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Molten Sea AI simulator
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Molten Sea AI simulator
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Molten Sea
The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea (ים מוצק yām mūṣāq "cast metal sea") was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. It is described in 1 Kings 7:23–26 and 2 Chronicles 4:2–5. It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. According to the Bible it was five cubits high, ten cubits in diameter from brim to brim, and thirty cubits in circumference. The brim was like the rim of a cup or like a lily blossom, and its thickness was a hand breadth", three or four inches. It was placed on the backs of twelve oxen, standing with their faces outward. It was capable of containing two or three thousand baths of water (2 Chronicles 4:5). The fact that it was a wash basin which was too large to enter from above lends to the idea that water would likely have flowed from it down into a subcontainer beneath. The water was originally supplied by the Gibeonites, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from Solomon's Pools.[dubious – discuss] The "molten sea" was made of brass or bronze, which Solomon had taken from the captured cities of Hadarezer, the king of Zobah (1 Chronicles 18:8). Ahaz later removed this laver from the oxen, and placed it on a stone pavement (2 Kings 16:17). It was destroyed by the Chaldeans (2 Kings 25:13).
The basin contained water sufficient for two thousand baths. Adding to its Biblical description, according to the Talmud, the laver was not entirely round; the upper two-fifths were round, but the lower three were square.
The symbolism and specific appearance of the brazen sea is described in detail in the Midrash Tadshe. The sea represented the world and the ten ells of diameter corresponded to the ten Sefirot; it was round at the top (according to the Talmud passage above cited), as the heavens are round, and the specific curvature reflected the Hebrew zodiac (Mazzaloth). The depth of the sea was five ells, corresponding to the distance of five hundred years' journey between heaven and earth. The two rows of colocynths (knops) below the rim were symbolic of the sun (greater light) and the moon (lesser light). The band of thirty ells around it corresponded to the Ten Commandments, to the ten words of God at the creation of the world, and to the ten Sefirot: for the world can exist only when the Ten Commandments are observed, and the ten Sefirot as well as the ten words of God were the instruments of the Creation. The twelve oxen on which the sea rested represented the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It contained 2,000 baths (cubic measures), for the world will sustain him who keeps the Torah, which was created 2,000 years before the world.
In the Priestly Code of Exodus, instead of the Molten Sea is described a bronze laver (basin), which was to rest on a bronze foot (presumably meaning a stand). The text explains that this laver was to be used for the Israelite priests to wash their hands and feet when they entered the sanctuary. This is confirmed in a later part of the Priestly Code, in the passage describing the actual installation of the Tabernacle furniture.
The size and shape of this laver are not mentioned anywhere in the Bible, and nor are those of its stand, unlike the case for the Molten Sea. By contrast, the special golden candlestick is described by the Priestly Code, but not in the description of Solomon's temple. It might therefore be the case that the laver and the candlestick are somehow the same object.
Solomon is described by the Book of Chronicles as having constructed a special platform in his Temple, for him to use during the opening ceremony. Although it is often assumed that the text describes Solomon as standing on this platform, the text could equally be read stood next to.
This platform is literally described by the Masoretic Text as a laver (Hebrew: kiyyor), and as with the Priestly Code's laver, there is only one platform, and it is placed in the centre of the outer court. The Septuagint calls it a base, and the size of the brazen platform is the same as that of each base for the ten brazen lavers.
It is therefore quite possible that the account of this platform in the Book of Chronicles is actually an account of a laver corresponding to the laver of the Priestly Code.
Molten Sea
The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea (ים מוצק yām mūṣāq "cast metal sea") was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. It is described in 1 Kings 7:23–26 and 2 Chronicles 4:2–5. It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. According to the Bible it was five cubits high, ten cubits in diameter from brim to brim, and thirty cubits in circumference. The brim was like the rim of a cup or like a lily blossom, and its thickness was a hand breadth", three or four inches. It was placed on the backs of twelve oxen, standing with their faces outward. It was capable of containing two or three thousand baths of water (2 Chronicles 4:5). The fact that it was a wash basin which was too large to enter from above lends to the idea that water would likely have flowed from it down into a subcontainer beneath. The water was originally supplied by the Gibeonites, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from Solomon's Pools.[dubious – discuss] The "molten sea" was made of brass or bronze, which Solomon had taken from the captured cities of Hadarezer, the king of Zobah (1 Chronicles 18:8). Ahaz later removed this laver from the oxen, and placed it on a stone pavement (2 Kings 16:17). It was destroyed by the Chaldeans (2 Kings 25:13).
The basin contained water sufficient for two thousand baths. Adding to its Biblical description, according to the Talmud, the laver was not entirely round; the upper two-fifths were round, but the lower three were square.
The symbolism and specific appearance of the brazen sea is described in detail in the Midrash Tadshe. The sea represented the world and the ten ells of diameter corresponded to the ten Sefirot; it was round at the top (according to the Talmud passage above cited), as the heavens are round, and the specific curvature reflected the Hebrew zodiac (Mazzaloth). The depth of the sea was five ells, corresponding to the distance of five hundred years' journey between heaven and earth. The two rows of colocynths (knops) below the rim were symbolic of the sun (greater light) and the moon (lesser light). The band of thirty ells around it corresponded to the Ten Commandments, to the ten words of God at the creation of the world, and to the ten Sefirot: for the world can exist only when the Ten Commandments are observed, and the ten Sefirot as well as the ten words of God were the instruments of the Creation. The twelve oxen on which the sea rested represented the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It contained 2,000 baths (cubic measures), for the world will sustain him who keeps the Torah, which was created 2,000 years before the world.
In the Priestly Code of Exodus, instead of the Molten Sea is described a bronze laver (basin), which was to rest on a bronze foot (presumably meaning a stand). The text explains that this laver was to be used for the Israelite priests to wash their hands and feet when they entered the sanctuary. This is confirmed in a later part of the Priestly Code, in the passage describing the actual installation of the Tabernacle furniture.
The size and shape of this laver are not mentioned anywhere in the Bible, and nor are those of its stand, unlike the case for the Molten Sea. By contrast, the special golden candlestick is described by the Priestly Code, but not in the description of Solomon's temple. It might therefore be the case that the laver and the candlestick are somehow the same object.
Solomon is described by the Book of Chronicles as having constructed a special platform in his Temple, for him to use during the opening ceremony. Although it is often assumed that the text describes Solomon as standing on this platform, the text could equally be read stood next to.
This platform is literally described by the Masoretic Text as a laver (Hebrew: kiyyor), and as with the Priestly Code's laver, there is only one platform, and it is placed in the centre of the outer court. The Septuagint calls it a base, and the size of the brazen platform is the same as that of each base for the ten brazen lavers.
It is therefore quite possible that the account of this platform in the Book of Chronicles is actually an account of a laver corresponding to the laver of the Priestly Code.
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