Then he made the molten sea: Then translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it introduces the next thing that was made, so the connector Then (also La Bible de Jérusalem: Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée) is appropriate. Others translate the conjunction as “also” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
The pronoun he refers to Solomon. However, in the parallel passage of 1 Kgs 7.23 the implied subject of the verb made is Huram, the skilled craftsman who was introduced in 2 Chr 2.13-14. Here many versions follow the Hebrew in saying “he made,” without stating the agent’s name. International Children’s Bible gives his name as “Solomon.” But Parole de Vie and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente say “Huram made,” which is not recommended. Contemporary English Version provides a possible model with “He [Solomon] also gave orders to make.”
The molten sea or “the Sea of cast metal” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) is a literal rendering of the Hebrew. Of course, it was not the water in the tank that was made from cast metal but the round tank that held the water. The word molten refers to the bronze-casting technique used to make the tank (see the comments on 1 Chr 18.8). For this reason it may be better to say “a bronze tank” or “a tank of bronze” as in a number of common language versions (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). Other possible translations include “a large metal bowl called the Sea” (Contemporary English Version) and “a large bronze basin for water” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “a huge round bronze basin, [called] the ‘Sea.’ ” Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente is similar with “a large basin of bronze … It was called the ‘Sea.’ ”
It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference: The size of this tank is given in cubits. As in the above verses, the American edition of Good News Translation consistently expresses the measurements in feet, saying “7½ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference.” In meters this is expressed by the British edition of CEV as “It was 4.5 meters across, just over two meters deep, and 13.5 meters around” (similarly Nueva Versión Internacional). The British edition of GNT attempts to be more precise with “2.2 metres deep, 4.4 metres in diameter, and 13.2 metres in circumference.” Such precision may give the false impression that scholars know exactly what is intended. So more approximate measurements may be preferable.
In the expression from brim to brim, the Hebrew word translated brim is more often rendered “lip” or “edge.” In some languages it will be more natural to say “from one side to the other” or “from edge to edge.” Others may say simply “it was 15 feet across from edge to edge” (New Century Version). Good News Translation and New American Bible use idiomatic English with “in diameter.”
A line of thirty cubits measured its circumference will have to be restructured in many languages because it will be unnatural to speak of a line (string) measuring something. According to this clause, if a person took a string and wrapped it around the outside of the tank, that string would be thirty cubits long. New Revised Standard Version says “A line of thirty cubits would encircle it completely,” while Revised English Bible has “it took a line thirty cubits long to go round it.” In other languages it may be necessary to say “If a person wanted to measure around it, he would need a string 13.5 meters [or, 45 feet] long.”
As verse 6 states, the water in this tank was used by the priests for their ritual, or ceremonial, washing. The tank itself was 2.25 meters (7.5 feet) high, and it sat on top of bronze bulls, so the tank would have been too tall for the priests to reach over and wash in it. Probably there were faucets or spigots that drained the water from the tank into a reservoir around the tank. For a good description and illustration of this huge bronze tank, see WTH, pages 243-244|fig:WTH.4.3.2.Temple – Sea, tank.243-244.html.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .