1 Kings 7:24

24 It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.

1 Kings 7:24 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:24

And under the brim of it round about there were knops
compassing it
Of an oval form, and therefore the Targum calls them figures of eggs; in ( 2 Chronicles 4:3 ) they are said to have the similitude of oxen, being like the heads of oxen, and the other parts oval; or these were in the form of gourds, as sometimes the word is rendered, ( 2 Kings 4:39 ) which had on them the figures of the heads of oxen, and might serve as cocks to let out the water:

ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about it;
and as the circumference was thirty cubits, there must be three hundred of these in the circuit:

the knops were cast in two rows when it was cast;
for these were cast together with the sea, and being in two rows, there must be in all six hundred of them.

1 Kings 7:24 In-Context

22 The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished.

23 Then Huram cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.

24 It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.

25 The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them.

26 The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 20 gourds per meter; Hebrew reads 10 per cubit.