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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Chronicles 4:1 - 4:8
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The Altar, the Molten Sea, and the Lavers
v. 1. Moreover, he, Solomon, through the craftsmen engaged by him, made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof and twenty cubits the breadth thereof and ten cubits the height thereof, to which the priests probably ascended by an inclined pathway. The weight of this altar, if the thickness of its walls was only three inches, must have been at least two hundred tons.
v. 2. Also he made a molten sea, cast from bronze or brass, of ten cubits from brim to brim, that is, in diameter, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits, in a rough measurement, did compass it round about, the exact circumference being not quite 31 ½ cubits. It was a large reservoir for the water used by the priests and Levites in the performance of their duties, especially for the many washings enjoined upon them.
v. 3. And under it, cast together with the flower-buds which were beneath its rim, 1Ki_7:24, was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about, serving for ornamentation. Two rows of oxen were cast when it was cast, the sea with its decorations was cast at the same time, in the same mold.
v. 4. It stood upon twelve oxen, which bore the great reservoir on their backs, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward, their heads looking out from under the brim.
v. 5. And the thickness of it was an handbreadth and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies, rather, like the blossom of a lily; and it received and held three thousand baths, that is, its full capacity, when used as a reservoir, was so much; when not in actual use, it held two thousand baths, 1Ki_7:26.
v. 6. He made also ten lavers, 1Ki_7:38, smaller receptacles for water, which could be moved about on wheels, as the washing of the sacrificial animals required it, and put five on the right hand and five on the left, to wash in them. Such things as they offered, that is, the flesh of the animals, for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in, the water probably being drawn out below by means of faucets.
v. 7. And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, in place of the one made by Moses for the Tabernacle, Exo_25:31-40, and set them in the Temple, that is, the Holy Place, not the court, as in the case of the lavers, five on the right hand and five on the left.
v. 8. He made also ten tables, stands for the ten candlesticks, and placed them in the Temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made an hundred basins of gold, bowls or tankards used for the drink-offerings. Note: All the washings of the Old Testament worship were typical of the time of the New Testament, where we have a lasting fountain for sin and for uncleanness in the blood of Christ.