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1 Kings 7:23-26
New English Translation
1 Kings 7:23-26
New English Translation
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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- 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).
- 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “10 cubits.”
- 1 Kings 7:23 tn Heb “5 cubits.”
- 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.
- 1 Kings 7:24 tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”
- 1 Kings 7:24 tn Heb “10 cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
- 1 Kings 7:24 tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”
- 1 Kings 7:25 tn Heb “It.” The proper noun “The Sea” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Kings 7:25 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
- 1 Kings 7:26 tn Heb “2,000 baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
1 Kings 7:23-26
New International Version
1 Kings 7:23-26
New International Version
23 He made the Sea(A) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line(B) of thirty cubits[a] to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls,(C) three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth[b] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.[c]
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 7:23 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
- 1 Kings 7:26 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
- 1 Kings 7:26 That is, about 12,000 gallons or about 44,000 liters; the Septuagint does not have this sentence.
1 Kings 7:23-26
King James Version
1 Kings 7:23-26
King James Version
23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
26 And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
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New English Translation (NET)
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