1 Kings 7:23
in 1 Kings 7He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.
KJV
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
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This verse in 1 Kings 7
Commentary
5 notes on this verse"He also made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, completely round." This molten sea was made as a figure of the laver of salvation in which we are cleansed for the remission of our sins. For priests were washed in it, …
This site's exposition
a molten sea
on 1 Kings 7:23-26
The tabernacle's laver has grown into a sea: ten cubits across, five high, two thousand baths, standing on twelve oxen facing the four quarters, with a brim wrought like a lily cup. The given round numbers, ten across and thirty about, are the old arithmetic question; the bench answers it from the text's own detail that the sea was an hand breadth thick, so the line and the diameter measure different edges, and the page needs no more than that sentence. Twelve oxen under the water carry the same all-Israel signature as Elijah's twelve stones.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A Sea - He melted the brass, and cast it into the form of a great vessel, for its vastness called a sea, which name is given by the Hebrew to all great collections of waters. The use of it was for the priests to wash their hands and feet, or other things as occasion required, with the water which they drew out of it.
Yet this prevailed not to prevent Jerusalem's setting up the calves for deities. In the court of the tabernacle there was only a laver of brass provided to wash in, but in the court of the temple a sea of brass, intimating that by the gospel of Christ much fuller preparation is made for our cleansing than was by the law of Moses.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The “molten sea “of Solomon, so called from its great size, took the place of the laver of the tabernacle Exo 30:18-21, which was required for the ablutions of the priests. It was ten cubits, or fully fifteen feet, in diameter at top, and therefore forty-seven feet in circumference, with a depth of 5 cubits, or 7 12 feet.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַיָּ֖ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| מוּצָ֑ק | mutzak | cast [metal] | H4165 → | 4 times |
| עֶ֣שֶׂר | ʾeser | [was] ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| בָּ֠אַמָּה | baamah | by the cubit | H520 → | 247 times |
| מִשְּׂפָת֨וֹ | misefato | from lip its | H8193 → | 176 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| שְׂפָת֜וֹ | sefato | lip its | H8193 → | 176 times |
| עָגֹ֣ל׀ | ʾagol | round | H5696 → | 6 times |
| סָבִ֗יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| וְחָמֵ֤שׁ | vechamesh | and [was] five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| בָּֽאַמָּה֙ | baamah | by the cubit | H520 → | 247 times |
| קוֹמָת֔וֹ | komato | height its | H6967 → | 45 times |
| וְקָו֙ | ukeveh | and a measuring-line | H6957 → | |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה | baamah | by the cubit | H520 → | 247 times |
| יָסֹ֥ב | yaso | it went round | H5437 → | 161 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| סָבִֽיב׃ | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
וַיַּ֥עַשׂand he made
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַיָּ֖םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
מוּצָ֑קcast [metal]
mutzakH4165 →4 times
עֶ֣שֶׂר[was] ten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
בָּ֠אַמָּהby the cubit
baamahH520 →247 times
מִשְּׂפָת֨וֹfrom lip its
misefatoH8193 →176 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
שְׂפָת֜וֹlip its
sefatoH8193 →176 times
עָגֹ֣ל׀round
ʾagolH5696 →6 times
סָבִ֗יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
וְחָמֵ֤שׁand [was] five
vechameshH2568 →343 times
בָּֽאַמָּה֙by the cubit
baamahH520 →247 times
קוֹמָת֔וֹheight its
komatoH6967 →45 times
וְקָו֙and a measuring-line
ukevehH6957 →
שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
בָּֽאַמָּ֔הby the cubit
baamahH520 →247 times
יָסֹ֥בit went round
yasoH5437 →161 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
סָבִֽיב׃all around
savivH5439 →336 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 25:13Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:18
who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 36:18
Through
Exodus 38:8Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
it leads to
- Luke 2:37
and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
- 1 Samuel 2:22
Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of…
- Exodus 40:7
And place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- 1 Timothy 5:5
The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
- Titus 3:5–6
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- Luke 2:37
Through
1 Chronicles 18:8And from Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze Sea, the pillars, and various bronze articles.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 8:8
And from Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze.
- 2 Samuel 8:8
Through
Jeremiah 52:17Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 27:19–22
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the bases, and the rest of the articles that remain in this city,
- Jeremiah 27:19–22
About 1 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 2.19.1-3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
