Poole on 1 Kings 7:31: The Bases of the Ten Lavers, Part 2

Verse 31:[1]  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.

Cart from Cyrus (10th century BC)

[The mouth of the laver also, ‎וּפִיהוּ]  And the mouth, or opening, of it (Montanus, Pagnine), understanding, either, of the foursquare base (Vatablus) (but the of it is masculine,[2] while base is feminine[3] [Malvenda]), or of the laver (Junius and Tremellius, Malvenda); in Hebrew this is masculine[4] (Malvenda).  That is, a proportionate opening under the projection (Junius, Piscator).  The upper part he calls the mouth of the base, in which the laver was set; and perhaps it was hollow, so that it might receive the laver (Mariana).  Concerning the figure of the mouth they disagree:  They maintain, either, 1.  that there was a certain prominent projection, or boss, on which the font itself was imposed, since it had a curved or concave bottom:  or, 2.  that the mouth of the panel was open, or hollow; but the bottom of the basin was tapered, and inserted into the mouth of the machine.  Either is plausible.  And so the laver was resting firm and immovable in the mouth of the machine, as its own seat (Martyr).  In the midst of the head of the base was rising unto half a cubit a round capital, which was inserted into the hollow, which the laver had in its bottom, projecting inward.  And so it was, that, while the mouth of the laver from its lowest bottom to the top of the rim was extending upward one cubit and a half, from the top of the capital to the rim it was extending only one cubit, because the capital took away half a cubit (Castalio).  The mouth of the vessel (Syriac); the projection of that (Munster).

The mouth of it; so he calls that part in the top of the base which was left hollow, that the foot of the laver might be let into it, and fastened in it.

[It was within at the top of the head, ‎מִבֵּ֙ית לַכֹּתֶ֤רֶת [5]]  Within the chapiter (Pagnine, Vatablus), that is, within the small base itself (Vatablus).  From the interior part of the crowning rim (Junius and Tremellius), that is, of the circle into which a cubit and a half of the laver was inserted (Piscator out of Junius).  Hebrew:  of the crown (Piscator); within the garland (Montanus, Tigurinus), or crowns (Jonathan).  It was sloping toward the roundness of the laver (Munster).

Within the chapiter, that is, within the little base, which he calls the chapiter, because it rose up from and stood above the great base, as the head doth above the rest of the body.

[Of one cubit, etc., ‎וָמַ֙עְלָה֙ בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה]  And above it measured a cubit (Tigurinus); it was projecting upward by one cubit (Junius and Tremellius, similarly Munster); and above in a cubit (Pagnine, thus Montanus).  And above; that is, in the upper part; that is to say, If one should wish to measure that little column from its upper part to its navel with a cubital measure, it will have a cubit and a half of width (Vatablus).  It was a cubit from the surface of the crowning rim to the tops of the shoulders (Junius, Piscator).

And above; above the chapiter; for the mouth went up and grew wider, like a funnel.  Was a cubit; either in breadth; or rather in height, verse 35; whereof half a cubit was above the chapiter or little base, as is said, verse 35, and the other half is here implied to be within it, and below it.

[The whole was round, ‎וּפִ֙יהָ֙ עָגֹ֣ל]  And its mouth was round (Syriac, Malvenda); the mouth of which ring was round, that is, there was a proportionate hollow under the surface, into which half of the height of the laver was inserted (Junius, Piscator).  When it says the mouth of the laver was round on every side, it shows its width.  For, if its height was one and a half cubits, the breadth was double; that is, of three cubits; since the mouth was round on all sides, that is, the shape of half a globe.  To these three cubits add an eighth part of one cubit, which the base of the small capital was taking from the height:  If to this you add the thickness of the laver, and if the lip was somewhat flared (which is common), you will have the width, or length, of the lavers that the author relates; that is to say, four cubits, the same measurement as that of the bases (Castalio).

[‎מַעֲשֵׂה־כֵן]  In the work of the base (Montanus, Pagnine, Vatablus), that is, made according to the likeness of the basis (Vatablus).  In the work of the support (Junius and Tremellius), that is, just, and accommodated to the proportion of the laver, which was round:  so that it might be a support to it on every side.  In a suitable work (Munster).

[A cubit and a half]  According to the measure of the inmost laver, which it was receiving (Piscator out of Junius).  A half cubit was enclosed in the hollow, and was hidden; and one cubit was projecting from the sinus, and was standing out (Menochius).  Half of a cubit was round in its upper part, where the hollow of the laver was inserted into it:  But the cubit of the lower part was of a squared form (Martyr).

A cubit and a half, to wit, in compass.

From Cyprus (12th Century BC)

[In the corners]  Hebrew:  upon the mouth itself, or of it[6] (Malvenda), of the small capital (Vatablus), in that squared area of the bases, the midst of which the crowning rim was occupying (Junius, Piscator).

[And the spaces between the pillars, ‎וּמִסְגְּרֹתֵיהֶם [7]]  And the girdles of them, namely, of all the bases (Vatablus).  The ornamental bands of them (Junius and Tremellius), that is, surrounding them on the outer parts of the squared area (Junius, Piscator).

[Four-square]  He says that the bands were broad, as girdles are broad; not round, as girdles are round (Vatablus).  And so the hollow of the base was round, but the more external ornaments were squared (Mariana).  That he says that the surfaces are squared, this is to be understood of the surfaces of the bases mentioned above; not of the surfaces of the ornamental carvings of the mouth; as it appears from this, that it is immediately added that the wheels are under the surfaces.  For the wheels were not directly over the lavers, but over the bases (Castalio).

Four-square, not round; so the innermost part, called the mouth, was round, but the outward part was square, as when a circle is made within a quadrangle.

[1] Hebrew: ‎וּ֠פִיהוּ מִבֵּ֙ית לַכֹּתֶ֤רֶת וָמַ֙עְלָה֙ בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה וּפִ֙יהָ֙ עָגֹ֣ל מַעֲשֵׂה־כֵ֔ן אַמָּ֖ה וַחֲצִ֣י הָֽאַמָּ֑ה וְגַם־עַל־פִּ֙יהָ֙ מִקְלָע֔וֹת וּמִסְגְּרֹתֵיהֶ֥ם מְרֻבָּע֖וֹת לֹ֥א עֲגֻלּֽוֹת׃

[2] Note the masculine singular suffix (הוּ-).

[3] מְכוֹנָה/base is feminine.

[4] כִּיֹּר/laver/basin is masculine.

[5] כֹּתֶרֶת/capital/crown is related to the verbal root כָּתַר, to surround.

[6] Hebrew:  ‎עַל־פִּיהָ.

[7] מִסְגֶּרֶת/border/rim is related to the verbal root סָגַר, to shut or close.