“He made ten bronze trolleys,
each one seven feet long,
seven feet wide,
and five-and-a-quarter feet high.”
– 1 Kings 7:38
We continue to look at the work Hiram, the skilled Hebrew craftsman, continued to do for Solomon’s Temple.
Keep in mind, in one way or another, his work involved using bronze for all of the furnishings.
In verse 38, we’re told he built ten laver stands made out of bronze.
The purpose was to have pots of living water that could easily be transported from one place to another inside the inner courtyard.
They consisted of a top and bottom half.
The bottom part had wheels attached to it, called MEKONAH in Hebrew.
MEKONAH doesn’t mean wheels, though.
It means more “base” or “foundation.”
The upper part was called the laver (a basin) and was called KIYYOR in Hebrew.
Now, you’ll notice in many English Bibles, including the Complete Jewish Bible, that these big mobile kettle pots are translated as “trolleys.”
That’s because any foundation with wheels is essentially a “trolley” in Western thought.
These big basins also had elaborate decorations carved into them.
There were engravings depicting Cherubim, along with lions, oxen, and palm trees.
These transportable pots were also quite large.
But there is disagreement about the quoted measurements,
The Bible gives us a measurement of 4 cubits (that’s about 7 feet).
But what part of the basin does that number describe?
Was it describing the width or height of the water bowl?
Nobody seems to know for sure.
Are you feeling me here?
The Complete Jewish Bible asserts that the figure is referring to the width.
I think that’s correct.
The cart itself was 7 feet long and 7 feet wide.
So a bowl the same size would sit nicely and steadily on top with no tipping over when pushed.
But most rabbis have said the 4 cubits was the bowl’s height, not its width.
I think that interpretation creates a problem.
Why?
Well, think about it, man.
The rolling cart was already about 5 and a half feet tall.
If you stacked a 7-foot-tall bowl on top of that, the rim would be 11 or 12 feet in the air!
No priest could reach the water up there.
He’d need a ladder just to wash his hands.
So I’d say the bowl was about 7 feet across in width…but it was quite shallow.
More like a giant dish instead of a deep barrel.
That way, a priest could dip right in.
At most, he might need a little step stool to reach the edge.
So what takeaway can we extract from this?
Here’s what’s coming to me.
We’re told Hiram was a bronze specialist.
And he was so skilled at crafting things with this particular type of metal that he was appointed by the King of Israel to perform work for the holiest piece of architecture in the Promised Land.
There’s a lesson there about the importance of having a niche, don’t you think?
Find your particular area of strength, and go all in on it!
Don’t try to be a jack of all trades.
Specialize and command the attention of kings!
Done.
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