Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 7:23-26

"And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. And under the brim of it round about there were knops which did compass it, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about: the knops were in two rows, cast when it was cast. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set upon them above, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was a handbreadth thick: and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths." — 1 Kings 7:23-26 (ASV)

A molten sea—a gigantic laver for the ablution of the priests—corresponding to the laver of brass in the Tabernacle (Exodus 30:18–21; Exodus 38:8). It had a diameter of 15 feet, and a height of 7½ feet; but as it held 2,000 baths, that is, 17,000 gallons (or, as in 2 Chronicles 4:3; 2 Chronicles 4:3; 2 Chronicles 4:0 baths, that is, 25,500 gallons), it is clear that it could not have been a hemisphere, but must have bulged out in section. There must, however, have been first a bulging inwards, immediately under the rim: for the correct translation of 1 Kings 7:26 declares that the rim was in the form of a lily flower, that is, curving outwards.

Under the rim ran a double row of “gourd ornaments,” like those carved in the cedar-panelling of the Temple. The sea stood on twelve oxen, corresponding perhaps to the twelve tribes of Israel—the ox being possibly the same emblem which was used in the form of the cherubim—until it was taken down and placed on the pavement by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:17), and, like the great pillars, was finally broken up by the Chaldeans for the sake of the brass (2 Kings 25:13).