1 Kings 7:50

And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 7:50. The bowls and the snuffers, &c. — The use of the different articles here named is manifest. The bowls were to contain oil for the lamps, the snuffers to trim them: the basins, which were a hundred, as we learn 2 Chronicles 4:8, were to receive the water of sprinkling, and the blood of the sacrifices, which was sometimes brought into the most holy place. The spoons served to take up the oil. The censers were for offering incense. The hinges of gold, &c. — This shows the vast riches of Solomon, and his great piety, which made him spare no cost to beautify the house of God, and all things belonging to it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:48-51 Christ is now the Temple and the Builder; the Altar and the Sacrifice; the Light of our souls, and the Bread of life; able to supply all the wants of all that have applied or shall apply to him. Outward images cannot represent, words cannot express, the heart cannot conceive, his preciousness or his love. Let us come to him, and wash away our sins in his blood; let us seek for the purifying grace of his Spirit; let us maintain communion with the Father through his intercession, and yield up ourselves and all we have to his service. Being strengthened by him, we shall be accepted, useful, and happy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes to Exodus 25:31-38. The "bowls" of 1 Kings 7:50 were the "bowls" for the tables Exodus 37:16, large vases containing oil for the lamps.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

49. candlesticks of pure gold—made, probably, according to the model of that in the tabernacle, which, along with the other articles of furniture, were deposited with due honor, as sacred relics, in the temple. But these seem not to have been used in the temple service; for Solomon made new lavers, tables, and candlesticks, ten of each. (See further regarding the dimensions and furniture of the temple, in 2Ch 3:1-5:14).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the bowls,.... To keep the oil in:

and the snuffers; to trim the lamps with; though some interpret the word of musical instruments, as the Targum, of psalteries:

and the basins; which were to receive the blood of the sacrifices; and, Ben Gersom thinks, particularly the blood of those that were brought into the sanctuary, see Hebrews 13:11, there were an hundred of them, 2 Chronicles 4:8.

and the spoons; which held the incense:

and the censers of pure gold; with which the coals were carried from one altar to another, on which the incense was burnt; not only those but all the other vessels were of pure gold:

and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit,

of the temple; the holy of holies and the holy place, the hinges of the doors of each, on which they were hung, and turned, were of gold; so grand and magnificent was this edifice, and so liberal Solomon in the building of it.

Geneva Study Bible

And the bowls, {y} and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

(y) Some take this for some musical instrument.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

50. and the bowls] This is the word which is usually rendered ‘basons.’ See 2 Samuel 17:28, &c. A different word is translated ‘bowl’ elsewhere, see Jdg 6:38. As ‘basons’ occurs later on in the verse, the R.V. has changed ‘bowls’ here to ‘cups,’ a rendering given for this word sometimes on the margin of A. V.

and the censers] This Hebrew word is frequently rendered ‘censer,’ but as in Exodus 27:3; Exodus 38:3 and other places, where it relates to the altar furniture and fittings, the plural is rendered ‘fire pans,’ the R.V. has introduced that rendering here. Cf. also 2 Kings 25:15 and Jeremiah 52:19. In the latter part of this verse the R.V. preserves the order of the Hebrew, and gives a little more explicitness, by removing ‘of gold’ after ‘hinges’ to the end of the verse. With the description here given should be compared the account of the vessels of the Mosaic tabernacle. Exodus 25-30.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 50. - And the bowls [same word in Exodus 12:22. The "dishes" of Exodus 25:29, and Exodus 37:16, with which Rawlinson identifies them, are expressed by a different word. He thinks they were for the oil - which the connexion would seem to imply - but they may have been for the blood], and the snuffers [Heb. knives, זָמַר carpsit. The word is used of the pruning hook in Isaiah 2:4; cf. Leviticus 25:3. They served the purpose though they had not the shape of our snuffers], and the basons [same word as in vers. 40, 45. These latter, however, were of brass, while those of the text were of pure gold. According to 2 Chronicles 4:8, they were a hundred in number. As the root (זָרַק) signifies to sprinkle, they were probably either for the water or the blood of sprinkling. Keil thinks they were for the wine of the libations], and the spoons [כַּפות, lit., palms (of hands), hence used of shallow vessels (Exodus 25:29; Numbers 7:84, 86. The last cited passage (cf. vers. 14, 20, 26) shows that they were used for the incense (Leviticus 24:7, etc.), LXX. θυίσκαι], and the censers [or snuffers, extinguishers ; marg. ash-pans. In Exodus 25:38 the word is translated snuff, dishes. In Numbers 4:14; Numbers 16:6, it signifies censers, which may well be the meaning here] of pure gold; and the hinges [or sockets of the hinges (Gesen., Keil)] of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place [Heb. for the holy of holies], and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple. [These were evidently of inferior (not pure) metal.] 1 Kings 7:50

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The פּתות were also of gold, possibly of inferior quality. These were either the hinges of the doors, or more probably the sockets, in which the pegs of the doors turned. They were provided for the doors of the inner temple, viz., the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. We must supply Vv before לדלתי.

All the vessels mentioned in 1 Kings 7:48, 1 Kings 7:49 belonged to the Holy Place of the temple, and were the same as those in the tabernacle; so that the remarks made in the Comm. on Exodus 25:30, Exodus 25:39, and Exodus 30:1-10, as to their purpose and signification, apply to them as well. Only the number of the tables and candlesticks was ten times greater. If a multiplication of the number of these two vessels appeared appropriate on account of the increases in the size of the room, the number was fixed at ten, to express the idea of completeness by that number. No new vessel was made for the Most Holy Place, because the Mosaic ark of the covenant was placed therein (1 Kings 8:4 : compare the remarks on this at Exodus 25:10-22). - The account of the vessels of the temple is brought to a close in 1 Kings 7:51 : "So was ended all the work that king Solomon made in the house of the Lord; and Solomon brought all that was consecrated by his father, (namely) the silver and the gold (which were not wrought), and the vessels he placed in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah." As so much gold and brass had already been expended upon the building, it might appear strange that Solomon should not have used up all the treasures collected by his father, but should still be able to bring a large portion of it into the treasuries of the temple. But according to 1 Chronicles 22:14, 1 Chronicles 22:16, and 1 Chronicles 29:2., David had collected together an almost incalculable amount of gold, silver, and brass, and had also added his own private treasure and the freewill offerings of the leading men of the nation (1 Chronicles 29:7-9). Solomon was also able to devote to the building of the temple a considerable portion of his own very large revenues (cf. 1 Kings 10:14), so that a respectable remnant might still be left of the treasure of the sanctuary, which was not first established by David, but had been commenced by Samuel and Saul, and in which David's generals, Joab and others, had deposited a portion of the gold and silver that they had taken as booty (1 Chronicles 26:20-28). For it is evident that not a little had found its way into this treasure through the successful wars of David, from the fact that golden shields were taken from the generals of Hadadezer, and that these were consecrated to the Lord along with the silver, golden, and brazen vessels offered as gifts of homage by king Toi of Hamath, in addition to the gold and silver which David had consecrated from the defeated Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, and Amalekites (2 Samuel 8:7, 2 Samuel 8:11-12; 1 Chronicles 18:7, 1 Chronicles 18:10-11).

(Note: The amazing extent to which this booty may possibly have reached, may be inferred from the accounts we have concerning the quantity of the precious metals in Syria in the Macedonian age. In the gaza regia of Damascus, Alexander found 2600 talents of gold and 600 talents of uncoined silver (Curt. iii. 13, 16, cf. Arrian, ii. 11, 10). In the temple of Jupiter at Antioch there was a statue of this god of solid silver fifteen cubits high (Justin, xxxix. 2, 5. 6); and in the temple at Hierapolis there was also a golden statue (Lucian, de Dea Syr. 31). According to Appian (Parth. 28, ed. Schweigh.), this temple was so full of wealth, that Crassus spent several days weighing the vessels of silver and gold. And from the unanimous testimony of the ancients, the treasures of the palaces and temples of Asia in the earlier times were greater still. Of the many accounts which Bhr (Symbolik, i. p. 258ff.) and Movers (Phnizier, ii. 3, p. 40ff.) have collected together on this subject, we will mention only a few here, the credibility of which cannot be disputed. According to Varro (in Plin. 33:15), Cyrus had taken 34,000 pounds of gold as booty after the conquest of Asia, beside the gold wrought into vessels and ornaments, and 500,000 talents of silver. In Susa, Alexander took 40,000, or, according to other accounts, 50,000, talents from the royal treasury; or, as it is still more definitely stated, 40,000 talents of uncoined gold and silver, and 9000 talents of coined dariks. Alexander had these brought to Ecbatana, where he accumulated 180,000 talents. Antigonus afterwards found in Susa 15,000 talents more in vessels and wrought gold and silver. In Persepolis, Alexander took 120,000 talents, and in Pasargada 6000 talents. For the proofs, see Movers, pp. 42, 43.)