7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” 1 It measured 15 feet 2 from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet 3 high. Its circumference was 45 feet. 4 7:24 Under the rim all the way around it 5 were round ornaments 6 arranged in settings 15 feet long. 7 The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” 8 7:25 “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. 9 7:26 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons. 10
7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. 11 Each basin was six feet in diameter; 12 there was one basin for each stand.
1 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”
sn This large basin that was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
2 tn Heb “ten cubits.”
3 tn Heb “five cubits.”
4 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”
5 tn Heb “The Sea.” The proper noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”
7 tn Heb “ten cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
8 tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”
9 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
10 tn Heb “two thousand baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
11 tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
12 tn Heb “four cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.