Introduction

‘He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit. The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, 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 centre. It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths. He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them, the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing. He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls. He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court and overlaid the doors with bronze. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.’ 2 Chronicles 4:1-10

THE TEMPLE’S FURNISHINGS

As Solomon continues to furnish the temple, we soon discover there are a few problems with what he’s doing, 1 Kings 7:15-51. Huram’s father was from Tyre, but his mother was a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, 1 Kings 7:13-14, and she is also described as being of the daughters of Dan, 2 Chronicles 2:14, which means that she was of the tribe of Dan by birth but was living in the territory of Naphtali.

Because of Huram’s reputation as a very skilled metal worker, 1 Kings 7:13, and was filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work, 2 Chronicles 2:13 / 2 Chronicles 4:16 / 1 Kings 7:14, Solomon hired him to carry out the duties in making the articles mentioned, 1 Kings 7:14-45.

It’s worth noting that the bronze he uses to make the Sea, 2 Chronicles 4:1-3 / 1 Kings 7:23-25 / 1 Kings 7:39 / 1 Kings 7:44, the bronze pillars, 2 Chronicles 4:12-13 / 1 Kings 7:15-22 / 1 Kings 7:41-42, and various bronze articles were from the time when David had taken the bronze from the cities of Hadarezer, 1 Chronicles 18:8.

Because he built the bronze altar twenty cubits high, 2 Chronicles 4:1 / 1 Kings 7:23-50 / Ezekiel 43:13-17, this meant he also needed steps for the priests to use when they were making their sacrifices. However, God specifically commanded that they shouldn’t go up to his altar on steps because it would expose their nakedness, Exodus 20:26.

He made the Sea of cast metal in a circular shape, which measured ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high, 2 Chronicles 4:2 / 1 Kings 7:23-29. Huram made a sea out of cast bronze, 2 Chronicles 4:2 / 1 Kings 7:23-25 / 1 Kings 7:39 / 1 Kings 7:44.

Why Solomon ordered that these images of lions and bulls be built into the panels, 2 Chronicles 4:3-4 / 1 Kings 7:29 / 1 Kings 7:36, is not certain; some believe this was idolatry, Exodus 2:4-5 / 1 Kings 12:28-29. Bulls were the usual images under which the old Canaanite fertility god Baal was worshipped.

He placed the bulls under the laver, these were for the washing of the priests during and after the sacrifices. Josephus charged Solomon with a breach of the Commandment, Exodus 20:4-5, on account of the oxen here and the lions for his throne. The charge expresses the prohibition which some Jews have conceived the Commandment to urge against the arts of sculpture and painting.

This Sea was designed as a great bowl, some fifteen feet across at the top. It was huge, and if the measurements are correct, it would be able to hold around ten thousand gallons of water, 2 Chronicles 4:5. The purpose behind this great bowl was to supply water for ceremonial cleansing purposes, 2 Chronicles 4:6.

Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.

‘The ‘molten sea’ of Solomon, so called from its great size, took the place of the laver of the tabernacle, Exodus 30:18-21, which was required for the ablutions of the priests.’

Ellicott, in his commentary, says the following concerning 2 Chronicles 8:6.

‘The chronicler now returns to his abbreviating style, and omits altogether the description of the ten bases, or stands, upon which the lavers were placed, and which are described in full and curious detail in 1 Kings 7:27-39. The unusual difficulty of the passage may have determined the omission, but it seems more likely that the sacred writer thought the bases of less importance than the objects described in 2 Chronicles 4:7-9, the account of which he has interpolated between the first and second half of 1 Kings 7:39.’

The portable basins had wheels on them, 2 Chronicles 4:6 / 1 Kings 7:30-33, so that they could be wheeled to different parts of the temple in order to provide water for washing during and after the sacrifices.

The ten bronze basins were smaller bowls, 2 Chronicles 4:6 / 1 Kings 7:38-39, that were used for convenient cleansing purposes for the priest when he was away from the Sea bowl, the great bowl of water, Exodus 30:18-19 / Exodus 30:28 / Exodus 40:30-31.

There was also an article of gold within the temple, 2 Chronicles 4:7-8 / 2 Chronicles 4:19-22. Some of this gold, along with some silver, came from all the kingdoms which David had earlier conquered, 2 Samuel 8:9-12.

Notice that the gold lampstands, 2 Chronicles 4:7 / 2 Chronicles 4:20, Solomon had made for the temple had ten branches, 1 Kings 7:48-49. We don’t know why Solomon did this because Exodus 25:31-32 tells us that God asked for the lampstands to have only three branches on each side.

Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning 2 Chronicles 4:7.

‘He made the candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance concerning them, 2 Chronicles 4:7. This should not mislead us. God had indeed required the candlesticks to be of gold; and, in that alone did Solomon heed the divine ordinance.’

When the Jews rebuilt the temple after the Babylonian captivity, they not only put the veil that Solomon didn’t make back to where it belongs between the holy place and the most holy place, Exodus 26:31-35 / Matthew 27:51, but they also put in a seven-branched lampstand.

He made them with ten branches instead of seven as God had originally commanded. Instead of putting the lampstand on the south side of the holy place, he put five on one side, and five on the other, 2 Chronicles 4:7 / Exodus 25:31-40 / Exodus 37:17-24.

He changed the table of showbread into ten tables and placed five of them on the north side and five of them on the south side, 2 Chronicles 4:8 / 2 Chronicles 4:19 / 1 Kings 7:39 / Exodus 25:23-30.

The sprinkling bowls, 2 Chronicles 4:8 / 2 Chronicles 4:11 / 2 Chronicles 4:22 / 1 Kings 7:40 / 1 Kings 7:45 / 1 Kings 7:50, which held water, were scattered around the temple so the priests could prepare the many sacrifices that were offered in reference to the temple service.

There were two courts, one was exclusively used by the priests, whereas the outer court was larger and for other people than the priests, 2 Chronicles 4:9-10 / 1 Kings 6:30 / 1 Kings 6:36 / 1 Kings 7:12.

‘And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God: 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; the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars); the stands with their basins; the Sea and the twelve bulls under it; the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles. All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of polished bronze. The king had them cast in clay moulds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated. Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple: the golden altar; the tables on which was the bread of the Presence; the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed; the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold); the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.’ 2 Chronicles 4:11-22

There’s no doubt that Solomon chose wisely in hiring Huram to help with the furnishings of the temple because he was a very talented, skilled metal worker, 2 Chronicles 4:11 / 1 Kings 7:40-47. The pots, 2 Chronicles 4:11 / 2 Chronicles 4:16, were the caldrons in which it was usual to boil the peace-offerings, 1 Samuel 2:13-14.

Clarke, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 2 Chronicles 4:11-12.

‘These were set on the ten bases or pedestals, and were to hold water for the use of the priests in their sacred office, particularly to wash the victims that were to be offered as a burnt-offering, as we learn from 2 Chronicles 4:6, but the brazen sea was for the priests to wash in. The whole was a building of vast art, labour, and expense.’

Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning the pomegranates: 2 Chronicles 4:13 / 1 Kings 7:18 / 1 Kings 7:20 / 1 Kings 7:42.

‘The pomegranate was one of the most common ornaments in Assyria. It was used on quivers, on spear-shafts, and mace heads, in patterns on doorways and pavements, etc. It is doubtful whether a symbolic meaning was attached to it, or whether it was merely selected as a beautiful natural form.’

All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of polished bronze, 2 Chronicles 4:14-16. Some translations use the word ‘bronze’, and other translations use the word ‘brass’, but this doesn’t really matter, because brass is a term that is used to describe any copper alloy.

Solomon had them cast between Succoth and Zarethan, 2 Chronicles 4:17 / 1 Kings 7:46 / Judges 7:22 / Judges 8:5. These places were quarries where he had mined the huge amount of copper needed for all the furnishings.

The building of Solomon’s palace and all the furnishings were a remarkable undertaking, 2 Chronicles 4:17-22 / 2 Chronicles 5:1 / 2 Chronicles 4:6 / 2 Chronicles 4:10-5:1.

There were also articles of gold within the temple, the golden altar, 2 Chronicles 4:19 / 1 Kings 7:48, the golden lampstands, 2 Chronicles 4:20 / 1 Kings 7:48-49. Gold basins and sockets, 1 Kings 7:50 / 2 Chronicles 4:7-8, floral work, lamps, and tongues, 2 Chronicles 4:21.

Trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers and the gold doors, 2 Chronicles 4:22. Some of this gold, along with some silver, 1 Kings 7:51, came from all the kingdoms which David had earlier conquered, 2 Samuel 8:9-12.

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