The Bronze Sea
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(2 Chron. 4:2–6, 1 Kings 7:23, 24)—this was an enormous bronze vessel, resembling in shape a six-petaled lily, and constructed for the Temple of Solomon. It was appointed for the priests, that they might wash their hands and feet in it before entering the sanctuary and ascending to the altar. This vessel, as noted above, was of enormous dimensions. It measured from one brim to the other ten cubits (that is, six arshins and nine vershoks), in height five cubits (three arshins and four and a half vershoks), in circumference thirty cubits (nineteen arshins and eleven vershoks), and it held within it two thousand baths of water (two hundred nine and a half of our barrels).