How Much Can It Hold?

In 1 Kings 7 and 2 Chronicles 4, there seems to be a disagreement on whether the sea can hold 2,000 or 3,000 baths; however, there is no contradiction.

1 Kings 7:26

"It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths," (1 Kings 7:26 NASB1995).

2 Chronicles 4:5

"It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it could hold 3,000 baths," (2 Chronicles 4:5 NASB1995).

There are many possible explanations to this confusion. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains: "The ‘bath’ was the largest Hebrew liquid measure, but it is not easy to discover what its size was. According to Josephus it held rather more than 8 gallons. Other data make it about half that size. ... In 2 Chronicles 4:5 it is said ‘three thousand baths.’ Perhaps the smaller quantity was about what was usually kept in supply, the larger what it could contain if it were quite full," (Cambridge).

Matthew Poole also explains: "This sea is said to contain three thousand baths, 2 Chronicles 4:5. ... Either there were two sorts of baths, as of cubits, the one common, the other sacred, and the sacred held half as much more as the common; or rather, he here speaks of what it did actually and usually contain, to wit, two thousand baths, which was sufficient for use; and in 2 Chronicles 4:5, he speaks of what it could contain if it were filled to the brim, as it is implied in the Hebrew words ... it contained, or could contain, three thousand baths," (Poole). (C.f. Gill).

The ESV Study Bible concludes: "First Kings 7:26 reads "two thousand baths." The difference may be due to a copyist's error." (Crossway 746-747). Thus, there does not seem to be any contradiction.

References:

ESV Study Bible. United States, Crossway, 2008.

Image by Pawel Nolbert on Unsplash

Poole, Matthew. Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible. United States, Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 1990.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. United Kingdom, The University Press, 1905.

Wolever, Terry. John Gill's Exposition of the Old and New Testaments: Some Background on the First Three Editions. United States, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018.