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The Bronze Tank(A)

23 Huram made a round tank of bronze, 7½ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 24 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank[a] were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 25 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 26 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 10,000 gallons.

The Bronze Carts

27 Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. 28 They were made of square panels which were set in frames, 29 with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. 31 There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upward 18 inches from the top of the cart and 7 inches down into it. It had carvings around it. 32 The wheels were 25 inches high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts. 33 The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. 34 There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. 35 There was a 9-inch band around the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. 36 The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around. 37 This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape.

38 (B)Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6 feet in diameter and held 200 gallons. 39 He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the southeast corner.

Summary List of Temple Furnishings(C)

40-45 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the Lord's Temple. This is what he made:

The two columns
The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
The design of interwoven chains on each capital
The 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of 100 each around the design on each capital
The ten carts
The ten basins
The tank
The twelve bulls supporting the tank
The pots, shovels, and bowls

All this equipment for the Temple, which Huram made for King Solomon, was of polished bronze. 46 The king had it all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zarethan, in the Jordan Valley. 47 Solomon did not have these bronze objects weighed, because there were too many of them, and so their weight was never determined.

48 (D)Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar, the table for the bread offered to God, 49 (E)the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north; the flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the cups, lamp snuffers, bowls, dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals; and the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the outer doors of the Temple. All these furnishings were made of gold.

51 (F)When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord—the silver, gold, and other articles.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 7:24 Probable text All around … tank; Hebrew unclear.

23 He made the Sea(A) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line(B) of thirty cubits[a] to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls,(C) three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth[b] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.[c]

27 He also made ten movable stands(D) of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.[d] 28 This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29 On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 30 Each stand(E) had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 31 On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit[e] deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half.[f] Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

34 Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35 At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit[g] deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. 36 He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. 37 This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

38 He then made ten bronze basins,(F) each holding forty baths[h] and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. 40 He also made the pots[i] and shovels and sprinkling bowls.(G)

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the Lord:

41 the two pillars;

the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network decorating the bowl-shaped capitals(H) on top of the pillars);

43 the ten stands with their ten basins;

44 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

45 the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.(I)

All these objects that Huram(J) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain(K) of the Jordan between Sukkoth(L) and Zarethan.(M) 47 Solomon left all these things unweighed,(N) because there were so many;(O) the weight of the bronze(P) was not determined.

48 Solomon also made all(Q) the furnishings that were in the Lord’s temple:

the golden altar;

the golden table(R) on which was the bread of the Presence;(S)

49 the lampstands(T) of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary);

the gold floral work and lamps and tongs;

50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes(U) and censers;(V)

and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

51 When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated(W)—the silver and gold and the furnishings(X)—and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 7:23 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
  2. 1 Kings 7:26 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
  3. 1 Kings 7:26 That is, about 12,000 gallons or about 44,000 liters; the Septuagint does not have this sentence.
  4. 1 Kings 7:27 That is, about 6 feet long and wide and about 4 1/2 feet high or about 1.8 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high
  5. 1 Kings 7:31 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
  6. 1 Kings 7:31 That is, about 2 1/4 feet or about 68 centimeters; also in verse 32
  7. 1 Kings 7:35 That is, about 9 inches or about 23 centimeters
  8. 1 Kings 7:38 That is, about 240 gallons or about 880 liters
  9. 1 Kings 7:40 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac and Vulgate (see also verse 45 and 2 Chron. 4:11); many other Hebrew manuscripts basins