Jesus Christ. And rightly has Scripture given the name of sea to this vessel, in memory, that is, of the Red Sea in which once, through the destruction of the Egyptians and the deliverance of the people of God, the form of baptism was anticipated, as the apostle explains when he says, "that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all in Moses were baptized in the cloud and in the sea." Now the sacrament of baptism both requires of us purity of life and promises us the glory of eternal life in the world to come, both of which things are denoted in this bronze sea in one sentence where it is said to be ten cubits from brim to brim. For by the Ten Commandments in the law the Lord expressed all that we must do. Likewise by the denarius he indicated the reward of good deeds when he foretold that it was to be given to those working in the vineyard. The reason why the sea was ten cubits from brim to brim was that the whole choir of the faithful from the first one baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to the last to believe and be baptized at the end of the world must enter on one and the same way of truth and hope for a common crown of righteousness from the Lord. It was completely circular in order to signify that the whole universe all the way around was to be cleansed in the laver of life from the filth of its sins.In this regard the remark is well made that "its height was five cubits," because, of course, whatever fault we have committed with the sense of sight or hearing or smell or taste or touch, all this the grace of God washes away from us through the ablution of the life-giving font. But the remission of past sins is not enough if one does not thereafter devote oneself to good works; otherwise, if the devil, after leaving a person, sees such a one to be lacking in good actions, he comes back in greater numbers and makes "the last state of that person worse than the first." Hence it is fittingly added, "And a line of thirty cubits…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Laver — (Heb. kiyor), a “basin” for boiling in, a “pan” for cooking (1 Sam. 2:14), a “fire-pan” or hearth (Zech. 12:6), the sacred wash-bowl of the tabernacle and temple (Ex. 30:18, 28; 31:9; 35:16; 38:8;…
Phenicia — (Acts 21:2) = Phenice (11:19; 15:3; R.V., Phoenicia), Gr. phoinix, “a palm”, the land of palm-trees; a strip of land of an average breadth of about 20 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean,…
Sea, Molten — In the place of the laver of the tabernacle Solomon caused a laver to be cast for a similar purpose, which from its size was called a sea. It was made partly or wholly of the brass, or rather copper,…
Sea, The molten — The great laver made by Solomon for the use of the priests in the temple, described in 1 Kings 7:23-26; 2 Chr. 4:2-5. It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. It was 5 cubits high, 10…
Brass · .Altar, vessels, and other articles of the tabernacle and temple — .Altar, vessels, and other articles of the tabernacle and temple
Carving · Hiram — Hiram
Chapiter · Head of a pillar — Head of a pillar
Hiram · of the interior of the temple — of the interior of the temple
Laver · .In connection with — .In connection with
Laver Of Brass · One made by Solomon for the temple — One made by Solomon for the temple
The brazen sea (cf. Ch2 4:2-5). - "He made the molten sea - a water-basin called ים (mare) on account of its size - ten cubits from the one upper rim to the other," i.e., in diameter measured from the upper rim to the one opposite to it, "rounded all round, and five cubits its (external) height, and a line of thirty cubits encircled it round about," i.e., it was thirty cubits in circumference. The Chethib קוה is to be read קוה here and in Zac 1:16 and Jer 31:39, for which the Keri has קו in all these passages. קוה or קו means a line for measuring, which is expressed in Kg1 7:15 by חוּט. The relation of the diameter to the circumference is expressed in whole numbers which come very near to th…
The giant bronze basin called the Sea replaced the smaller bronze washbasin used in the Tabernacle service (see Exod 30:17-21). The Sea was cast as one solid piece, excluding the twelve bronze oxen on which it sat. The oxen were placed so that three faced each direction, perhaps to remind priests that they served God on behalf of all twelve tribes of Israel. Ahaz later replaced the oxen with a stone base (2 Kgs 16:17). The priests used the Sea, like the bronze washbasin before it, for ceremonial washing (2 Chr 4:6) as they prepared to minister before God (see Exod 30:17-21). The apparent discrepancy in the volume of water it could hold (see 2 Chr 4:5) is probably due to standards of measurem…
Ten amohs from rim to rim. Through the middle, because the diameter of every round object is through the middle.
And a line of thirty amohs [the circumference]. This is what was mentioned, “All that have three handbreadth in its circumference have one handbreadth in its diameter.” Its circumference was thirty [amohs] and its diameter ten [amohs],37The diameter of 10 amohs is a rounded off number. A diameter of ten amohs results in a circumference of approximately 31.4 amohs. and he measures from its midst. In [Maseches] Eruvin.38See Maseches Eruvin 14a.
High. Its depth; and in Divrei Hayomim it states that he made it for the Kohanim to bathe and to immerse in.39See II Divrei Hayomim 4:6. R…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
