It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.
Parallel translations
- WEB It was a hand width thick. Its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.
- KJV And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
- NKJV It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained two thousand baths.
- NASB And it was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths.
- NLT The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sea was a handbreadth thick, its rim shaped like a lily blossom, and it held two thousand baths. It was both sturdy and beautiful, with great capacity.
Overview
The basin's thickness gave it durability, while the lily-shaped rim continued the temple's floral beauty. Its enormous capacity, several thousand gallons, supplied ample water for priestly washing. This abundant provision for cleansing pictures the fullness of purification God grants His people, ultimately and completely through the blood of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Chr 4:5It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.
- 1 Kgs 6:32The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
- 1 Kgs 6:18The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.
- Jer 52:21Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.
- 1 Kgs 7:38He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.
- Ezek 45:14The prescribed portion of oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath from each cor (a cor consists of ten baths or one homer, since ten baths are equivalent to a homer).
- 1 Kgs 7:19And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.
- 1 Kgs 6:35He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold, hammered evenly over the carvings.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 7:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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