1 Kings 7:46

46 He made them of liquid metal in the lowland of Jordan, at the way across the river, at Adama, between Succoth and Zarethan.

1 Kings 7:46 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:46

In the plain of Jericho did the king cast them in the
clay ground
Which being thick, as the word signifies, and stiff and close, was fit for such a purpose as casting brass; of such clay, furnaces of earth used to be made to melt metals in; but here were large things to be cast, as the two pillars, the sea, the ten lavers, &c. moulds were made in the ground, and so the melted brass was poured into them, which gave it its different forms; this, no doubt, was done by Hiram, though said to be done by the king, because done by his orders: the place where it was done was a part of the plain of Jericho, which lay

between Succoth and Zarthan;
Succoth was in the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan; Zarthan was near it on this side, in the tribe of Manasseh, the same that is called Zartanah, ( 1 Kings 4:12 ) and Zaretan, ( Joshua 3:16 ) and Zeredathah, ( 2 Chronicles 4:17 ) . The first casters of brass are said ^F8 to be Theodorus and Rhaecus, both Samians.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Pausau. Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 479. & Boeotica, sive, l. 9. p. 607.

1 Kings 7:46 In-Context

44 And the great water-vessel, with the twelve oxen under it;

45 And the pots and the spades and the basins; all the vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord, were of polished brass.

46 He made them of liquid metal in the lowland of Jordan, at the way across the river, at Adama, between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 The weight of all these vessels was not measured, because there was such a number of them; it was not possible to get the weight of the brass.

48 And Solomon had all the vessels made for use in the house of the Lord: the altar of gold and the gold table on which the holy bread was placed;