Bible Dictionary: Laver

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Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Hebrews kiyor), a "basin" for boiling in, a "pan" for cooking (1 Samuel 2:14), a "fire-pan" or hearth (Zechariah 12:6), the sacred wash-bowl of the tabernacle and temple (Exodus 30:18, 28; 31:9; 35:16; 38:8; 39:39; 40:7, 11, 30, etc.), a basin for the water used by the priests in their ablutions.

That which was originally used in the tabernacle was of brass (rather copper; Hebrews nihsheth), made from the metal mirrors the women brought out of Egypt (Exodus 38:8). It contained water wherewith the priests washed their hands and feet when they entered the tabernacle (40:32). It stood in the court between the altar and the door of the tabernacle (30:19, 21).

In the temple there were ten lavers used for the sacrifices, and the molten sea for the ablutions of the priests (2 Chronicles 4:6). The position and uses of these are described 1 Kings 7:23-39; 2 Chronicles 4:6. The "molten sea" was made of copper, taken from Tibhath and Chun, cities of Hadarezer, king of Zobah (1 Chronicles 18:8; 1 Kings 7:23-26).

No lavers are mentioned in the second temple.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A vessel for washing; a large basin.

2. (n.) A large brazen vessel placed in the court of the Jewish tabernacle where the officiating priests washed their hands and feet.

3. (n.) One of several vessels in Solomon's Temple in which the offerings for burnt sacrifices were washed.

4. (n.) That which washes or cleanses.

5. (n.) One who laves; a washer.

6. (n.) The fronds of certain marine algae used as food, and for making a sauce called laver sauce. Green laver is the Ulva latissima; purple laver, Porphyra laciniata and P. vulgaris. It is prepared by stewing, either alone or with other vegetables, and with various condiments; -- called also sloke, or sloakan.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

LAVER

la'-ver (kiyor):

1. In the Tabernacle:

Every priest in attendance on the altar of Yahweh was required to wash his hands and his feet before entering upon his official duties (Exodus 30:19). To this end a laver was ordered to be made as part of the tabernacle equipment (Exodus 30:17-21; Exodus 38:8). Its composition was of brass (bronze), and it consisted of two parts, the bowl and its pedestal or foot (Exodus 30:18, etc.). This first laver was a small one, and was made of the hand mirrors of the women in attendance upon the altar (Exodus 38:8). Its place was between the altar and the tabernacle (Exodus 40:30).

See TABERNACLE.

2. In the Temple:

The difficulty as to the washing of parts of the sacrificial carcasses was overcome, in the temple of Solomon, by the construction of "10 lavers" and a "molten sea" (1 Kings 7:23-37 2 Chronicles 4:2-6; see TEMPLE; SEA, THE MOLTEN). We learn from 2 Chronicles 4:6 that the "sea" was for the priests to wash in-therefore took the place of the laver in the tabernacle-and the lavers were used as baths for portions of the burnt offerings. The lavers themselves were artistic works of unusual merit for that age. Like that in the tabernacle, each had its own stand or base, which was cast in a separate piece from the laver. These bases rested on wheels which allowed of the laver being moved from one part of the court to another without being turned about. Five stood on the north and five on the south side of the temple. They were ornamented with "lions, oxen, and cherubim," and on a lower level, with a series of wreaths or festoons of flowers (1 Kings 7:27-37). In modern speech, the lavers may be described as so many circular open tanks for the storage of water. Each laver contained 40 baths (about 320 gals.) of water. Its height was 5 cubits, the locomotive machinery being 3 cubits in height, and the depth of the bowl or tank, judging from its capacity, about 2 cubits. The last we hear of the lavers, apart from their bases, is that the idolatrous king Ahaz cut off the border of the bases, and removed the bases from them (2 Kings 16:17). During the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah foretold that the molten sea and the bases (there being then no lavers) should be carried to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:19). A few years later it is recorded that the bases were broken up, and the brass of which they were made was carried away (Jeremiah 52:17).

3. The Laver in the New Testament:

The Greek word (loutron) occurs twice in the New Testament. In Ephesians 5:26, Paul says that Christ gave Himself for the church "that he might sanctify it having cleansed it by the washing (Greek "laver") of water with the word"; and in Titus 3:5 he says that we are saved "through the washing (Greek "laver") of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." In these passages the reference is to the constant physical purity demanded of the Jewish priests when in attendance upon the temple. Christians are "a holy priesthood," and are cleansed not by water only, but, in the former passage, "with the word" (compare John 15:3); in the latter, by the "renewing of the Holy Spirit" (compare Ezekiel 36:25 John 3:5). The feet-washing mentioned by Jesus is emblematic of the same thing (John 13:10).

W. Shaw Caldecott

Strong's Hebrew

3595. kiyyor -- pot, basin
... kiyyor or kiyyor. 3596 . pot, basin. Transliteration: kiyyor or kiyyor Phonetic
Spelling: (kee-yore') Short Definition: laver. ... hearth, laver, pan, scaffold. ...
/hebrew/3595.htm - 6k

Library

The Altar. The Rings. The Laver.
... The Rings. The Laver. The ... pillars. There was a laver or cistern between
the porch and the altar, and it lay a little to the south. ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 34 the altar the.htm

The Child of the Woman in the Apocalypse not Christ, but the ...
... Discourse VIII."Thekla. Chapter VII."The Child of the Woman in the Apocalypse
Not Christ, But the Faithful Who are Born in the Laver. ...
/.../chapter vii the child of the.htm

Why they who Come Forth from the Laver of Baptism are Anointed on ...
... The Book Concerning the Mysteries. Chapter VI. Why they who come forth
from the laver of baptism are anointed on the head� Why ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/chapter vi why they who.htm

Petilianus Said: "Those who have Polluted their Souls with a ...
... Book II. Chapter 2. " 4. Petilianus said: "Those who have polluted their
souls with a guilty laver� "4. Petilianus said: "Those ...
/.../chapter 2 4 petilianus.htm

On Daniel. vi. On Susannah.
... 15. "As they watched a fit time." What fit time but that of the passover, at which
the laver is prepared in the garden for those who burn, and Susannah washes ...
/.../the extant works and fragments of hippolytus/on daniel vi on susannah.htm

That the Ruler Should be a Near Neighbour to Every one in ...
... Hence also it is that before the doors of the temple the brazen sea for washing
the hands of those who enter, that is the laver, is supported by twelve oxen (1 ...
/.../leo/writings of leo the great/chapter v that the ruler.htm

Hiram, the Inspired Artificer
... Hiram constructed of bright, burnished brass, an immense laver, called
"a molten sea," to be used for the ablutions of the priests. ...
/.../milligan/men of the bible some lesser-known/hiram the inspired artificer.htm

The Works of the Church, the Bringing Forth of Children in Baptism ...
... Now the statement that she stands upon the moon, as I consider, denotes the faith
of those who are cleansed from corruption in the laver of regeneration ...
/.../chapter vi the works of the.htm

The Bones and Flesh of Wisdom; the Side Out of which the Spiritual ...
... passion, and willingly suffered death for her, that He might present the Church
to Himself glorious and blameless, having cleansed her by the laver, [2572] for ...
/.../chapter viii the bones and flesh.htm

The Washing Away of Sins is Indicated by the White Robes of the ...
... The Church, having put on these garments through the laver of regeneration, says
in the Song of Songs: "I am black and comely, O daughters of Jerusalem." [2872 ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/chapter vii the washing away.htm

Thesaurus

Laver (13 Occurrences)
... 5. (n.) One who laves; a washer. 6. (n.) The fronds of certain marine algae
used as food, and for making a sauce called laver sauce. ...LAVER. ...
/l/laver.htm - 17k

Lavers (6 Occurrences)
... 1 Kings 7:38 Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths:
and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. ...
/l/lavers.htm - 8k

Utensils (72 Occurrences)
... NAS RSV). Exodus 31:9 and the altar of burnt-offering and all its utensils,
and the laver and its stand; (DBY NAS RSV NIV). Exodus 35 ...
/u/utensils.htm - 28k

Brazen (42 Occurrences)
... It replaced the laver of the tabernacle, and, like that, was used for storing the
water in which the priests washed their hands and their feet (compare Exodus ...
/b/brazen.htm - 25k

Burnt-offering (205 Occurrences)
... (ASV DBY JPS YLT). Exodus 30:28 and the altar of burnt-offering with all the vessels
thereof, and the laver and the base thereof. (ASV DBY JPS WBS YLT). ...
/b/burnt-offering.htm - 38k

Sea (4178 Occurrences)
... The great laver made by Solomon for the use of the priests in the temple, described
in 1 Kings 7:23-26; 2 Chronicles 4:2-5. It stood in the south-eastern ...
/s/sea.htm - 87k

Copper (55 Occurrences)
... Exodus 30:18 Thou shalt also make a laver of copper, and its stand of copper, for
washing; and thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and ...
/c/copper.htm - 27k

Foot (193 Occurrences)
... Exodus 30:18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass,
to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the ...
/f/foot.htm - 48k

Grate (6 Occurrences)
... (KJV WBS YLT). Exodus 35:16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brazen grate,
his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, (KJV WBS YLT). ...
/g/grate.htm - 10k

Withal (38 Occurrences)
... (KJV). Exodus 30:18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of
brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the ...
/w/withal.htm - 18k

Bible Concordance

Laver (13 Occurrences)

Exodus 30:18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 30:28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 31:9 And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 35:16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brazen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Exodus 38:8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 39:39 The brazen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 40:7 And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 40:11 And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 40:30 And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 8:11 And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

1 Kings 7:30 And every base had four brazen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

1 Kings 7:38 Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.
(Root in KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

2 Kings 16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Subtopics

Laver

Laver in Connection With

Laver of Brass was Anointed With Holy Oil

Laver of Brass was Placed in the Court Between the Altar and the Tabernacle

Laver of Brass: Called the Brazen Sea

Laver of Brass: Christ the Fountain for Sin

Laver of Brass: Made of Brazen Mirrors of the Women

Laver of Brass: Moses Was Commanded to Make

Laver of Brass: One Made by Solomon for the Temple

Laver of Brass: Regeneration

Laver of Brass: The Priests Washed in Before Approaching the Altar