Comments on 1 Kings 7

v1-12  Solomon's house was apparently quite impressive as well,
but was not as large or as elaborately ornamented as the Temple. 
Note there is no gold ornamenting in his house.

v13-47  Hiram was also apparently quite an accomplish bronze
smith and made so many pieces for Temple service the weight of
them all could not be measured, but they could be counted up. 
The great numbers of various implements shows they didn't hold
back at all when it came to supplying the Temple with everything
necessary and the very best of what was available.

     The units employed here are baths which are approximately 10
gallons, and cubits which are approximately 1.5 feet.

v23-26  These "seas" are, to us, obviously baptismal founts as
they are present in our Temples.  I have asked a couple of
Rabbi's if they thought they were mikvahs (the Hebrew for
"baptismal fount" is "mikvah" and the Hebrew term for "baptism"
or "ritual immersion" is "tevillah") and one emphatically said
"No! Not at all!"  I asked him what it was then, and he said
"Nobody knows!".  I asked another Rabbi the same question and he
said "Maybe, nobody knows."  So, as far as I can tell there is no
persistent tradition among the Jews that the sea was in fact a 
mikvah.



Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller <kurtn@cybcon.com>.  All rights 
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