1 Kings 7:25

25 The bowl rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward from the center of the bowl. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east.

1 Kings 7:25 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:25

It stood upon twelve oxen
Figures of them in brass, of full proportion:

three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and
three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east;
and so turned to the four quarters of the world:

and the sea was set above upon them;
as it were on the backs of them, and their mouths served as spouts or cocks, to let water out of it on all sides:

and all their hinder parts were inward;
that they might not be seen, and which met in a centre; they that were north came against those that were south, and they in the east met with those to the west. The brass of the sea, according to Jacob Leon ^F18, weighed 1,800 arobas, and, with twelve oxen under, 33,500; each aroba being twenty five pounds weight.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 4. p. 21.

1 Kings 7:25 In-Context

23 Then Huram made from bronze a large round bowl, which was called the Sea. It was forty-five feet around, fifteen feet across, and seven and one-half feet deep.

24 Around the outer edge of the bowl was a rim. Under this rim were two rows of bronze plants which surrounded the bowl. There were ten plants every eighteen inches, and these plants were made in one piece with the bowl.

25 The bowl rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward from the center of the bowl. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east.

26 The sides of the bowl were four inches thick, and it held about eleven thousand gallons. The rim of the bowl was like the rim of a cup or like a lily blossom.

27 Then Huram made ten bronze stands, each one six feet long, six feet wide, and four and one-half feet high.