What Does 1 Kings 7:39 Mean in the King James?

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.

1 Kings 7:39 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

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 made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

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

And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.

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

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

1 Corinthians 12:18 · KJVThe 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, over against the south.

2 Chronicles 4:10 · KJV

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.

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