an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular construct
bases
הַמְּכוֹנָ֖הha.me.kho.Nah
H4350
a pedestal · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
borders
מִסְגְּרֹ֣תmis.ge.Rot
H4526
something enclosing · noun, common feminine plural absolute
borders
וּמִסְגְּרֹ֖תu.mis.ge.Rot
H4526
something enclosing · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural absolute
ledges
הַשְׁלַבִּֽיםhash.la.Bim
H7948
a spacer or raised interval · definite article + noun, common 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).
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 ten bases of brass--These were trucks or four-wheeled carriages, for the support and conveyance of the lavers. The description of their structure shows that they were elegantly fitted up and skilfully adapted to their purpose. They stood, not on the axles, but on four rests attached to the axles, so that the figured sides were considerably raised above the wheels. They were all exactly alike in form and size. The lavers which were borne upon them were vessels capable each of holding three hundred gallons of water, upwards of a ton weight. The whole, when full of water, would be no less than two tons [NAPIER].
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 7:27
He made ten bases - That is, pedestals, for the ten lavers to rest on.
John Gill on 1 Kings 7:28
And the work of the bases was on this manner,.... The following was the form in which they were made:
they had borders; plates of brass all around them, which enclosed them:
and the borders were between the ledges; which were short staves or bars of brass, that stood upright all around, like the staves of a cart on each side, or the rails of a balcony, only in double rows; and between these were the borders or plates of brass.
The Church Fathers
Hence the surface of the bases was not level at any point, but whichever side one turned, it was carved with mystical figures because the minds of the saints, indeed their whole way of life, displays the charm of the virtues in everything, and not an empty or idle hour passes them by that they fail to have time for good works or words or, at all events, thoughts. They have little crowns carved on them when they yearn with untiring longing for entry into eternal life; they have ledges when, amid their longing for the life of heaven that is above, they never undo the bonds of fraternal intercourse that is at hand; they have lions between the little crowns and ledges when they so raise their minds to hope for heavenly things and so open them out to the love of their neighbor that they do not shirk the zealous exercise of stern denunciation on any sinners entrusted to their charge. In addition to lions, they have oxen when they employ even the invective of correction in a spirit of meekness, when, in the heat of rebuking, they never cease to have the cloven hoof of prudent action and word or to roll the words of divine reading around in the mouth as if ruminating on them. Finally, blessed Stephen, the one who was the pillar of excellence of the Lord's temple, seemed to show the fierce teeth and claws of a lion when he said to his persecutors, "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" and so forth; but in saying this he showed how much of the compassion of bovine meekness he nurtured in his heart within, when, for these same persecutors raging to kill him, he knelt and said, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." But because we can have neither hope of things eternal in heaven, nor love of neighbor on earth, nor the fervor of trenchant zeal nor the gentleness of compassionate restraint, without knowledge of the holy Scriptures, it is aptly remarked that after crown and ledges, after lions and oxen, cherubim too were carved. For it is generally accepted that cherubim are a type of sacred scripture, whether because the two cherubim on the propitiatory of the ark were fashioned as a figure of the two Testaments that sing in harmony of Christ or because the name itself means "much knowledge."
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;…
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
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 7:27-39
The Brazen Stands and Their Basins.
(Note: The description which follows will be more easily understood by comparing it with the sketch given in my biblische Archologie, Taf. iii. fig. 4.)
- He made ten stands of brass, each four cubits long, four cubits broad, and three cubits high. מכנות, stands or stools (Luther), is the name given to these vessels from their purpose, viz., to serve as supports to the basins which were used for washing the flesh of the sacrifices. They were square chests cast in brass, of the dimensions given.
Kg1 7:28-29
Their work (their construction) was the following: they had מסגּרות, lit., surroundings, i.e., panels of flat sides, and that between שׁלבּים, commissur…
The ten bronze water carts each held a basin for rinsing burnt offerings (2 Chr 4:6). Five stood on either side of the Temple. Because they had wheels, they could be moved as needed.
Rashi on 1 Kings 7:28
They had frames. I saw in the Mishnah of “Forty-Nine Measurements,” that the מסגרות were in the form of טבלאות.48The מסגרות are “boards” or “panels” on each of the four sides, and they served as a frame for the base. Therefore, they are referred to as “מסגרות” which means frames, as in Shemos 25:25, 27.
They had frames. The frames were from the axle of one wheel to the axle of the other wheel. And the “יד אופן” is the wood which is inserted into the wheel, in the hole, and it is called essieu, in O.F. And the four wheels of the base had frames on this side and frames on the other side, on all four sides; between one and the other, was a width of four amohs, and above there were “blocks [=סר…
