“And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.”
It was decorated below its brim with gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about; the gourds were cast in two rows as part of the same casting — Ornamental gourds (פְּקָעִים) decorated the basin's exterior below the rim, encircling the vessel in a continuous frieze. The gourds were cast directly into the bronze mold—integral to the casting, not added later. The two-row arrangement (שְׁנַיִם טוּרִים) created visual complexity. Gourds, as botanical elements, connected the bronze sea to fertility and life-giving symbolism. The continuous encircling pattern emphasized the vessel's circularity and completeness. The decoration transformed a utilitarian water basin into theological art: the sea was not merely functional plumbing but a space where divine order met earthly need. The attention to surface articulation (decorated below the rim rather than left plain) demonstrates the Chronicler's recognition that priestly vessels participated in aesthetic as well as liturgical meaning.
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