1 Kings 7:23-26

23 ¹Now he made the sea of ²cast 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 ³gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, ⁴completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast with the rest.

25 ⁵It 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.

1 Kings 7:23-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7

This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1Ki 7:1-12; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1Ki 7:13-22; of the molten sea, 1Ki 7:23-26; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1Ki 7:27-39; with other utensils and ornaments, 1Ki 7:40-51.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 4:2
• 2. 2 Kings 16:17; 2 Kings 25:13
• 3. 1 Kings 6:18
• 4. 2 Chronicles 4:3
• 5. 2 Chronicles 4:4, 5; Jeremiah 52:20

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "a line of 30 cubits went around it"
• [b]. Lit "in its casting"