1 Kings 7:25

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

13-47 The two brazen pillars in the porch of the temple, some think, were to teach those that came to worship, to depend upon God only, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. "Jachin," God will fix this roving mind. It is good that the heart be established with grace. "Boaz," In him is our strength, who works in us both to will and to do. Spiritual strength and stability are found at the door of God's temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace, in use of the means of grace. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ's blood, and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution. There are full means provided for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault. Let us bless God for the fountain opened by the sacrifice of Christ for sin and for uncleanness...

Josephus charged Solomon with a breach of the Commandment Exodus 20:4, on account of the oxen here and the lions for his throne. The charge expresses the prohibition which some Jews have conceived the Commandment to urge against the arts of sculpture and painting....

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S PALACES AND THE PREPARATION OF THE TEMPLE VESSELS.—The first twelve verses of this chapter constitute a break in the long account of the Temple, its furniture and its consecration. The historian having described the Temple buildings, before he passes on to speak of their contents pauses for a moment to record a few particulars as to the building of the suite of palaces which next occupied Solomon's attention. The LXX; possibly following an older arrangement, but more probably (see next note) adopting an apparently more logical and methodical order, relegates this section to the end of the chapter. 1 KINGS 7:1 But Solomon was building his own house thirteen

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 r, weighed 1,800 arobas, and, with twelve oxen under, 33,500; each aroba being twenty five pounds weight. r Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 4. p. 21....

CHAPTER 7 THE HOUSE OF SOLOMON AND PHARAOH'S DAUGHTERTHE FURNISHINGS OF THE TEMPLE _ 1. The house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:1)_ 2. The royal palace and the house of Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 7:8) 3. The master workman (1 Kings 7:13) 4. The great pillars and chapiters (1 Kings 7:15) 5. The brazen sea (1 Kings 7:23) 6. The ten lavers with their carriages (1 Kings 7:27) 7. Hiram's work ...

1 KINGS 7. SOLOMON'S PALACE (1 KINGS 1-12). THE TEMPLE IMPLEMENTS (1KINGS 13- 51). Twenty years (_cf._ 1 Kings 9:10 with 1 Kings 7:1) was Solomon engaged in building. After completing the Temple he built his own palace, with its courts and approaches. These, according to Stade, were erected on the Ophel hill, which lay S. of the Temple mountain, and were constructed so as to lead up to the sanctuary itself. The whole chapter, like most of the 6th, is from a source descriptive of the Temple. First came what was called, probably from its rows of cedar pillars, the house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2). Part of this was used as an armoury ...

_the sea_was set _above upon them_ i.e. The bottom rested on the backs of the oxen. Thus the height from the ground to the rim would be five cubits, and the height of the oxen besides. Nothing is said of such a thing, but it is not unlikely that the water was drawn out through the mouths of the oxen....

C. THE METALLIC OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COURTYARD 7:23-47 Associated with the courtyard of the Temple were the following items: (1) the bronze sea (1 Kings 7:23-26); (2) the bronze stands and basins (1 Kings 7:27-39); and (3) various small implements (1 Kings 7:40). For some reason the historian has omitted any reference to the huge bronze altar which was, perhaps, the dominant feature of the court. _1. THE BRONZE SEA_ (1 Kings 7:23-26) TRANSLATION (23) And he made the molten sea, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was circular, and five cubits high with a circumference of thi

SOLOMON'S PALACE This c, besides giving a description of Solomon's palace, contains an account of the principal utensils belonging to the Temple....