What Does 1 Kings 7:39 Mean?

And he put five stands on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house, and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, facing the south.

1 Kings 7:39 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

THE KEY

The Hebrew word for “right” can also mean “south,” so the eastward orientation places the sea on the house’s southeast side.

THE MEANING

Five bases stand along each side of the house, while the great sea is placed toward its eastern, southern side. With the house oriented eastward, its right side is south, so the directions converge on one location.

THE ROOT

הַיְמָנִית

hayemanit

GROWS FROM

ימן

y-m-n

Right hand or right side; south when facing east

With the house oriented eastward, its right side is south. The word ⁨יָמִין⁩ (yāmîn, “right side”) can also mean “south,” so the eastward and southern markers converge on the southeast side.

ALSO GROWS

yāmîn: Right hand, right side; also south by orientation

יָמִין

It connects the house’s right-hand side with the verse’s southern direction.

tēmān: South; the southern quarter

תֵּימָן

This related directional word echoes the southward location named in the verse.

וַיִּתֵּן

wayyittēn

GROWS FROM

נתן

n-t-n

Give, set, place

“put / set” in this verse is wayyittēn. English translates the two actions as “put” and “set,” but both are forms of ⁨נתן⁩ (nātan, “give, set, place”). The repeated verb presents the arrangement as assigning each object its place in the house.

ALSO GROWS

wayyittēn: And he put, gave, or placed

וַיִּתֵּן

This is the form used for placing the five bases on each side.

nātan: He gave, set, or placed

נָתַן

This is the same root used when the sea is set in its position.

mattānāh: Gift; something given

מַתָּנָה

The shared root links placing with giving, adding the sense of each object being assigned its place.

THE PATTERN

A whole takes shape as each part is placed in purposeful relation to the others.

Then he made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths, and every basin was four forearms, and upon each of the ten stands was one basin.

1 Kings 7:38 · SDVEach laver rests on a base, showing the vessels and their supports as parts of one arranged whole.

And he set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and set waters there to wash in.

Exodus 40:30 · SDVThe laver’s position between the tent and altar gives it a defined place within the sacred space.

But now God has set the limbs, each one of them, in the body, as he willed.

1 Corinthians 12:18 · SDVThe body is described as a whole whose members each have an appointed place.

THE THREAD

And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, facing the south.

2 Chronicles 4:10 · SDV

This parallel uses ⁨נָתַן⁩ (nātan, “set, place”) for the sea again and states its position as the right side of the east end, toward the south. The shared verb and orientation make the southeast placement plain.

This reading is from Selah Verse.

You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.

Get Selah Verse

A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us