BRONZE SEA. - A vast water reservoir resting on 12 bronze oxen arranged in groups of three at the four cardinal points.
Circular in shape, with a diameter of 10 cubits (= approx. 5 m.), a depth of 5 and a circumference of 30, it had the thickness of a handbreadth. According to 1 Kings 7:28 it contained 200 bath, while according to 2 Chronicles 4:5 it contained 3000 (approx. 800 and 1200 hl.; one bath = approx. 38 l.). These figures appear exaggerated, nor faithfully transmitted, even if the reservoir is supposed to be cylindrical or bulging in the middle; they do not correspond to the aforementioned dimensions, which rather suggest a capacity of approx. 400 hl. The rim of the Molten Sea opened in the form of a lily flower; it was refined and projecting. Beneath it ran two festoons of floral ornaments in bas-relief, a cubit wide, cast together with the basin. The Molten Sea was placed to the southeast in the priests' court, between the altar of holocausts and the Sanctuary. The water that the servants of the Temple poured into it, drawn from cisterns or from some spring conducted there, served for the ritual ablutions of the priests and for the purification of the altar. It was the work of the Phoenician Hiram, who had cast its various parts in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarthan (1 Kings 7:23-26, 39, 46; 2 Chronicles 4:2-5, 10, 14 ff.). Ten bronze basins mounted on carts carried water from the Molten Sea, which was fixed, to wherever it was needed (1 Kings 7:27-39; 2 Chronicles 4:6). King Ahaz replaced the bronze oxen with a stone base (2 Kings 16:17), perhaps out of respect for the Assyrian cult of the bull. The Chaldeans, having captured Jerusalem, cut the Molten Sea to pieces and carried the metal off to Babylon (2 Kings 25:13).
Bibliography4 works
Francesco Spadafora