And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;

1 KINGS 7:43KJV
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1 Kings 7:43 (KJV)

What does 1 Kings 7:43 mean?

1 Kings 7:43 lists equipment made for Solomon’s temple: ten stands and ten washbasins set on them. The verse is part of an account of the bronze work completed for the temple. Its careful count shows that each basin had a stand.

The stands were movable, with wheels beneath them, as the earlier description in 1 Kings 7:30 makes clear. The basins held water; 2 Chronicles 4:6 says the smaller basins were used for washing things connected with the offerings.

The Hebrew behind 1 Kings 7:43

  • “bases” — מְכֹנָה (mekhonah): The word refers to a stand or support. Here it names the wheeled structures that carried the basins.
  • “lavers” — כִּיּוֹר (kiyyor): The word can mean a basin used for washing. “Lavers” is an older English word for such basins.

Why 1 Kings 7:43 matters

  • The verse points to ten separate units, rather than one large vessel. Verse 38 says there was one basin on each stand.
  • The stands were made with attention to appearance as well as use. Earlier in the passage, 1 Kings 7:29 describes lions, oxen, and winged creatures on their panels.

Where else these words appear

“bases” Hebrew H4350 · used in 18 verses

  • 1 Kings 7:27 And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.
  • 1 Kings 7:35 And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.
  • 2 Kings 25:16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

“lavers” Hebrew H3595 · used in 20 verses

  • Exodus 30:18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
  • Exodus 40:7 And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
  • 1 Kings 7:38 Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.