1 Kings 7:39

39 He arranged five stands on the south side of The Temple and five on the north. The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of The Temple.

1 Kings 7:39 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:39

And he put five bases on the right side of the house
On the south side, which is commonly understood; that is, of the courts of the priests, where they were placed for their use: and five on the left side of the house; on the north, as it must be, if the south is on the right; though as the entrance into the temple was at the east, when a man went in, the north must be on the right, and the south on the left; and this seems to be the position by what follows:

and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, over
against the south;
and therefore the right side must be the north, which is opposite to the south; the sea seems to have stood northeast, which was for the priests to wash in before they entered on divine service, (See Gill on Exodus 30:20) hence it became customary with the Heathens to wash before they performed any religious worship ^F5, particularly the hands and feet ^F6.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Vid. Virgil. Bucolic. Eclog. 8. "affer aquam" Aeneid. 2. "attrectare nefas" Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. l.
F6 Vid. Sperling de Bapt. Ethnic. p. 88, 89, 101.

1 Kings 7:39 In-Context

37 The washstands were identical, all cast in the same mold.

38 He also made ten bronze washbasins, each six feet in diameter with a capacity of 230 gallons, one basin for each of the ten washstands.

39 He arranged five stands on the south side of The Temple and five on the north. The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of The Temple.

40 Hiram then fashioned the various utensils: buckets and shovels and bowls. Hiram completed all the work he set out to do for King Solomon on The Temple of God:

41 two pillars; two capitals on top of the pillars; two decorative filigrees for the capitals;