Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

JEREMIAH 52:17KJV
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Jeremiah 52:17 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 52:17 mean?

Jeremiah 52:17 describes the stripping of valuable metal from the temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian conquest. The Chaldeans broke apart large bronze objects and took the metal to Babylon, turning the temple’s furnishings into spoils of conquest.

The “brasen sea” was a huge metal basin, not a body of water. The pillars stood at the temple entrance, while the bases were stands associated with smaller basins. These were substantial pieces of temple equipment, rather than small ornaments.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 52:17

  • “brass” — נְחֹשֶׁת (neḥoshet): The word can mean copper or a copper-based metal such as bronze. In this setting, “bronze” is the usual modern description of the metal the KJV calls “brass.”
  • “sea” — יָם (yam): The word ordinarily means a sea or a large body of water. Here it names the enormous bronze basin in the temple, apparently because of its size.

Why Jeremiah 52:17 matters

  • The verse shows that the attackers took apart major temple structures, not just portable treasures. The words “brake” and “carried” describe how they removed the pillars, bases, and basin.
  • The furnishings had practical uses as well as imposing size. According to 2 Chronicles 4:6, the large basin held water for the priests to wash in, while the smaller basins were used to rinse things used in temple offerings.
  • The destination identifies the removal as part of Babylon’s conquest. The Chaldeans carried the bronze “to Babylon,” away from the temple where the objects had stood.

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 25:13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

“Chaldeans” Hebrew H3778 · used in 80 verses

  • Genesis 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
  • Jeremiah 32:4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
  • Jeremiah 43:3 But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.

“pillars” Hebrew H5982 · used in 84 verses

  • Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
  • Exodus 39:33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets,
  • 2 Kings 23:3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

“brass” Hebrew H5178 · used in 119 verses

  • Genesis 4:22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
  • Deuteronomy 8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
  • 1 Chronicles 22:16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.