Lavers - Rather, according to the true reading, "pots." (Compare 1 Kings 7:45; 2 Chronicles 4:16.) The "pots" were the caldrons in which it was usual to boil the peace-offerings. See 1 Samuel 2:13-14,

So Hiram made an end - It is truly surprising, that in so short a time one artist could design and execute works of such magnitude, taste, and variety, however numerous his assistants might be. The mere building of the house was a matter of little difficulty in comparison of these internal works.

And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins,.... The lavers are not the ten before mentioned, of the make of which an account is before given; but these, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom, are the same with the pots, 1 Kings 7:45 and so they are called in 2 Chronicles 4:11 the use of which, as they say, was to put the ashes of the altar into; as the "shovels", next mentioned, were a sort of besoms to sweep them off, and the "basins" were to receive the blood of the sacrifices, and sprinkle it; no mention is here made of the altar of brass he made, but is in 2 Chronicles 4:11, nor of the fleshhooks to take the flesh out of the pots, as in 2 Chronicles 4:16,

so Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made King Solomon for the house of the Lord; what he undertook, and was employed in, he finished, which were all works of brass; of which a recapitulation is made in the following verses to the end of the forty fifth, where they are said to be made of "bright brass", free of all dross and rust; "good", as the Targum, even the best brass they were made of; the brass David took from Hadarezer, 1 Chronicles 18:8 which Josephus (g) too much magnifies, when he says it was better than gold.

(g) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 3.

Summary enumeration of the other vessels of the temple. - In 1 Kings 7:40 the brazen vessels of the court are given. In 1 Kings 7:41-47 the several portions of the brazen pillars, the stands and basins, the brazen sea and the smaller vessels of brass, are mentioned once more, together with notices of the nature, casting, and quantity of the metal used for making them. An din 1 Kings 7:48-50 we have the golden vessels of the Holy Place. This section agrees almost word for word with 2 Chronicles 4:11-5:1, where, moreover, not only is the arrangement observed in the previous description of the temple-building a different one, but the making of the brazen altar of burnt-offering, of the golden candlesticks, and of the table of shew-bread, and the arrangement of the great court (2 Chronicles 4:7-9) are also described, to which there is no allusion whatever in the account before us; so that these notices in the Chronicles fill up an actual gap in the description of the building of the temple which is given here.

1 Kings 7:40

The smaller brazen vessels. - Hiram made the pots, shovels, and bowls. הכּיּרות is a slip of the pen for הסּירות, pots, as we may see by comparing it with 1 Kings 7:45 and the parallel passages 2 Chronicles 4:11 and 2 Kings 25:14. The pots were used for carrying away the ashes; היּעים, the shovels, for clearing the ashes from the altar; המּזרקות were the bowls used for catching the blood, when the sacrificial animals were slaughtered: compare Exodus 27:3 and Numbers 4:14, where forks and fire-basins or coal-pans are also mentioned.

1 Kings 7:40 introduces the recapitulation of all the vessels made by Hiram. יהוה בּית, in the house of the Lord (cf. Ewald, 300, b.); in 2 Chronicles 4:11 more clearly, יי בּבית; we find it also in 1 Kings 7:45, for which we have in 2 Chronicles 4:16 יהוה לבית, for the house of Jehovah. The several objects enumerated in 1 Kings 7:41-45 are accusatives governed by לעשׂות.

And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD:

And Hiram: Heb. And Hirom

40-45. And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins-These verses contain a general enumeration of Hiram's works, as well as those already mentioned as other minor things. The Tyrian artists are frequently mentioned by ancient authors as skilful artificers in fashioning and embossing metal cups and bowls; and we need not wonder, therefore, to find them employed by Solomon in making the golden and brazen utensils for his temple and palaces.

7:13-47 The two brazen pillars in the porch of the temple, some think, were to teach those that came to worship, to depend upon God only, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. Jachin, God will fix this roving mind. It is good that the heart be established with grace. Boaz, In him is our strength, who works in us both to will and to do. Spiritual strength and stability are found at the door of God's temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace, in use of the means of grace. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ's blood, and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution. There are full means provided for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault. Let us bless God for the fountain opened by the sacrifice of Christ for sin and for uncleanness.