And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base ,.... Or pillars, as in 1 Kings 7:30 . and the undersetters were of the base itself ; they were cast together, and of the same piece of metal with it. read more
And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high ,.... The same with the chapiter, 1 Kings 7:31 which rose up straight half a cubit, and widening upwards half a cubit more, here called the round compass of it: and on the top of the base, the ledges thereof and the borders thereof, were of the same ; of the same piece of brass with the base, all being cast together. read more
For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof ,.... In this, and the preceding verse, a different word is used, translated "ledges", from that in 1 Kings 7:28 , the Targum renders it axle trees; as if the axle trees of the wheels, and the borders, circumferences, and rings of them, were meant, in which were the following engravings: it literally signifies hands or handles; and Procopius Gazaeus says, that the bases had, in the upper part of them, forms of hands... read more
After this manner he made the ten bases ,.... This was the form and fashion of them as above described: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size ; they were all cast into the same mould, and were exactly alike in their form, figures, and size, and each weighed 2000 talents, and the weight of a talent was ninety three pounds and upwards, according to Jacob Leon F2 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, c. 4. p. 21. . read more
Then made he ten lavers of brass ,.... There was but one in the tabernacle of Moses, and what became of that is not known: some Jewish writers F3 Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, in 2 Chron. iv. 6. say it was placed in Solomon's temple, and these lavers, five on the right and five on the left of it; however, here were enough provided for the purpose for the priests to wash their burnt offerings in, 2 Chronicles 4:6 and were typical of the large provision made in the blood of Christ for... read more
And he put five bases on the right side of the house ,.... On the south side, which is commonly understood; that is, of the courts of the priests, where they were placed for their use: and five on the left side of the house; on the north, as it must be, if the south is on the right; though as the entrance into the temple was at the east, when a man went in, the north must be on the right, and the south on the left; and this seems to be the position by what follows: and he set the sea on... read more
And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins ,.... The lavers are not the ten before mentioned, of the make of which an account is before given; but these, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom, are the same with the pots, 1 Kings 7:45 and so they are called in 2 Chronicles 4:11 the use of which, as they say, was to put the ashes of the altar into; as the "shovels", next mentioned, were a sort of besoms to sweep them off, and the "basins" were to receive the blood of the... read more
In the plain of Jericho did the king cast them in the clay ground ,.... Which being thick, as the word signifies, and stiff and close, was fit for such a purpose as casting brass; of such clay, furnaces of earth used to be made to melt metals in; but here were large things to be cast, as the two pillars, the sea, the ten lavers, &c.; moulds were made in the ground, and so the melted brass was poured into them, which gave it its different forms; this, no doubt, was done by Hiram, though... read more
And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed , because they were exceeding many ,.... The vessels of brass before mentioned, being so large, at least some of them, and so numerous; the Targum is, he laid them up, or placed them; he brought them from whence they were cast, and put them in the sanctuary without weighing them: neither was the weight of the brass found out ; or "searched" F9 לא נחקר "nec invesigari potuerit", Tigurine version: "non pervestigatum est", Junius,... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:33
And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel ,.... In the same form and fashion as one of them; the Targum is, "like a chariot of glory;' a splendid one, curiously wrought; unless reference is had in it to the chariot of Ezekiel's vision: their axle trees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten ; cast together when the base was. read more