1 Raja-raja 7:23-26

7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” ¹  It measured 15 feet ²  from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet ³  high. Its circumference was 45 feet. ⁴  7:24 Under the rim all the way around it ⁵  were round ornaments ⁶  arranged in settings 15 feet long. ⁷  The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” ⁸  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. ⁹  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. ¹⁰ 

1 Raja-raja 7:38-51

7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. ¹¹  Each basin was six feet in diameter; ¹²  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 ¹³  finished all the work on the Lord’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. ¹⁴  7:41 He made ¹⁵  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, ¹⁶  7:45 and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord’s temple ¹⁷  were made from polished bronze. 7:46 The king had them cast in earth foundries ¹⁸  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. ¹⁹ 

7:48 Solomon also made all these items for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence, ²⁰  7:49 the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 7:50 the pure gold bowls, trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 7:51 When King Solomon finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he ²¹  put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

[7:23]  ¹ tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”

[7:23]  sn This large basin that was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).

[7:23]  ² tn Heb “ten cubits.”

[7:23]  ³ tn Heb “five cubits.”

[7:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”

[7:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “The Sea.” The proper noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:24]  ⁶ tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”

[7:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “ten cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.

[7:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”

[7:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”

[7:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “two thousand baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).

[7:38]  ¹¹ tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).

[7:38]  ¹² tn Heb “four cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.

[7:40]  ¹³ tn Heb “Hiram.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:40]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of the Lord.”

[7:41]  ¹⁵ tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.

[7:44]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “underneath ‘The Sea.’”

[7:45]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which Hiram made for King Solomon [for] the house of the Lord.”

[7:46]  ¹⁸ tn Or perhaps, “molds.”

[7:47]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Solomon left all the items, due to their very great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”

[7:48]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the bread of the face [or presence].” Many recent English versions employ “the bread of the Presence,” although this does not convey much to the modern reader.

[7:48]  sn This bread was viewed as a perpetual offering to God and was regarded as holy. See Lev 24:5-9.

[7:51]  ²¹ tn Heb “Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.