Pi and the diameter and circumference of the molten sea in front of Solomon's temple

1 Kings 7:23 He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in shape. Its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it. (World English Bible, public domain)

The ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is pi, an irrational number. The first few digits of pi are 3.14159. Taking 1 Kings 7:23 as a math text means that it is wrong about the dimensions of the molten sea, apparently reporting the ratio of the circumference to the diameter as three, or that the sea wasn't exactly round.

Answers in Genesis defends the accuracy of the bible on this point. Their defense, however, involves significant figures. But significant figures, according to this source, weren't considered until long after the temple was built. Or, the article from Answers in Genesis says, perhaps the circumference was thirty cubits, measuring the circle formed by the water in the molten sea, but not the container itself, inside the metal container, whereas the diameter was measured across the outside of the construction, including the container. 

It seems, however, that the description of the building of the temple wasn't meant to give directions, or exact sizes. There are no detailed directions for other parts of the temple, just brief general descriptions. (Lest there be any doubt, the illustration at the top of this post is an artist's conception, and may differ significantly from the original Temple's design.)

Consider these verses:

1 Kings 7:15 For he fashioned the two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them. 16 He made two capitals of molten bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. 18 So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and he did so for the other capital. 19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits. 20 There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around the other capital.

The Bible doesn't tell us what a net of checker work, or wreaths of chain work, were like, or what lily work might mean. What kind of lilies? Lily buds, flowers, leaves, or the entire above-ground shoot? What was a "capital" like? It seems likely that the ten cubits and thirty cubits in verse 23 were the same sort of description -- "you see, it was about thirty cubits around, and about ten cubits across." There's no valid reason to accuse the Bible of error on this point, or to defend descriptions from pre-Christian Jewish culture by using recent measuring practices.

The Bible is not a math text, or a detailed blueprint for temple construction. It does tell us that God expected and valued good workmanship, and provided a beautiful, well-constructed place for worship for the Israelites.

Thanks for reading.

Prayers in the Bible: Solomon prays at the dedication of the Temple

1 Kings 8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 23 and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart; 24 who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day. 25 Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’
26 “Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father. 27 But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day; 29 that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place. 30 Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
31 “If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swear before your altar in this house; 32 then hear in heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
33 “When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house: 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.
35 “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them: 36 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; 38 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house: 39 then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;) 40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
41 “Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house; 43 hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name; 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 47 yet if they shall repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’ 48 if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name: 49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause; 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron); 52 that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”
54 It was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. 57 May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us, nor forsake us; 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require; 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh, he is God. There is no one else.
61 “Let your heart therefore be perfect with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.”
62 The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh. 63 Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, two and twenty thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh. 64 The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before the house of Yahweh; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. 65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people. (World English Bible, public domain)

Solomon was wise, and used good judgement, at least in the beginning. This prayer is one of the most remarkable ever recorded, as Solomon acknowledges, as the spokesman of his people, the goodness and sovereignty of God.

This is one of a series of posts on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here. Thanks for reading.

David's prayer concerning the Temple offerings

1 Chronicles 29:10 Therefore David blessed Yahweh before all the assembly; and David said, “You are blessed, Yahweh, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all; and in your hand is power and might; and it is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank you, and praise your glorious name. 14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. (World English Bible)

David didn't get to build the Temple himself. Solomon was in charge of that. But David did a lot towards the building of the Temple. Somehow, I don't believe I had ever focused on one thing that he did, namely offer a prayer of adoration to God for the ability to give toward God's work. A powerful prayer!

This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post, also related to David and the Temple, is here. Thanks for reading!

Prayers in the Bible: David doesn't get what he wants

1 Chronicles 17:1  It happened, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Yahweh is under curtains.”

2  Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”

3  It happened the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4  “Go and tell David my servant, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You shall not build me a house to dwell in; 5  for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to another. 6  In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’

7  “Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of Armies, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 8  I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. 9  I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first, 10  and from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that Yahweh will build you a house. 11  It shall happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12  He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13  I will be his father, and he shall be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before you; 14  but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever. His throne shall be established forever.”’” 15  According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

16  Then David the king went in, and sat before Yahweh; and he said, “Who am I, Yahweh God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 17  This was a small thing in your eyes, God; but you have spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have respected me according to the estate of a man of high degree, Yahweh God. 18  What can David say yet more to you concerning the honor which is done to your servant? For you know your servant. 19  Yahweh, for your servant’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make known all these great things. 20  Yahweh, there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21  What one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeem out of Egypt? 22  For your people Israel you made your own people forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God. 23  Now, Yahweh, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, be established forever, and do as you have spoken. 24  Let your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel. The house of David your servant is established before you.’ 25  For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you. 26  Now, Yahweh, you are God, and have promised this good thing to your servant. 27  Now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Yahweh, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” (World English Bible, public domain)

David wanted to do something to honor God. But God had other plans. Better plans. May this be the story of my life, and yours -- we want to honor God, but God has other, and even better, plans.

Thanks for reading. This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post in the series is here.