1 Kings 7:26

_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...

The palm or hand-breadth seems to have a little exceeded three inches. WITH FLOWERS OF LILIES - Rather, “in the shape of a lily flower.” The rim was slightly curved outward, like the rim of an ordinary drinking-cup, or the edge of a lily blossom. See 2 Chronicles 4:5 margin....

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

AND IT WAS AN HAND BREADTH THICK,.... Or four fingers, as in Jeremiah 52:21 AND THE BRIM THEREOF WAS WROUGHT LIKE THE BRIM OF A CUP, WITH FLOWERS OF LILIES, embroidered and engraven on it for ornament sake: IT CONTAINED 2,000 BATHS; which is reckoned about five hundred barrels of water; it was filled by the Gibeonites; in 2 Chronicles 4:5, it is said to receive and hold 3,000 baths, which the Jewish writers s thus reconcile; they suppose here it means so many baths of liquid, as the Targum expresses, there of dry measure, which might be heaped up, and so contain more; but as this was a vessel for water, and this distinction seems to answer no purpose, it may be better to observe, that in common, for the use of the priests, wh

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 ...

TWO THOUSAND. 2 Chronicles 4:5 says three thousand. But 1 Kings 7:26 speaks of what it _did_ (usually) contain; while 2 Chronicles 4:5 speaks of what it _could_ " receive and hold". No bath in use is filled to its full capacity. BATHS. See App-51....

_an handbreadth thick_ i.e. The metal of which it was made. with _flowers of lilies_ Rather (as R.V.) -LIKE THE FLOWER OF LILY." This is to indicate that the brim bent outward and not that lily-flowers were all round it. _it contained two thousand baths_ In 2 Chronicles 4:5 it is said -three thousand baths." Perhaps the smaller quantity was about what was usually kept in supply, the larger what it could contain if it were quite full. The -bath" was the largest Hebrew liquid measure, but it is not easy to discover what its size was. According to Josephus it held rather more than 8 gallons. Other data make it about half that size. A vessel that could contain 16,000 gallons must have been very enormous to be made in one casting. And the dimensions given, viz. a diameter of 10 cubits by a depth of 5 cubits if the cubit = 18 inches would not hold so much,

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