1 Kings 7:39

39 And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house; and he set the sea on the southeast corner of the house.

1 Kings 7:39 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:39

And he put five bases on the right side of the house
On the south side, which is commonly understood; that is, of the courts of the priests, where they were placed for their use: and five on the left side of the house; on the north, as it must be, if the south is on the right; though as the entrance into the temple was at the east, when a man went in, the north must be on the right, and the south on the left; and this seems to be the position by what follows:

and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, over
against the south;
and therefore the right side must be the north, which is opposite to the south; the sea seems to have stood northeast, which was for the priests to wash in before they entered on divine service, (See Gill on Exodus 30:20) hence it became customary with the Heathens to wash before they performed any religious worship ^F5, particularly the hands and feet ^F6.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F5 Vid. Virgil. Bucolic. Eclog. 8. "affer aquam" Aeneid. 2. "attrectare nefas" Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. l.
F6 Vid. Sperling de Bapt. Ethnic. p. 88, 89, 101.

1 Kings 7:39 In-Context

37 After this manner he made the ten stands; all of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form.

38 And he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver held forty baths, each laver measured four cubits, and there was a laver for each of the ten stands.

39 And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house; and he set the sea on the southeast corner of the house.

40 Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the LORD:

41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars;