What Does 1 Kings 7:31 Mean?
And its mouth within the crown and above was a forearm, but its mouth was round after the work of the stand, a forearm and a half. And also upon its mouth were carvings with their frames, four-cornered, not round.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.THE KEY
The opening remains round while the work around its mouth is squared: one structure holds two geometries at once.
THE MEANING
You are shown a single built form with two shapes: its mouth is round, while the carvings and their borders are square. The opening and the surrounding work are measured as distinct parts of one structure. The verse holds them together without making their forms identical.
THE ROOT
מְרֻבָּעוֹת
merubbaʿot
GROWS FROM
רבע
Four; fourfold, or made four-sided.
“four-cornered” in this verse is merubbaʿot. The word for “foursquare” carries the seed of four, naming a form ordered by four sides. Beside עָגֹל (ʿagol, round), it shows two distinct geometries within one structure.
ALSO GROWS
arbaʿ: Four.
אַרְבַּע
The square’s form is built on the same fourfold idea named by this number.
reviʿi: Fourth.
רְבִיעִי
This ordinal branch carries the same root of four into sequence and position.
מִסְגְּרֹתֵיהֶם
misgeroteihem
GROWS FROM
סגר
To close, shut in, or enclose.
“frames” in this verse is misgeroteihem. The word translated “borders” comes from a root of enclosing. The carvings are framed work, gathered within a boundary around the opening.
ALSO GROWS
sagar: To shut or close.
סָגַר
This verb makes the enclosing sense of the root visible.
misgeret: A frame, border, or enclosure.
מִסְגֶּרֶת
This noun is the singular form of the framing word used for the borders in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats built forms as precise relationships among openings, boundaries, and dimensions.
And you make for it a frame a hand's breadth round about, and you make a rim of gold for its frame round about.Then he came to the gate that faces the sunrise, and climbed its rising steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide, and the other threshold of the gate, one reed wide.And the city lies four-cornered, and its length is as great as its width. And he measures the city with the reed, twelve thousand stades. Its length and width and height are equal.THE THREAD
And you make for it a frame a hand's breadth round about, and you make a rim of gold for its frame round about.The Hebrew word for “border” there, מִסְגֶּרֶת (misgeret, frame or enclosure), shares the root סגר (sagar, enclose) with the borders here. Both passages show the boundary as a deliberate part of the object’s design.
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