1 Kings 7:31

1Ki 7:31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above [was] a cubit: but the mouth thereof [was] round [after] the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it [were] gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.

Ver. 31. And the mouth of it within the chapiter.] The round hollow place of the base, into which the lower part of the laver was put to the upper, was a cubit.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 7:31. The mouth of it — So he calls that part in the top of the base which was left hollow, that the foot of the laver might be let into it. Within the chapiter — Within the little base, which he calls the chapiter, because it rose up from, and stood above the great base. And above — Above the chapiter; for the mouth went up and grew wider like a funnel. Was a cubit — In height, (1Ki 7:35,) whereof half a cubit was above the chapiter or little base, and the other half below it. A cubit and half — In compass. Four-square — So the innermost part, called the mouth, was round, but the outward part was square, as when a circle is made within a quadrangle.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The mouth of the great base or frame entered into the chapiter, or pillar that bare up the cauldron.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(31) And the mouth.—This is most obscure, and in our version unintelligible. Keil renders it: “And the mouth of it (the laver) was within the chapiter, and in a cubit above it; and the mouth of it (the chapiter) was round, after the manner of pedestal, a cubit and a half; and upon the mouth was carved work, and the panels of it (the mouth) were square, not round.” But the rendering of the word “mouth,” now for the laver, now for the chapiter, is arbitrary, and the whole is still obscure. As the circular stand (or chapiter) was half a cubit deep, it looks as if the lower surface of the laver was a cubit above the “mouth.” If the laver were emptied by a cock near the bottom, this circular stand may have received the drippings. And as the top of this base would be square on plan, and the stand circular, there would be, of course, spaces left at each corner, which may possibly be the engraved “panels” referred to.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. And the mouth of it] Here the pronoun must, I think, be referred, as in ‘corners (feet) thereof’ of 1Ki_7:30, to the base. The bases appear to have had a circular orifice in the top, which is here called the mouth. This opening was, as it seems, surmounted and surrounded by a capital, which itself had an opening to receive the lowest part of the laver. The height of the capital above the level surface of the top of the base appears not to be specified unless the half cubit of 1Ki_7:35 be taken to refer to the capital. One cubit was the diameter of the orifice in the top of the base.

but the mouth thereof] Better, ‘And’ &c. The pronoun here by a difference of gender in the original is shewn to refer to a different noun. This can only be the ‘chapiter.’ That superstructure widened out towards the top, and the round opening in top of it, to receive the bottom of the laver, is what is meant by the second ‘mouth.’

after the work of the base] Better, as the word is the same which was so rendered in 1Ki_7:29, after the work of a pedestal. It was in this way that the chapiter served as a support to the laver. This chapiter had graved work all round about its upper edge, which may be fitly called ‘mouth’ as it was meant to receive the laver.

with their borders, foursquare, not round] Better, And their borders were foursquare, not round. It is better to render as literally as possible for it is very doubtful whether these words have reference at all to the chapiter. They seem to be a recurrence to the description of those borders (or panels) spoken of in 1Ki_7:28-29. In that case the pronoun ‘their’ in this clause would refer to the bases. This is the more probable because the ‘borders’ of the next verse are certainly those panels on the sides of the bases.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And under the borders were four wheels,.... Not under the borders last mentioned, but those in Kg1 7:29,

and the axle trees of the wheels were joined to the base; to the four sides of it:

and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit; that is, from the plate of brass on which it stood, to the axis or semicircle of it; so that the highest part of the ring being also a cubit and an half, reached to the top of the base, it being but three cubits high, Kg1 7:27.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It seems impossible to determine what is meant by the “mouth” of the laver, or what by its “chapiter.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The mouth of it; so he calls that part in the top of the base which was left hollow, that the foot of the laver might be let into it, and fastened in it.

Within the chapiter, i.e. within the little base, which he calls the chapiter, because it rose up from and stood above the great base, as the head doth above the rest of the body.

And above; above the chapiter; for the mouth went up and grew wider, like a funnel.

Was a cubit; either in breadth; or rather in height, 1Ki 7:35; whereof half a cubit was above the chapiter or little base, as is said, 1Ki 7:35, and the other half is here implied to be within it, and below it.

A cubit and a half, to wit, in compass.

Four-square, not round; so the innermost part, called the mouth, was round, but the outward part was square, as when a circle is made within a quadrangle.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. The mouth of it — The mouth of the laver; its opening at the top; involving in this case, also, the entire cavity or hollow of the laver.

Within the chapiter and above — An obscure and unintelligible expression, meaning, perhaps, the depth of the laver.

A cubit — Literally, in a cubit; perhaps an erroneous copying of כאמה, about a cubit. We take the meaning to be, that the depth of the laver was about one cubit.

The mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and a half — This makes no sense at all, and if we follow the common punctuation, the passage is perfectly unintelligible. It is very likely that some words have here fallen out of the text. As it is, it seems best to punctuate and read as follows: And the mouth was round; the base-work was a cubit and a half; and also upon the mouth were engravings, and their panels were square, not rounded. On this rendering we make the following notes: Mouth… was round — That is, the opening was round at the top, like a bowl. Base-work was a cubit and a half — The base-work that connected immediately with the laver, and separated it a cubit and a half from the round compass (1Ki_7:35) of the base above. 1Ki_7:29. This base work probably consisted of a pedestal and open standards in the form of curved plates, as represented in the figure. (n n.) See on 1Ki_7:35. Upon the mouth were engravings — That is, upon the concave surface of the inside of the laver, and probably also on the outside. Their panels — The panels of the engravings. (P P in figure.) The lavers were so cast as to present the appearance of square panels set in the surface, and these panels were covered with sculptured work.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the mouth of it Heb. his mouth. I incline, with Keil, to think the mouth of the laver just mentioned (ryOKi masc.) is referred to rather than the stand (Thenius), which would require a fern. suffix within the chapiter By this we are, perhaps, to understand a round ornament, resembling the capital of a pillar, which stood in the centre of the dome-shaped covering (see ver. 35) of the stand, and on which the laver rested (so Keil, Bahr). Rawlinson says, "No commentator has given a satisfactory explanation of this passage": and above Heb. upwards was a cubit i.e., the neck or foot of the laver measured uniformly one cubit, in width apparently: but the mouth Heb. and her mouth, fern. This last mentioned mouth is probably the mouth of the capital (fern.) The neck or mouth of the laver would appear to have been fitted into the mouth of the crown-shaped pedestal was round after the work of the base Heb. stand work, Ke here fixes the meaning of the word in ver. 29, i.e., it decides it to be the substantive (Keil, after Chald.), not the adverb (as Thenius, Bahr, al. ) a cubit and a half so that the first mouth would fit easily into the second, and also upon the mouth of it Heb. her mouth, that of the capital, which was external. The mouth of the laver was partially concealed were gravings Keil understands this of the carving of the stand already mentioned, ver. 29. But a mouth is mentioned, which the square stand lacked. Besides the word "also" points to additional carvings. I understand the chapiter which formed the mouth of the stand to be meant with Heb. and their borders, foursquare, not round. i.e. , the capital had panels like the stand, and the former, like those of the latter, were square.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The mouth - So he calls that part in the top of the base which was left hollow, that the foot of the laver might be let into it. The chapiter - Within the little base, which he calls the chapiter, because it rose up from, and stood above the great base. Above - Above the chapiter; for the mouth went up, and grew wider like a funnel. A cubit - In height, ver. 35, whereof half a cubit was above the chapiter or little base, and the other half below it. A cubit and half - In compass. Four square - So the innermost part, called the mouth, was round, but the outward part was square, as when a circle is made within a quadrangle.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And the rim of the vessel was inside the crown and rose above it an amoh. The mouth of the base extends outward of the rim of the crown and goes upward an amoh high. The crown is the roof of the base, made like a hat, [i.e.,] sloping on all sides, and in the center a round hole was set, with a diameter that was one and one half amohs, and around that hole was the resemblance of an enclosure of a partition one half amoh high around. And below this is thus explained regarding this subject, as it is stated, “At the top of the base [was a frame] half an amoh high circular all around,” and that is called “פי הכותרות [=the rim of the crown].” And the base rests on that enclosure, and the bottom of the base is inserted into the rim of the enclosure, and it protrudes one amoh above it. This is what is stated here, “And the rim of the vessel was inside the crown and rose above it an amoh.”

The rim was round made like the base. And the rim of the crown was round, a replica of the base which was round.

One and a half amohs. Its width in diameter.

There were engravings on the rim as well. Designs of flowers.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.