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…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 7:40
And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins--These verses contain a general enumeration of Hiram's works, as well as those already mentioned as other minor things. The Tyrian artists are frequently mentioned by ancient authors as skilful artificers in fashioning and embossing metal cups and bowls; and we need not wonder, therefore, to find them employed by Solomon in making the golden and brazen utensils for his temple and palaces.
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 7:40
So Hiram made an end - It is truly surprising, that in so short a time one artist could design and execute works of such magnitude, taste, and variety, however numerous his assistants might be. The mere building of the house was a matter of little difficulty in comparison of these internal works.
John Gill on 1 Kings 7:40
And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins,.... The lavers are not the ten before mentioned, of the make of which an account is before given; but these, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom, are the same with the pots, 1 Kings 7:45 and so they are called in 2 Chronicles 4:11 the use of which, as they say, was to put the ashes of the altar into; as the "shovels", next mentioned, were a sort of besoms to sweep them off, and the "basins" were to receive the blood of the sacrifices, and sprinkle it; no mention is here made of the altar of brass he made, but is in 2 Chronicles 4:11, nor of the fleshhooks to take the flesh out of the pots, as in 2 Chronicles 4:16,
so Hiram made an e…
