1 Kings 7:46

46 The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan with the casting mold [set in] the ground 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 one sea and the twelve oxen under the sea;

45 and the pots, the shovels, and the bowls for drinking wine. All the vessels of the tent which Hiram had made for King Solomon [for] the house of Yahweh [were] polished bronze.

46 The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan with the casting mold [set in] the ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 Solomon left all of the vessels [unweighed] because of their very great abundance, so the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

48 Solomon also made all of the vessels which [were] in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar and the golden table on which [was] the bread of the presence;