A literal translation of the Hebrew, as in Revised Standard Version, may give the false impression that two different things are being described in the two halves of this verse. But in fact, this is parallelism; the two parts give the same information. Good News Translation restructures the verse and provides this information in one brief description.

It stood upon twelve oxen: It stood is literally “standing.” It may be wise to make the subject explicit as Good News Translation has done by referring to “The tank.” And the verb itself may be more naturally translated “seated” rather than “standing.” Revised English Bible says that it “was mounted” and several versions use the verb “rested” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation). In some languages it may be necessary to indicate precisely on which part of the anatomy of the oxen or “bulls” (Good News Translation) the basin rested. While the Hebrew does not say so specifically, both New Century Version and Good News Translation specify that it was “on the backs….”

For oxen see the comments at 1 Kgs 1.9. The twelve oxen were not live animals. Verse 44 may be interpreted to mean that these oxen were also made of bronze. Good News Translation makes that explicit here in verse 25 (also Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). However, the Hebrew does not clearly say the oxen were made of bronze. They may have been made of stone, as was common in the ancient Near East. Possibly only the heads of the oxen were three dimensional and their sides may have been carved in stone relief on solid blocks of stone.

Three facing north … three facing east: Good News Translation has eliminated the repetition of the Hebrew by saying simply “three facing in each direction.”

All their hinder parts were inward: The rear parts of the animals (“their haunches” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) were facing toward the center of the tank.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .