=5.= _three thousand baths_] In 1 Kings vii. 26, _two thousand baths_. Whether the textual corruption is to be attributed to 1 Kings or to Chronicles cannot be determined, and further even _two thousand baths_ is an amount exceeding the capacity of a vessel with the measurements given for the _sea_ above. The bath was a measure for liquids equal to about 8¼ gallons. =6= (compare verse 14 and 1 Kings vii. 38, 39). THE LAVERS. ⁶He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt offering they washed in them: but the sea was for the priests to wash in. =6.= _the sea was for the priests to wash in_] See, however, the note on verse 2 above regarding its probable significance in early times. For this, the Chronicler’s view of its purpose (as also that of the lavers), compare Exodus xxx. 18‒21. The sea in particular would be singularly awkward as a vessel for cleansing purposes, unless all that is meant is that it was used as the receptacle from which water for purification was drawn. =7= (= 1 Kings vii. 49). THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS. ⁷And he made the ten candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. =7.= _ten candlesticks_] Rather, =the ten lamp-stands=. Allusion to _ten_ lamp-stands or candlesticks is found elsewhere only in 1 Kings vii. 49, a late passage. In view of the frequent references to _one_ candlestick with seven lamps (compare Zechariah iv.; Exodus xxv. 31 ff.), the question arises whether the _ten_ ever had historical reality, or were simply a fiction of tradition. The reference to candlesticks of gold and of silver in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 15 does not help us, for it depends on the same evidence, sound or unsound, which the Chronicler had for the present passage. Some scholars feel that there must be some ground for the statement; but no positive conclusion is yet possible. _according to the ordinance_] Compare Exodus xxv. 31‒37, xl. 4. _in the temple_] In 1 Kings vii. 49 more precisely, _before the oracle_, i.e. before the Holy of Holies. =8.= THE TABLES AND BASONS. ⁸He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.