1 Kings 7:36

For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:13-47 The two brazen pillars in the porch of the temple, some think, were to teach those that came to worship, to depend upon God only, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. Jachin, God will fix this roving mind. It is good that the heart be established with grace. Boaz, In him is our strength, who works in us both to will and to do. Spiritual strength and stability are found at the door of God's temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace, in use of the means of grace. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ's blood, and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution. There are full means provided for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault. Let us bless God for the fountain opened by the sacrifice of Christ for sin and for uncleanness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

According to the proportion of every one - i. e. "as large as the room left for them allowed," implying that the panels were smaller than those on the sides of the base, and allowed scant room for the representations.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

27-39. he made ten bases of brass—These were trucks or four-wheeled carriages, for the support and conveyance of the lavers. The description of their structure shows that they were elegantly fitted up and skilfully adapted to their purpose. They stood, not on the axles, but on four rests attached to the axles, so that the figured sides were considerably raised above the wheels. They were all exactly alike in form and size. The lavers which were borne upon them were vessels capable each of holding three hundred gallons of water, upwards of a ton weight. The whole, when full of water, would be no less than two tons [Napier].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

According to the proportion, or, empty place, i.e. according to the bigness of the spaces which were left empty for them, implying that they were smaller than those above mentioned.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 holding a circle like a crown:

he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of everyone; these figures were made as large as the plates of the ledges, and the borders, would allow room for:

and the addition round about; which were sloping shelves of brass around the base, 1 Kings 7:29 these were ornamented in like manner.

Geneva Study Bible

For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

36. according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about] The word rendered ‘proportion’ means rather any ‘bare space.’ Hence the sense is that the graving was such as the space admitted. So, and to harmonize the final words with the previous verse, we should render ‘according to the space in every one, and with wreaths round about.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 36. - For on the plates of the ledges [hands] thereof; and on the borders [sides, panels] thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion [Heb. nakedness, hence naked space, void. The meaning is that he filled all the spaces with carvings] of every one, and additions [wreaths, festoons] round about. 1 Kings 7:36

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And on the upper part of the stand (the mechonah chest) half a cubit high was rounded all round, and on the upper part were its holders, and its panels out of it. המּכונה ראשׁ is the upper portion of the square chest. This was not flat, but rounded, i.e., arched, so that the arching rose half a cubit high above the height of the sides. This arched covering (or lid) had ידות, holders, and panels, which were therefore upon the upper part of the מכונה. The holders we take to be strong broad borders of brass, which gave the lid the necessary firmness; and the fillings or panels are the thinner plates of brass between them. They were both ממּנּה, "out of it," out of the upper part of the mechonah, i.e., cast along with it. With regard to the decoration of it, 1 Kings 7:36 states that "he cut out (engraved) upon the plates of its holders, and upon its panels, cherubim, lions, and palms, according to the empty space of every one, and wreaths all round." We cannot determine anything further with regard to the distribution of these figures.