1 Kings 7:31

_AND THE WORK OF THE BASES WAS ON THIS MANNER: THEY HAD BORDERS, AND THE BORDERS WERE BETWEEN THE LEDGES:_ 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...

It seems impossible to determine what is meant by the “mouth” of the laver, or what by its “chapiter.”...

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 THE MOUTH OF IT WITHIN THE CHAPITER, AND ABOVE, WAS A CUBIT,.... On the lid of the base rose up a lesser base, called the chapiter, which was circular, like a coronet, as the word signifies, the inside of which was hollow, for the lower part of the layer to rest in; this ascended straight up half a cubit, and then widening, went up half a cubit more, and so in its whole height, as here a cubit; the circuit or circumference of which is called the mouth of the base, into which the feet of the layer were set, the measure of which is next given: BUT THE MOUTH THEREOF WAS ROUND, AFTER THE WORK OF THE BASE, A CUBIT AND AN HALF; which was either the circumference or the diameter of it; one should think the latter: AND ALSO UPON THE MOUTH OF IT WERE GRAVINGS, WITH THEIR BORDERS, FOUR SQUARE, NOT ROUND; though the mouth was round, the border of it was four square, which had figures engraved...

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 ...

BORDERS. panels. Removed by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:17). Replaced by Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:19). Existed at taking of Temple (Jeremiah 52:17; Jeremiah 52:20)....

_And the mouth of it_ Here the pronoun must, I think, be referred, as in -corners (feet) thereof" of 1 Kings 7:30, to the base. The bases appear to have had a circular orifice in the top, which is here called the mouth. This opening was, as it seems, surmounted and surrounded by a capital, which itself had an opening to receive the lowest part of the laver. The height of the capital above the level surface of the top of the base appears not to be specified unless the half cubit of 1 Kings 7:35 be taken to refer to the capital. One cubit was the diameter of the orifice in the top of the base. _but the mouth thereof_ Better, -AND" &c. The pronoun here by a difference of gender in the original is shewn to refer to a different noun. This can only be the -chapiter." That superstructure widened

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