1Ki 7:23-26 | NET2full | STEP | He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea .” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim , was circular in shape , and stood 7½ feet high . Its circumference was 45 feet .

1 Kings 7:23-26

23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” ^{▼▼tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”} ^{▼▼sn This large basin was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).} It measured 15 feet ^{▼▼tn Heb “10 cubits.”} from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood 7½ feet ^{▼▼tn Heb “5 cubits.”} high. Its circumference was 45 feet. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it 30 cubits all around.” The measurements are an approximation. The LXX has the number 33. Neither fit a strict calculation of the diameter time pi, but the precise details of measuring (e.g. the width of the lip or other factors) are not known and numbers may be rounded.} 24 Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments ^{▼▼tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”} arranged in settings 15 feet long. ^{▼▼tn Heb “10 cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.} The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” ^{▼▼tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”} 25 “The Sea” ^{▼▼tn Heb “It.” The proper noun “The Sea” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.} 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. ^{▼▼tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”} 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. ^{▼▼tn Heb “2,000 baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).}