1 Kings 7:25

25 ¹It stood on twelve * oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward.

1 Kings 7:25 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:25

It stood upon twelve oxen
Figures of them in brass, of full proportion:

three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and
three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east;
and so turned to the four quarters of the world:

and the sea was set above upon them;
as it were on the backs of them, and their mouths served as spouts or cocks, to let water out of it on all sides:

and all their hinder parts were inward;
that they might not be seen, and which met in a centre; they that were north came against those that were south, and they in the east met with those to the west. The brass of the sea, according to Jacob Leon ^F18, weighed 1,800 arobas, and, with twelve oxen under, 33,500; each aroba being twenty five pounds weight.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 4. p. 21.

1 Kings 7:25 In-Context

23 Now he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and thirty cubits in circumference .

24 Under its brim gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast with the rest.

25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward.

26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths.

27 Then he made the ten stands of bronze; the length of each stand was four cubits and its width four cubits and its height three cubits.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 4:4, 5; Jeremiah 52:20