1 Kings 7:1-34
thirteen years <07969 08141> [thirteen years.]
beams <06763> [beams. Heb. ribs.]
windows <08261> [windows.]
<04237> [light was against light. Heb. sight against sight.]
entrances ... rectangular ... shape <04201 07251 08260 06607> [doors and posts were square, with the windows. or, spaces and pillars were square in prospect.]
[before them. or, according to them. before them. or, according to them.]
room .... Hall <0197> [a porch.]
throne <03678> [for the throne.]
Judgment <04941> [of judgment.]
floor <07172> [from one side of the floor to the other. Heb. from floor to floor.]
palace ............... palace <01004> [an house.]
best stones <068 03368> [costly stones.]
foundation <03245> [the foundation.]
stones .... 15 feet .... feet <068 06235 0520> [stones of ten cubits.]
Reckoning the cubit at 21 inches, the ten cubits are 17 feet and a half, and the eight cubits are 14 feet. The magnitude of these stones was certainly extraordinary; but let us hear M. Volney, and our surprise will no longer be fixed on these stones, but transferred from Solomon's house to the ruins of Balbec: "What is still more astonishing is the enormous stones which compose the sloping wall. To the west, the second layer is formed of stones which are from 28 to 35 feet long, by about 9 in height. Over this layer, at the north-west angle, there are three stones, which alone occupy a space of 175 feet and a half; viz. the first, 58 feet 7 inches; the second, 58 feet 11 inches; and the third, exactly 58 feet; and each of these is 12 feet thick. These stones are of white granite, with large shining flakes, like gypsum: there is a quarry of this kind of stone under the whole city, and another in the adjacent mountains, which is open in several places. On the right, as we approach the city, there is still lying there a stone hewn on three sides, which is 69 feet 2 inches long, 12 feet 10 inches broad, and 13 feet 3 inches in thickness.
three rows ....... row <02905 07969> [three rows.]
hall <0197> [the porch.]
Hiram <02438> [Hiram.]
[Huram.]
son <01121 0802> [a widow's son. Heb. the son of a widow woman. tribe.]
The mother of Hiram (not the Tyrian king mentioned before, but an intelligent coppersmith, of Jewish extraction by his mother's side) in Chronicles, is said to have been of "the daughters of Dan;" and she might have been of Naphtali by her father, and of Dan by her mother; or she might originally be of the tribe of Dan, and have been first married to a man of the tribe of Naphtali; and, in either case, she might be indifferently called "of the tribe of Naphtali," or of "the daughters of Dan."
Naphtali <05321> [Naphtali.]
father <01> [his father.]
<04390> [he was filled.]
fashioned <06696> [cast. Heb. fashioned. two pillars.]
27 feet .... 18 feet <0520 08083> [eighteen cubits.]
That is, nearly thirty feet, English measure. But in the parallel place in Chronicles, these pillars are said to thirty-five cubits high. Tremellius reconciles this difference by observing, that the common cubit was but one-half of the cubit of the sanctuary; so that eighteen of the one would make thirty-six of the other; from which, if we deduct one cubit for the base, there will remain thirty-five. Notwithstanding the names of these pillars, they seem to have supported no part of the building, and appear to have been formed for ornament; and were no doubt also emblematical. The right pillar was called {Jachin,} which signifies, "He will establish;" while that on the left was named {Boaz,} "In it is strength." Some think they were intended for memorials of the pillars and cloud of fire, which led Israel through the wilderness; but Henry supposes them designed for memorandums to the priests and others that came to worship at God's door. 1st. To depend upon God only, and not upon any sufficiency of their own, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. 2nd. It was a memorandum to them of the strength and establishment of the temple of God among them. When the temple was destroyed, particular notice is taken of the breaking up and carrying away of these brazen pillars, 2 Ki 25:13, 17, which had been the tokens of its establishment, and would have been still so, if they had not forsaken God.
shaped ... lilies <04639 07799> [lily work.]
pomegranate-shaped <07416> [and the pomegranates.]
set up .............. erected ............. erected <06965> [And he set.]
porch <0197> [the porch.]
Jakin <03199> [Jachin.]
Boaz <01162> [Boaz.]
made <06213> [he made.]
Sea <03332 03220> [a molten sea.]
rim <08193> [the one brim to the other. Heb. his brim to his brim.]
ornaments ......... ornaments <06497> [knops.]
round ... arranged in settings ................. Sea <05437 05362 03220> [compassing the sea.]
four fingers <02947> [an hand breadth.]
blossom <06525> [with flowers.]
hold <03557> [it contained.]
This immense laver, called a sea from it magnitude, held, at a moderate computation, 16,000 gallons. Besides this great brazen laver, there were in the temple ten lavers of brass of a less size, which moved on wheels, and were ornamented with the figures of various animals, having, probably, always some relation to the cherubim. These lavers were to hold water for the use of the priests in their sacred office, particularly to wash the victims that were to be offered as a burnt offering, as we learn from 2 Ch 4:6; but the brazen sea was for the priests to wash in. The knops are supposed to have been in the form of an ox's head, (2 Ch 4:3;) and some think the water flowed out at their mouths.
12,000 gallons <0505> [two thousand.]
ten .... stands ... stand <06235 04350> [ten bases.]
These highly ornamental bases appear to have been square stands, or immense pedestals, for the purpose of supporting the lavers.
stands ..... frames <04350 04526> [bases was on.]
It seems evident that these bases or pedestals rose with steps, and that the ornaments mentioned in the next verse appeared in front, forming so many entablatures. But the description of these bases is very difficult to comprehend: many of the original words are seldom, if at all, used elsewhere; and it would be impossible to give an explanation of each particular, without a labour and prolixity disproportioned to its importance to us.
lions ....... lions <0738> [lions.]
cherubs <03742> [cherubims.]
decorative <03914> [certain additions.]
wheels <0212> [wheels.]
supports ...... supports <03802> [had undersetters.]
It is probable that these undersetters were so many strong legs, somewhat shorter than the wheels, and were intended to prevent the laver from tilting, or falling, in case of any accident.
stand <04350> [joined to the base. Heb. in the base.]
