1 Kings 7:46

46 The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay 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 the one sea; the twelve oxen under the sea;

45 the pots; the shovels; and the basins. All of these vessels, which Hiram made for King Solomon for the LORD’s house, were of burnished bronze.

46 The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.

48 Solomon made all the vessels that were in the LORD’s house: the golden altar and the table that the show bread was on, of gold;