Bible Strands

1 Kings 7:31

The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrator describes Solomon’s temple construction to the Israelite audience, detailing the bronze stands and their basins as they are being cast in the foundry.

The words — The Hebrew פִּי (pi) denotes the 'mouth' or 'opening' of the basin, while עָגֹל (agal) specifies that its shape is 'round,' contrasting with the square panels below.

The thread — The basin measurements recur in the temple inventory of 1 Kings 7:27–39, where the same structural details are cataloged before the objects are installed in the courtyard.

Why it lands — The text demands precise attention to the craftsmanship and exact dimensions of sacred objects, requiring the reader to recognize that physical specifications anchor the temple’s design.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּ֠פִיהוּU./fi./huand/ opening/ itsמִבֵּ֨יתmi./Beit[was] from/ insideלַכֹּתֶ֤רֶתla./ko.Te.retto the/ capitalוָמַ֙עְלָה֙va./Ma'.la/hand/ up/ -wardsבָּֽאַמָּ֔הba./'a.Mahby the/ cubitוּפִ֙יהָ֙u./Fi./haand/ opening/ itsעָגֹ֣ל'a.Gol[was] roundמַעֲשֵׂה־ma.'a.seh-[the] work ofכֵ֔ןKhena baseאַמָּ֖ה'a.Maha cubitוַחֲצִ֣יva./cha.Tziand/ [the] half ofהָֽאַמָּ֑הha./'a.Mah<the>/ cubitוְגַם־ve./gam-and/ alsoעַל־'al-[were] onפִּ֙יהָ֙pi./haopening/ itsמִקְלָע֔וֹתmik.la.'otcarvingsוּמִסְגְּרֹתֵיהֶ֥םu./mis.ge.ro.tei./Hemand/ rims/ theirמְרֻבָּע֖וֹתme.ru.ba.'ot[were] squareלֹ֥אlo'notעֲגֻלּֽוֹת׃a.gu.Lotround

King James Version

And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.