1 Kings 7:38

Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 7:38-39. He made ten lavers of brass — Which were to stand upon the bases before mentioned. One laver contained forty baths — See 1 Kings 7:26; from whence it will appear, that each of these lavers contained ten barrels of water. And every laver was four cubits — Some think they were of this height. But it is more likely that these words relate to the diameter of them, which was four cubits, and then their compass was twelve cubits. He put five bases on the right side — That is, on the south side. See 1 Kings 6:8. Of the house — Of the court where the priests ministered, and where, as occasion required, they washed either their hands or feet, or the parts of the sacrifices. Five on the left side of the house — That is, on the north side of that court, which is here opposed to the right or south side. Over against the south — That is, in the south-east part, where the offerings were prepared. So that, as soon as the priests entered, which they did at the east gate, they might have water to wash their hands and their feet.

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

Every laver was four cubits - Assuming height to be intended, and taking the cubit at 20 inches, the entire height of the lavers as they stood upon their wheeled stands would seem to have been 13 ft. 9 in. It is evident, therefore, that the water must have been drawn from them, as from the "molten sea," through cocks or taps.

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

Forty baths; ten barrels; of which See Poole "1 Kings 7:26".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 (c) 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 the cleansing of his people; whose works, services, and sacrifices, as well as persons and garments, need continual washing in that blood; see Romans 12:1,

one laver contained forty baths; and a bath, according to Bishop Cumberland (d) held seven wine gallons, and two quarts and half a pint:

and every laver was four cubits: that is, square; this was the diameter of it:

and upon every of the ten bases one laver; for which they were made, even to set the lavers on, and were exactly of the same measure.

(c) Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, in 2 Chron. 6. (d) Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 70, 71.

Geneva Study Bible

Then made he {s} ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

(s) To keep waters for the use of the sacrifices.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

38. Then made he] It is only the simple copulative And.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 38. - Then made he ten layers of brass: one laver contained forty baths [i.e., about 340 gals., if we accept the account of Josephus, Ant 8:2.9. But see on ver. 26]: and every laver was four cubits. [It is uncertain whether the height or the diameter is meant. Keil decides for the latter - and four cubits, the width of the sides of the stand, may well have been also the diameter of the basin - on the ground that as" the basins were set upon (עַל) the stands," it can hardly refer to the height. But it is worthy of remark that "the height of all the ether parts has been mentioned" (Rawlinson). See vers. 27, 32, 35, and without this particular we could not calculate the entire height, which, if the laver were four cubits, would be about thirteen feet. This surprising size is accounted for by remembering the height of the altar, to which the fat and other sacrificial portions had to be transferred from the laver]: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. [Ten layers would not be at all too many when we remember the prodigious number of victims which were occasionally offered.] 1 Kings 7:38

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Thus he made the ten stools of one kind of casting, measure, and form, and also ten brazen basins (כּיּרות), each holding forty baths, and each basin four cubits." In a round vessel this can only be understood of the diameter, not of the height or depth, as the basins were set upon (על) the stands. על־המּכונה אחד כּיּור is dependent upon ויּעשׂ: he made ten basins, ... one basin upon a stand for the ten stands, i.e., one basin for each stand. If then the basins were a cubit in diameter at the top, and therefore their size corresponded almost exactly to the length and breadth of the stand, whilst the crown-like neck, into which they were inserted, was only a cubit and a half in diameter (1 Kings 7:31), their shape must have resembled that of widespreading shells. And the form thus given to them required the shoulder-pieces described in 1 Kings 7:30 and 1 Kings 7:34 as supports beneath the outer rim of the basins, to prevent their upsetting when the carriage was wheeled about.

(Note: The description which Ewald has given of these stands in his Geschichte, iii. pp. 311,312, and still more elaborately in an article in the Gttingen Gelehrten Nachr. 1859, pp. 131-146, is not only obscure, but almost entirely erroneous, since he proposes in the most arbitrary way to make several alterations in the biblical text, on the assumption that the Solomonian stands were constructed just like the small bronze four-wheeled kettle-carriages (hardly a foot in size) which have been discovered in Mecklenburg, Steyermark, and other places of Europe. See on this subject G. C. F. Lisch, "ber die ehernen Wagenbecken der Bronzezeit," in the Jahrbb. des Vereinsf. Mecklenb. Geschichte, ix. pp. 373,374, where a sketch of a small carriage of this kind is given.)