And he made ten lavers of bronze: Since the text begins here speaking of a different set of objects that were made, it may be wise to specify “Huram” (Good News Translation) as the subject once again. It might also be appropriate to include a transition word like “also” (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version) or “then” (New International Version, Revised English Bible).

Lavers translates the same Hebrew term discussed in verse 30.

Each laver held forty baths: See the comments on baths in verse 26. According to Good News Translation, the equivalent of forty baths is “200 gallons.” In the metric system it is “approximately one thousand six hundred liters” according to Bible en français courant, but only “a thousand liters” according to La Bible du Semeur. It must be remembered that different modern translations use different systems in calculating modern equivalents. When translators find such differences, they should follow the same system they have been using, if they know what that system is. If not, they should probably continue to follow the same base or model translation that they have been using for the modern equivalents of weights and measures. The “Table of Weights and Measures” in the New International Version Study Bible states that “Weights and measures differed somewhat at various times and places in the ancient world. There is uncertainty particularly about the ephah and the bath.”

Each laver measured four cubits: Most translations take this as a reference to the diameter of the basin (Good News Translation, New Century Version, New American Bible, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), while Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie regard it as its height. Four cubits is the same size as the cart (see verse 27). This would be “two meters” (La Bible du Semeur) or “6 feet” (Good News Translation).

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 .