1 Kings 7:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Kings 7:24
And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
the lip (as a natural boundary) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
about
סָבִיב֙sa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
knops
וּפְקָעִים֩u.fe.ka.'Im
H6497
a semi-globe · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
compassing
סֹבְבִ֣יםsoe.Vim
H5437
to revolve · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
ten
עֶ֚שֶׂר'E.ser
H6235
ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
cubit
בָּֽאַמָּ֔הba.'a.Mah
H520
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
compassing
מַקִּפִ֥יםma.ki.Fim
H5362
to strike with more or less violence (beat · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
sea
הַיָּ֖םhai.Yam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
about
סָבִ֑יבsa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
knops
הַפְּקָעִ֔יםha.pe.ka.'Im
H6497
a semi-globe · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
cast
בִּיצֻקָתֽוֹbi.tzu.ka.To
H3333
poured out · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
two
שְׁנֵ֤יshe.Nei
H8147
two · noun, common both genders dual construct
rows
טוּרִים֙tu.Rim
H2905
a row · noun, common masculine plural absolute
cast
יְצֻקִ֖יםye.tzu.Kim
H3332
properly · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural 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
1 Kings 6:18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
2 Chronicles 4:3 And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen…
Exodus 25:31-36 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his kn…
Exodus 37:17-22 And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his f…
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 7:24
And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it,.... Of an oval form, and therefore the Targum calls them figures of eggs; in 2 Chronicles 4:3 they are said to have the similitude of oxen, being like the heads of oxen, and the other parts oval; or these were in the form of gourds, as sometimes the word is rendered, 2 Kings 4:39 which had on them the figures of the heads of oxen, and might serve as cocks to let out the water:
ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about it; and as the circumference was thirty cubits, there must be three hundred of these in the circuit:
the knops were cast in two rows when it was cast; for these were cast together with the sea, and bein…
The Church Fathers
"And a carved work under its brim surrounded it, encircling the sea for ten cubits. There were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures." Since it has been said above that a line of thirty cubits encircled the sea and it is now added that this carved work under the brim went around it for ten cubits, it is obvious from both accounts that the vessel was bent backwards and spread out like a bowl, because from a circumference of thirty cubits, which it measured at the brim, it narrowed to ten cubits. The chamfered sculpture is one that represents some historical events. Hence also the chamfered sculptures surrounding the sea rightly denote examples of former times that we must judiciously ponder to see by what works the saints have pleased God from the beginning and with what obstinacy the reprobate persisted in crimes and with what wickedness they perished because of their crimes; how in the beginning of the nascent world Cain was condemned for the malice of envy and Abel crowned for the merit of his uprightness; how Lamech was cursed for his adultery and murder and Enoch brought back to paradise for the grace of his piety; how after the flood Ham was detested by his father for his lack of filial piety and the peoples of Shem and Japheth were granted a perpetual blessing for their reverential obedience; how Abraham was made the heir of the divine promise in recognition of his faith while the numerous other nations were left in their ancestral unbelief; how when the Lord came in the flesh, Judea was rejected for the offense of unbelief and the Gentiles brought back to salvation by the grace of faith, and other things of the kind in both Testaments, which, when judiciously and devoutly contemplated, are of great profit to all earnest-minded people. And that perhaps is the reason why two orders of chamfered sculptures were made in the bronze sea, namely, that those who were immersed in the font of baptism may listen carefully to the stories of both Testaments; and the reason why they were ten cubits in circumference was that they might strive to imitate whomsoever they perceived in these stories to have been committed to carrying out the heavenly commands and totally rapt in the pursuit of heavenly rewards.
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
Knop — Some architectural ornament. (1.) Heb. kaphtor (Ex. 25:31-36), occurring in the description of the candlestick. It was an ornamental swell beneath the cups of the candlestick, probably an imitation…
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;…
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 Of Brass · One made by Solomon for the temple — One made by Solomon for the temple
Master Workman · .Hiram — .Hiram
Mechanic · .Hiram — .Hiram
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).
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…
Knobs. [Targum] Yonoson rendered וצורת ביעין [and the form of eggs].
Beneath its rim. [The knobs were located] in the lower three amohs which were square, for so did we learn in the Gemara in Maseches Eruvin, “The three lower ones were square and the two upper ones were round.”40See Maseches Eruvin 14b. It is impossible for one to contain two thousand bas which equal one hundred and fifty ritual baths of purity of forty [bas], except in this manner as explained by our Rabbis in [Maseches] Eruvin. The upper ones were square and the lower ones round, it is impossible to say for it is written, that its rim was “circular all around.”41Above v. 23. He, therefore, says regarding these knobs, “for…
