Discovery Box1 Kings 7:13-47
Context7:13 King Solomon sent for Hiram 1 of Tyre. 2 7:14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, 3 and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge 4 to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned.
7:15 He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet 5 high and 18 feet 6 in circumference. 7:16 He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was seven-and-a-half feet high. 7 7:17 The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments. 8 7:18 When he made the pillars, there were two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments around the latticework covering the top of each pillar. 9 7:19 The tops of the two pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies and were six feet high. 10 7:20 On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around. 11 7:21 He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right 12 side and called it Jakin; 13 he erected the other pillar on the left 14 side and called it Boaz. 15 7:22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed.
7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” 16 It measured 15 feet 17 from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet 18 high. Its circumference was 45 feet. 19 7:24 Under the rim all the way around it 20 were round ornaments 21 arranged in settings 15 feet long. 22 The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” 23 7:25 “The Sea” 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. 24 7:26 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. 25
7:27 He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was six feet 26 long, six feet 27 wide, and four-and-a-half feet 28 high. 7:28 The stands were constructed with frames between the joints. 7:29 On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths. 29 7:30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and four supports. Under the basin the supports were fashioned on each side with wreaths. 30 7:31 Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. 31 On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. 32 7:32 The four wheels were under the frames and the crossbars of the axles were connected to the stand. Each wheel was two and one-quarter feet 33 high. 7:33 The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their crossbars, rims, spokes, and hubs were made of cast metal. 7:34 Each stand had four supports, one per side projecting out from the stand. 34 7:35 On top of each stand was a round opening three-quarters of a foot deep; 35 there were also supports and frames on top of the stands. 7:36 He engraved ornamental cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of the supports and frames wherever there was room, 36 with wreaths 37 all around. 7:37 He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape.
7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. 38 Each basin was six feet in diameter; 39 there was one basin for each stand. 7:39 He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.
7:40 Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He 40 finished all the work on the Lord’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. 41 7:41 He made 42 the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 7:42 the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), 7:43 the ten movable stands with their ten basins, 7:44 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 43 7:45 and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord’s temple 44 were made from polished bronze. 7:46 The king had them cast in earth foundries 45 in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 7:47 Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze. 46
[7:13] 1 tn Heb “King Solomon sent and took Hiram from Tyre.” In 2 Chr 2:13 (MT v. 12) and 4:11, 16 his name is spelled “Huram.”
[7:13] 2 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[7:14] 3 tn 2 Chr 2:14 (13 HT) says “from the daughters of Dan.”
[7:14] 4 tn Heb “he was filled with the skill, understanding, and knowledge.”
[7:15] 5 tn Heb “eighteen cubits.”
[7:15] 6 tn Heb “twelve cubits.”
[7:16] 7 tn Heb “two capitals he made to place on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits was the height of the first capital, and five cubits was the height of the second capital.”
[7:17] 8 tn Heb “there were seven for the first capital, and seven for the second capital.”
[7:18] 9 tn Heb “he made the pillars, and two rows surrounding one latticework to cover the capitals which were on top of the pomegranates, and so he did for the second latticework.” The translation supplies “pomegranates” after “two rows,” and understands “pillars,” rather than “pomegranates,” to be the correct reading after “on top of.” The latter change finds support from many Hebrew
[7:19] 10 tn Heb “the capitals which were on the top of the pillars were the work of lilies, in the porch, four cubits.” It is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured.
[7:20] 11 tn Heb “and the capitals on the two pillars, also above, close beside the bulge which was beside the latticework, two hundred pomegranates in rows around, on the second capital.” The precise meaning of the word translated “bulge” is uncertain.
[7:21] 13 sn The name Jakin appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”
[7:21] 15 sn The meaning of the name Boaz is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בעז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (be’oz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”
[7:23] 16 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”
[7:23] 17 tn Heb “ten cubits.”
[7:23] 18 tn Heb “five cubits.”
[7:23] 19 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”
[7:24] 20 tn Heb “The Sea.” The proper noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:24] 21 tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”
[7:24] 22 tn Heb “ten cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
[7:24] 23 tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”
[7:25] 24 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
[7:26] 25 tn Heb “two thousand baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
[7:27] 26 tn Heb “four cubits.”
[7:27] 27 tn Heb “four cubits.”
[7:27] 28 tn Heb “three cubits.”
[7:29] 29 tn The precise meaning of these final words is uncertain. A possible literal translation would be, “wreaths, the work of descent.”
[7:30] 30 tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.
[7:31] 31 tn Heb “And its opening from the inside to the top and upwards [was] a cubit, and its opening was round, the work of a stand, a cubit-and-a-half.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
[7:31] 32 tn Heb “also over its opening were carvings and their frames [were] squared, not round.”
[7:32] 33 tn Heb “a cubit-and-a-half” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).
[7:34] 34 tn Heb “four shoulders to the four sides of each stand, from the stand its shoulders.” The precise meaning of the description is uncertain.
[7:35] 35 tn Heb “and on top of the stand, a half cubit [in] height, round all around” (the meaning of this description is uncertain).
[7:36] 36 tn Heb “according to the space of each.”
[7:36] 37 tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.
[7:38] 38 tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
[7:38] 39 tn Heb “four cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.
[7:40] 40 tn Heb “Hiram.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:40] 41 tn Heb “Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of the
[7:41] 42 tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.
[7:44] 43 tn Heb “underneath ‘The Sea.’”
[7:45] 44 tn Heb “which Hiram made for King Solomon [for] the house of the
[7:46] 45 tn Or perhaps, “molds.”
[7:47] 46 tn Heb “Solomon left all the items, due to their very great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
