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2 Chronicles 4:3

in 2 Chronicles 4

Below the rim, figures of oxen encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And under it was the likeness of oxen, which did compass it round about, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

KJV

And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 4

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
For “oxen” we find in 1Ki 7:24, “knops” or “gourds.” An early copyist, not comprehending the comparatively rare word here used for “gourd,” and expecting to hear of oxen, as soon as the molten sea was mentioned, changed the reading.

This site's exposition

He also made the Sea of cast metal

on 2 Chronicles 4:2-5

The molten sea repeats 1 Kings 7 with two small differences the commentators note rather than resolve. Its capacity is given as three thousand baths against Kings' two thousand. The oxen stand where Kings reads knops, likely gourds, a reading Barnes traces to an early copyist expecting oxen.

This site's exposition

figures of oxen encircled it

The parallel at 1 Kings 7:24 names gourds, where Chronicles has figures of oxen. Barnes holds that an early copyist, unfamiliar with the rare Hebrew word for gourd and expecting oxen beside the Sea, changed the reading. The twelve oxen of verse 4 bore the Sea from below.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It was put just at the entrance into the court of the priests, like the font at the church door. If it were filled to the brim, it would hold 3000 baths (as here,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

There is a difference in the accounts given of the capacity of this basin, for while in 1Ki 7:26 it is said that two thousand baths of water could be contained in it, in this passage no less than three thousand are stated.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Under it was the similitude of oxen - In 1Ki 7:24, instead of oxen, בקרים bekarim, we have knops, פקעים pekaim; and this last is supposed by able critics to be the reading which ought to be received here. What we call knops may signify grapes, mushrooms, apples, or some such ornaments placed round about under the turned over lip or brim of this caldron. It is possible that בקרים bekarim, oxen, may be a corruption of פקעים pekaim, grapes, as the פ pe might be mistaken for a ב beth, to which in ancient MSS. it has often a great resemblance, the dot under the top being often faint and indistinct; and the ע ain, on the same account might be mistaken for a ר resh. Thus grapes might be turned into oxen. Houbigant contends that the words in both places are right; but that בקר bakar does not signify ox here, but al large kind of grape, according to its meaning in Arabic: and thus both places will agree. But I do not find that bakar, or bakarat, has any such meaning in Arabic. He was probably misled by the following, in the Arabic Lexicon, Camus, inserted under bakara, both by Giggeius and Golius, aino albikri, ox-eye, which is interpreted Genus uvae nigrae ac praeprandis, incredibilis dulcedinis. In Palaestina autem pro prunis absolute usurpatur. “A species of black grape, very large, and of incredible sweetness. It is used in Palestine for prune or plum.” What is called the Damascene plum is doubtless meant; but בקרים bekarim, in the text, can never have this meaning, unless indeed we found it associated with עין ayin, eye, and then עיני בקרים eyney bekarim might, according to the Arabic, be translated plums, grapes, sloes, or such like, especially those of the largest kind, which in size resemble the eye of an ox. But the criticism of this great man is not solid. The likeliest method of reconciling the two places is supposing a change in the letters, as specified above. […]

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וּדְמ֣וּתand [the] likeness of

    udemutH1823 →

  • בְּקָרִים֩oxen

    bekarimH1241 →183 times

  • תַּ֨חַת[was] under

    tachatH8478 →505 times

  • ל֜וֹ<to> <the> it

    lo

  • סָבִ֤יב׀all around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • סָבִיב֙all around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • סוֹבְבִ֣יםgoing round

    sovimH5437 →161 times

  • אֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • עֶ֚שֶׂרten

    ʾeserH6235 →176 times

  • בָּֽאַמָּ֔הby the cubit

    baamahH520 →247 times

  • מַקִּיפִ֥יםsurrounding

    makifimH5362 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַיָּ֖םthe sea

    haiyamH3220 →396 times

  • סָבִ֑יבall around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • שְׁנַ֤יִם[were] two

    shenayimH8147 →768 times

  • טוּרִים֙rows

    turimH2905 →

  • הַבָּקָ֔רthe cattle

    habakarH1241 →183 times

  • יְצוּקִ֖יםcast

    yetzukimH3332 →50 times

  • בְּמֻֽצַקְתּֽוֹ׃in casting its

    bemutzaktoH4166 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Corinthians 9:9–10For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?4 worksEzekiel 10:14Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.4 worksRevelation 4:7The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.4 worksEzekiel 1:10The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle.4 works1 Kings 7:24–26Below the rim, ornamental buds encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea.4 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Revelation 4:7

    The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 10:14

      Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 1:10

      The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side,…

    • Ezekiel 10:21

      Each had four faces and four wings, with what looked like human hands under their wings.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Daniel 7:4

      The first beast was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted up from the ground and made to…

    • Ezekiel 1:8

      Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four living creatures had faces and wings,

  • Through

    Ezekiel 1:10

    The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side,…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 4:7

      The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Corinthians 9:9–10

      For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

  • Through

    Ezekiel 10:14

    Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 7:36

      He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Chronicles 4 →