Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 7:29

And on the borders that [were] between the ledges [were] lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges [there was] a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen [were] certain additions made of thin work.

29. and upon the ledges there was a base above ] The word here rendered ‘base’ differs from that in the two previous verses and so the R.V. has rendered a pedestal. It seems to denote some projection upward from the four shafts at the corners to act as a support for the lavers when they were put in position.

certain additions made of thin work ] These words signify rather ‘festoons, work that hung down.’ So R.V. wreaths of hanging work.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

A base; so he calls the uppermost part of the base; for though it was above, yet it was a base to the laver, which stood upon it.

Certain additions; either as bases for the feet of the said lions and oxen, or only as further ornaments.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims,…. The figures of them, for ornament sake; the cherubim, being distinguished from lions and oxen might be figures of men, or else of eagles, as Josephus y, see Eze 1:10

and upon the ledges there was a base above; a flat piece of brass laid upon the top of the staves or bars:

and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work; these, according to Dr. Lightfoot z, whom I chiefly follow in this account, were shelving plates of brass at the bottom of the borders and bars, where the priests washed the sacrifice; the filth of which ran off the easier, through the angle of them.

y Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 5.) z Prospect of the Temple, ch. 38. sect. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

29. Lions, oxen, and cherubim Miniature representations of them, for the size of the panels would not permit other.

Upon the ledges a base above That is, an additional smaller base on the top of the other for the laver to stand upon. Its convex roof is called, in 1Ki 7:35, a round compass. (k k in figure.)

Certain additions , garlands, festoons. Such garlands adorned the upper as well as the lower portions of each base. Comp. 1Ki 7:36. (c c in figure.)

Made of thin work means, according to Furst, deepened work, and refers to all the ornaments mentioned in this verse as having been set into the metal in which they were engraved. According to the Vulgate and Gesenius, it means hanging work.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments