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23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.”[a] It measured 15 feet[b] from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood 7½ feet[c] high. Its circumference was 45 feet.[d] 24 Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments[e] arranged in settings 15 feet long.[f] The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”[g] 25 “The Sea”[h] stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.[i] 26 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons.[j]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”sn This large basin was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
  2. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “10 cubits.”
  3. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “5 cubits.”
  4. 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it 30 cubits all around.” The measurements are an approximation. The LXX has the number 33. Neither fit a strict calculation of the diameter time pi, but the precise details of measuring (e.g. the width of the lip or other factors) are not known and numbers may be rounded.
  5. 1 Kings 7:24 tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”
  6. 1 Kings 7:24 tn Heb “10 cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
  7. 1 Kings 7:24 tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”
  8. 1 Kings 7:25 tn Heb “It.” The proper noun “The Sea” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  9. 1 Kings 7:25 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
  10. 1 Kings 7:26 tn Heb “2,000 baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).