1 Kings 7:39

And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(39) The sea.—This was placed on the south-eastern side of the Temple, on one side of the great altar; the ten smaller lavers were ranged five on each side.

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

On the right side, i.e. in the south side, as is expressed in the end of the verse, and as the right side is used above, 1 Kings 6:8 Psalm 89:12.

On the right side of the house; not within the house, but in the priests’ court, where they washed either their hands or feet, or the parts of the sacrifices. On the left side of the house, i.e. on the north side; for this is here opposed to the right or south side.

Over against the south, i.e. in the south-east part, where the offerings were prepared.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 the right side of the house eastward, over against the south; and therefore the right side must be the north, which is opposite to the south; the sea seems to have stood northeast, which was for the priests to wash in before they entered on divine service; see Gill on Exodus 30:20 hence it became customary with the Heathens to wash before they performed any religious worship (e), particularly the hands and feet (f).

(e) Vid. Virgil. Bucolic. Eclog. 8. "affer aquam", &c. Aeneid. 2. "attrectare nefas", &c. Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. l. (f) Vid. Sperling de Bapt. Ethnic. p. 88, 89, 101.

Geneva Study Bible

And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the {t} house eastward over against the south.

(t) That is, of the temple or sanctuary.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

39. And he put] The verb is the same which later on in the verse is translated set. It is better to adhere to the same rendering in the same verse. It would also be more in accordance with the Hebrew to translate ‘And he set the bases, five on the right side (Heb. shoulder) of the house &c.’

eastward over against (better, towards) the south] The building looked north and south, so the sides would be east and west. The sea then stood at the south corner of the east side.

There is much uncertainty about the meaning of parts of the language in this description of the bases. They appear however to have been large box-shaped structures, set on four wheels. The wheels did not come up higher than the bottom of the box, and so needed shoulders and stays in which the axles might run and by which they might be kept in position. Above the box, which had a large hole in the top, rose a sort of capital on which was fixed the laver. The sides of the box and the capital as well as the stays were covered with figures. The purpose of these lavers as we are told 2 Chronicles 4:6, was for washing such things as were offered for the burnt offering. This was most likely the reason why they were needed of some considerable height and so were supported on the box-shaped bases. The laver would be of necessity as high as the altar of burnt offering, to the side of which it must have been brought at the time of any offering. That the altar stood higher than the level of the court seems evident from 1 Kings 8:22, where Solomon is described as standing before it in the sight of all the people.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 39. - And he put five bases on the right side [Heb. shoulder] of the house, and five on the left side of the house [i.e., on the south and north sides of the court of the priests]: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south. [This passage is decisive as to which was the right and which the left. The right side was the south. It was probably for convenience that the sea did not stand due east of the house, i.e., between the porch and altar.] 1 Kings 7:39

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

And he put the stands five on the right side of the house and five on the left; and the (brazen) sea he put upon the right side eastwards, opposite to the south. The right side is the south side, and the left the north side. Consequently the stands were not placed on the right and left, i.e., on each side of the altar of burnt-offering, but on each side of the house, i.e., of the temple-hall; while the brazen sea stood farther forward between the hall and the altar, only more towards the south, i.e., to the south-east of the hall and the south-west of the altar of burnt-offering. The basins upon the stands were for washing (according to 2 Chronicles 4:6), namely, "the work of the burnt-offering," that is to say, for cleansing the flesh and fat, which were to be consumed upon the altar of burnt-offering. By means of the stands on wheels they could not only easily bring the water required near to the priests who were engaged in preparing the sacrifices, but could also let down the dirty water into the chest of the stand by means of a special contrivance introduced for the purpose, and afterwards take it away. As the introduction of carriages for the basins arose from the necessities of the altar-service, so the preparation of ten such stands, and the size of the basins, was occasioned by the greater extension of the sacrificial worship, in which it often happened that a considerable number of sacrifices had to be made ready for the altar at the same time. The artistic work of these stands and their decoration with figures were intended to show that these vessels were set apart for the service of the sanctuary. The emblems are to some extent the same as those on the walls of the sanctuary, viz., cherubim, palms, and flowers, which had therefore naturally the same meaning here as they had there; the only difference being that they were executed there in gold, whereas here they were in brass, to correspond to the character of the court. Moreover, there were also figures of lions and oxen, pointing no doubt to the royal and priestly characters, which were combined, according to Exodus 19:6, in the nation worshipping the Lord in this place.