2 Chronicles 4:2

MOLTEN SEA. (Ch2 4:2-5)

he made a molten sea--(See on Kg1 7:23), as in that passage "knops" occur instead of "oxen." It is generally supposed that the rows of ornamental knops were in the form of ox heads.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Ch 4:2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

Ver. 2. Also he made a molten sea.] See on 1Ki 7:23, &c.

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.

4:2-5 The Temple, the house of God, depicted Eden, the garden of God (cp. Isa 51:3). The massive Sea that rested on the backs of the twelve bronze oxen represented either cosmic pre-creation waters or the waters of life that emanated from the Garden of Eden. Divine forces subdue the waters of chaos (Gen 1:2) so that they provide life-giving nourishment for plant, animal, and human life (see Rev 21:1, where the sea is removed forever).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A great vessel of brass, so called, because of the great quantity of water, which it contained, 1 Kings 7:24.

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

(2) Even if pôthôth be correct in Kings, the chronicler might have understood the word to mean openings, rather than hinges, and so have substituted the common word pethah, which has that sense. The resemblance of the one word to the other would be a further consideration in its favour, according to ancient notions of interpretation.

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

2–5 (= 1Ki_7:23-26). The Molten Sea

2. he made a molten sea] Render, he made the sea of molten metal. The “sea” or great laver was a well-known feature in temples, being a symbol of the purity needful for those who come into the divine presence. So in the heavenly temple before the throne there is a “sea” of glass (Rev_4:6).

five cubits the height thereof] R.V. the height thereof was five cubits.

a line of thirty cubits did compass it] i.e. it was thirty cubits in circumference.

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.

Sea, or great brazen vessel, and some other things that were not in the tabernacle of Moses, whose plan was followed, but with greater magnificence. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

A molten sea: of this and 2Ch 4:3-5, &c., See Poole "1Ki 7:23", &c.

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

A molten sea. The Hebrew of this verse and of 1Ki_7:23 are facsimiles of one author, except that here wq; stands, where the parallel shows hwOq, probably the fruit merely of some error in transcription. Verses like these point not to the derivation of Chronicles from Kings, but rather of both from some older common source. This sea of brass superseded the laver of the tabernacle. (Exo_30:18, 28 31:9 35:16 39:39) It was called a sea on account of its size. We are told 1Ch_18:8 whence David had drawn the supplies of metal necessary for this work. The size of the diameter measured from upper rim to rim (ten cubits) harmonizes, of course, to all practical purposes, with that of the circumference (thirty cubits); it would assist questions connected with the contents of this large vessel, however, if we had been told whether the circumference were measured at the rim, or, as the form of language here used might slightly favour, round the girth. (For these questions, see ver. 5 below.) This sea for the washing of the priests significantly follows the altar. Beside the general suggestion of the need of purification or sanctification, it here reminds of the fact that the earthly priest and high priest must need the purification, which their great Antitype would not need.

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

The brazen sea described as in Kg1 7:23-26. See the commentary on that passage, and the sketch in my Archaeol. i. plate iii. fig. 1. The differences in substance, such as the occurrence of בּקרים and הבּקר, Ch2 4:3, instead of פּקעים and הפּקים, and 3000 baths instead of 2000, are probably the result of orthographical errors in the Chronicle. יכיל in Ch2 4:5 appears superfluous after the preceding מחזיק, and Berth. considers it a gloss which has come from 1 Kings into our text by mistake. But the expression is only pleonastic: "receiving baths, 3000 it held;" and there is no sufficient reason to strike out the words.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

ten cubits from brim to brim Ten by ten in its center, circular around.

and a line of thirty cubits did encompass it round about Whatever has a circumference of three handbreadths has a diameter of one handbreadth.

and the height thereof was five cubits its depth.

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.