Footnotes

1. 1 Kings 7:13 We are grateful that the text has preserved for us the name of the expert craftsman in bronze, a man of Tyre (but with a Hebrew mother) who was thought worthy of executing the king’s great works. The “sea” (v. 23) is a great basin, containing the water for the priests’ ablutions. The ten basins on the movable stands were needed for supplying the water, of which a great deal was used, especially for washing the space in front after the immolation of the victims. There are other passages having to do with the temple objects and their use (Ex 30:17; 37; 38; 2 Chr 3–4; Ezek 20–43).