Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 201
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SAMUEL–KINGS
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on all sides. Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and
some were 12 feet long. The blocks of high-quality stone used in the walls
were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used. The walls of
the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams
between every three layers of finished stone, just like the walls of the inner
courtyard of the Lord’s Temple with its entry room.
King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram to come from Tyre. He
was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naph
tali, and his father had been a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was
extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do
all the metal work for King Solomon.
Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. For the tops of the pillars he cast bronze capitals, each 71/2 feet tall.
Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven
chains. He also encircled the latticework with two rows of pomegranates
to decorate the capitals over the pillars. The capitals on the columns inside
the entry room were shaped like water lilies, and they were six feet tall.
The capitals on the two pillars had 200 pomegranates in two rows around
them, beside the rounded surface next to the latticework. Huram set the
pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one toward the south and one toward
the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north
Boaz. The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the
work on the pillars was finished.
Then Huram cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim,
called the Sea. It was 71/2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference. It
was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There
were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they were cast as
part of the basin.
The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward.
Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced
east, and the Sea rested on them. The walls of the Sea were about three
inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily
blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water.
Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6 feet long, 6 feet wide,
and 41/2 feet tall. They were constructed with side panels braced with
crossbars. Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved
lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were
wreath decorations. Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze
axles. There were supporting posts for the bronze basins at the corners
of the carts; these supports were decorated on each side with carvings
of wreaths. The top of each cart had a rounded frame for the basin. It