1 Kings 7:39

39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple. He placed the other five on the north side. He put the huge bowl on the south side. It was 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.

---

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 That's how he made the ten stands. All of them were made in the same molds. And they had the same size and shape.

38 Then Huram made ten bronze bowls. Each one held 230 gallons. The bowls measured six feet across. There was one bowl for each of the ten stands.

39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple. He placed the other five on the north side. He put the huge bowl on the south side. It was at the southeast corner of the temple.

40 He also made the bowls, shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all of the work he had started for King Solomon. Here's what he made for the LORD's temple.

41 He made the two pillars. He made the two tops for the pillars. The tops were shaped like bowls. He made the two sets of chains that were linked together. They decorated the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars.