The Ten Lavers in the Temple: Ezekiel-like, Celestial Chariots

In the process of reforming the cult, King Josiah of Judah is said to have engaged in a thorough housecleaning of the Temple, with the aim of removing all the articles made for foreign or forbidden worship:

^{מלכים ב כג:ד} וַיְצַו הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת חִלְקִיָּהוּ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל וְאֶת כֹּהֲנֵי הַמִּשְׁנֶה וְאֶת שֹׁמְרֵי הַסַּף לְהוֹצִיא מֵהֵיכַל יְ־הֹוָה אֵת כׇּל הַכֵּלִים הָעֲשׂוּיִם לַבַּעַל וְלָאֲשֵׁרָה וּלְכֹל צְבָא הַשָּׁמָיִם וַיִּשְׂרְפֵם מִחוּץ לִירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם בְּשַׁדְמוֹת קִדְרוֹן וְנָשָׂא אֶת עֲפָרָם בֵּית אֵל...

^{2 Kgs 23:4} Then the king ordered the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the second rank, and the guards of the threshold to bring out of the Temple of YHWH all the objects made for Baal and Asherah and all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and he removed the ashes to Bethel…^[1]

Josiah also destroys the high places outside Jerusalem and their paraphernalia. He then turns back to Jerusalem:

^{מלכים ב כג:יא} וַיַּשְׁבֵּת אֶת הַסּוּסִים אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ מִבֹּא בֵית יְ־הֹוָה אֶל לִשְׁכַּת נְתַן מֶלֶךְ הַסָּרִיס אֲשֶׁר בַּפַּרְוָרִים וְאֶת מַרְכְּבוֹת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ שָׂרַף בָּאֵשׁ. ^כג:יב וְאֶת הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל הַגָּג עֲלִיַּת אָחָז אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וְאֶת הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה מְנַשֶּׁה בִּשְׁתֵּי חַצְרוֹת בֵּית יְ־הֹוָה נָתַץ הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיָּרׇץ מִשָּׁם וְהִשְׁלִיךְ אֶת עֲפָרָם אֶל נַחַל קִדְרוֹן.

^{2 Kgs 23:11} He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of the House of YHWH, near the chamber of the eunuch Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun. ^23:12 And the king tore down the altars made by the kings of Judah on the roof by the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars made by Manasseh in the two courts of the House of YHWH. He removed them quickly from there and scattered their rubble in the Kidron Valley.

Altars are attested to everywhere in the Bible, but what are “chariots of the sun”? This term is never found elsewhere in the Bible. Nevertheless, among the objects described as having been built for Solomon’s Temple, we do find ones that resemble chariots.

The Bronze Lavers Are Decorated with the Same Creatures as Ezekiel’s Chariot

King Solomon sends for Hiram, a half-Israelite who grew up among the Phoenicians, to fashion many of the items made of bronze (or copper^[2]):

^{מלכים א ז:יג} וַיִּשְׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וַיִּקַּח אֶת חִירָם מִצֹּר. ^ז:יד בֶּן אִשָּׁה אַלְמָנָה הוּא מִמַּטֵּה נַפְתָּלִי וְאָבִיו אִישׁ צֹרִי חֹרֵשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת וַיִּמָּלֵא אֶת הַחׇכְמָה וְאֶת הַתְּבוּנָה וְאֶת הַדַּעַת לַעֲשׂוֹת כׇּל מְלָאכָה בַּנְּחֹשֶׁת וַיָּבוֹא אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת כׇּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ.

^{1 Kgs 7:13} King Solomon sent for Hiram^[3] and brought him down from Tyre. ^7:14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a Tyrian, a coppersmith. He was endowed with skill, ability, and talent for executing all work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and executed all his work.

Among these items were the enormous bronze sea^[4] and ten lavers, each with very large stands:

^{מלכים א ז:כז} וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת הַמְּכֹנוֹת עֶשֶׂר נְחֹשֶׁת אַרְבַּע בָּאַמָּה אֹרֶךְ הַמְּכוֹנָה הָאֶחָת וְאַרְבַּע בָּאַמָּה רׇחְבָּהּ וְשָׁלֹשׁ בָּאַמָּה קוֹמָתָהּ.

^{1 Kgs 7:27} He made the ten laver stands of bronze. The length of each laver stand was 4 cubits and the width 4 cubits, and the height was 3 cubits.^[5]

The lavers, sitting atop these large stands, were designed to hold about 230 gallons worth of water apiece:

^{מלכים א ז:לז} כָּזֹאת עָשָׂה אֵת עֶשֶׂר הַמְּכֹנוֹת מוּצָק אֶחָד מִדָּה אַחַת קֶצֶב אֶחָד לְכֻלָּהְנָה. ^ז:לח וַיַּעַשׂ עֲשָׂרָה כִיֹּרוֹת נְחֹשֶׁת אַרְבָּעִים בַּת יָכִיל הַכִּיּוֹר הָאֶחָד אַרְבַּע בָּאַמָּה הַכִּיּוֹר הָאֶחָד כִּיּוֹר אֶחָד עַל הַמְּכוֹנָה הָאַחַת לְעֶשֶׂר הַמְּכֹנוֹת.

^{1 Kgs 7:37} It was after this manner that he made the ten laver stands, all of them cast alike, of the same measure and the same form. ^7:38 Then he made ten bronze lavers— each laver containing forty baths—one laver on each of the ten laver stands, each laver measuring 4 cubits.

The stands were elaborately decorated with carvings of animals and the mythical cherubim:

^{מלכים א ז:כח} וְזֶה מַעֲשֵׂה הַמְּכוֹנָה מִסְגְּרֹת לָהֶם וּמִסְגְּרֹת בֵּין הַשְׁלַבִּים. ^ז:כט וְעַל הַמִּסְגְּרוֹת אֲשֶׁר בֵּין הַשְׁלַבִּים אֲרָיוֹת בָּקָר וּכְרוּבִים וְעַל הַשְׁלַבִּים כֵּן מִמָּעַל וּמִתַּחַת לַאֲרָיוֹת וְלַבָּקָר לֹיוֹת מַעֲשֵׂה מוֹרָד.

^{1 Kgs 1:28} The structure of the laver stands was as follows: They had insets, and there were insets within the frames; ^7:29 and on the insets within the frames were lions, bulls, and cherubim. Above the frames was a stand; and both above and below the lions and the bulls were spirals of hammered metal.

In paraphrasing the biblical text, Josephus has eagles instead of cherubim.^[6] We do not know whether Josephus had נְשָׁרִים (nesharim) “eagles” in his biblical text, if he was writing from memory, or if he was demythologizing for his readers.

The list of animals in Kings is highly reminiscent of those in Ezekiel’s opening prophecy on the Chebar Channel in Babylonia, in which he describes YHWH’s chariot being pulled by four beasts:

^{יחזקאל א:י} וּדְמוּת פְּנֵיהֶם פְּנֵי אָדָם וּפְנֵי אַרְיֵה אֶל הַיָּמִין לְאַרְבַּעְתָּם וּפְנֵי שׁוֹר מֵהַשְּׂמֹאול לְאַרְבַּעְתָּן וּפְנֵי נֶשֶׁר לְאַרְבַּעְתָּן.

^{Ezek 1:10} Each of them had a human face [at the front]; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right; each of the four had the face of an ox on the left; and each of the four had the face of an eagle [at the back].

When Ezekiel encounters the chariot in his later vision of Jerusalem, he calls these beings cherubim, and even sees a cherub where he has earlier seen a bull:

^{יחזקאל י:יד} וְאַרְבָּעָה פָנִים לְאֶחָד פְּנֵי הָאֶחָד פְּנֵי הַכְּרוּב וּפְנֵי הַשֵּׁנִי פְּנֵי אָדָם וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁי פְּנֵי אַרְיֵה וְהָרְבִיעִי פְּנֵי נָשֶׁר. ^י:טו וַיֵּרֹמּוּ הַכְּרוּבִים הִיא הַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי בִּנְהַר כְּבָר.

^{Ezek 10:14} Each one had four faces: One was a cherub’s face, the second a human face, the third a lion’s face, and the fourth an eagle’s face. ^10:15 The cherubim ascended; those were the creatures that I had seen by the Chebar Canal.

With the exception of the human face on the beasts, the faces on the laver—bull, lion, and cherub (or eagle)—are the same as in Ezekiel’s vision of YHWH’s chariot.

The stands had a circular emplacement in which the bronze basins were set,^[7] and they too were decorated with lions, cherubim, and palms (instead of bulls):

^{מלכים א ז:לו} וַיְפַתַּח עַל הַלֻּחֹת יְדֹתֶיהָ וְעַל (ומסגרתיה) מִסְגְּרֹתֶיהָ כְּרוּבִים אֲרָיוֹת וְתִמֹרֹת כְּמַעַר אִישׁ וְלֹיוֹת סָבִיב.

^{1 Kgs 7:36} On its surface—on its sides—and on its insets [Hiram] engraved cherubim, lions, and palms, as the clear space on each allowed, with spirals round about.

The bulls have been exchanged here with palms, though Josephus (Ant 8:81) again has the same three animals as he has for the laver stands: lion, bull, and eagle.^[8]

The Wheels of the Laver Stands and Ezekiel’s Chariot

The fact that the laver stands include wheels further implies they are chariots:

^{מלכים א ז:ל} וְאַרְבָּעָה אוֹפַנֵּי נְחֹשֶׁת לַמְּכוֹנָה הָאַחַת וְסַרְנֵי נְחֹשֶׁת וְאַרְבָּעָה פַעֲמֹתָיו כְּתֵפֹת לָהֶם מִתַּחַת לַכִּיֹּר הַכְּתֵפוֹת יְצֻקוֹת מֵעֵבֶר אִישׁ לֹיוֹת...

^{1 Kgs 7:30} Each laver stand had four bronze wheels and [two] bronze axletrees. Its four legs had brackets; the brackets were under the laver, cast with spirals beyond each….^[9]

^ז:לב וְאַרְבַּעַת הָאוֹפַנִּים לְמִתַּחַת לַמִּסְגְּרוֹת וִידוֹת הָאוֹפַנִּים בַּמְּכוֹנָה וְקוֹמַת הָאוֹפַן הָאֶחָד אַמָּה וַחֲצִי הָאַמָּה.

^7:32 And below the insets were the four wheels. The axletrees of the wheels were [fixed] in the laver stand, and the height of each wheel was a cubit and a half.

Ezekiel’s chariot is also said to have wheels, which accompany the animals/cherubim:

^{יחזקאל י:ט} וָאֶרְאֶה וְהִנֵּה אַרְבָּעָה אוֹפַנִּים אֵצֶל הַכְּרוּבִים אוֹפַן אֶחָד אֵצֶל הַכְּרוּב אֶחָד וְאוֹפַן אֶחָד אֵצֶל הַכְּרוּב אֶחָד וּמַרְאֵה הָאוֹפַנִּים כְּעֵין אֶבֶן תַּרְשִׁישׁ. ^י:י וּמַרְאֵיהֶם דְּמוּת אֶחָד לְאַרְבַּעְתָּם כַּאֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה הָאוֹפַן בְּתוֹךְ הָאוֹפָן.

^{Ezek 10:9} I could see that there were four wheels beside the cherubs, one wheel beside each of the cherubs; as for the appearance of the wheels, they gleamed like the beryl stone. ^10:10 In appearance, the four had the same form, as if there were two wheels cutting through each other.^[10]

While the wheels in Ezekiel are part of the celestial chariot, accompanying the winged creatures, those in Solomon’s Temple are constructed like chariot wheels:

^{מלכים א ז:לג} וּמַעֲשֵׂה הָאוֹפַנִּים כְּמַעֲשֵׂה אוֹפַן הַמֶּרְכָּבָה יְדוֹתָם וְגַבֵּיהֶם וְחִשֻּׁקֵיהֶם וְחִשֻּׁרֵיהֶם הַכֹּל מוּצָק.

^{1 Kgs 7:33} The structure of the wheels was like the structure of chariot wheels; and their axletrees, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast metal.

While the book of Kings does not actually refer to these lavers as chariots, they resemble Ezekiel’s description of YHWH’s chariot. Ezekiel, who had been a Temple priest before the exile,^[11] may have been inspired by these decorated lavers. He even describes the sound of the chariot in flight as like that of rushing water, an especially apt metaphor for chariots that carry lavers filled with water:

^{יחזקאל א:כד} וָאֶשְׁמַע אֶת קוֹל כַּנְפֵיהֶם כְּקוֹל מַיִם רַבִּים כְּקוֹל שַׁדַּי בְּלֶכְתָּם קוֹל הֲמֻלָּה כְּקוֹל מַחֲנֶה בְּעׇמְדָם תְּרַפֶּינָה כַנְפֵיהֶן.

^{Ezek 1:24} When they moved, I could hear the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the sound of Shaddai, a tumult like the din of an army. When they stood still, they would let their wings droop.

And thus, it is likely that these wheeled lavers are concrete representations of celestial chariots. They did not represent YHWH’s own chariot,^[12] but those of YHWH’s heavenly hosts, who ride to war together with their general:

^{תהלים סח:יח} רֶכֶב אֱלֹהִים רִבֹּתַיִם אַלְפֵי שִׁנְאָן אֲדֹנָי בָֿם סִינַי בַּקֹּדֶשׁ.

^{Ps 68:18} God’s chariots are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; my Sovereign is among them as in Sinai in holiness.

The Laver “Chariots” Surrounded the Celestial Apsû

In the courtyard of the Temple, a massive bronze basin/sea held up by twelve bronze bulls—a huge chariot in their own right—stood alongside the lavers. This sea represented the celestial, divine waters through which the stars and planets move, known in the ancient Near East as an apsû. As I explain in my “Solomon’s Bronze Sea: A Celestial Apsu,” (TheTorah 2026), in the ancient Near East, temples of celestial gods and creator gods would have a representation of the apsû to demonstrate the deity’s control over these mythical, creative waters.

In the Jerusalem Temple, the bronze sea reflected YHWH’s control over the waters of the apsû, and the lavers were organized on either side of it:

^{מלכים א ז:לט} וַיִּתֵּן אֶת הַמְּכֹנוֹת חָמֵשׁ עַל כֶּתֶף הַבַּיִת מִיָּמִין וְחָמֵשׁ עַל כֶּתֶף הַבַּיִת מִשְּׂמֹאלוֹ וְאֶת הַיָּם נָתַן מִכֶּתֶף הַבַּיִת הַיְמָנִית קֵדְמָה מִמּוּל נֶגֶב.

^{1 Kgs 7:39} He disposed the laver stands, five at the right (=south) side of the House and five at its left (=north) side; and he placed the sea on the right (=south) side of the House at the southeast [corner] (lit. “east opposite south”).^[13]

The starry images of the Heavenly Hosts could be seen at night reflected in the water of the basins, perfect companions to the one who chooses to live in darkness (1 Kgs 8:12; 2 Chron 6:1).^[14] When the sun rose, the bronze sea was transformed into a blue lake and the basins reflected the sunlight, surrounding the Temple with the Sun’s (and YHWH's) glory (1 Kgs 8:10-11).

Collectively, the bronze objects in the courtyard will have represented the bowl of heaven (the Bronze Sea) and the Heavenly Hosts of Summer (the lions), Spring (the bulls), and Winter (the cherubs/eagles) with Fall reserved for YHWH himself.

Josiah’s Purging of the Chariots

As these wheeled lavers are the only “chariots” we know of from the Temple, it is likely that these are the chariots of the sun that Josiah’s reform purges:

^{מלכים ב כג:יא} וַיַּשְׁבֵּת אֶת הַסּוּסִים אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ מִבֹּא בֵית יְ־הֹוָה אֶל לִשְׁכַּת נְתַן מֶלֶךְ הַסָּרִיס אֲשֶׁר בַּפַּרְוָרִים וְאֶת מַרְכְּבוֹת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ שָׂרַף בָּאֵשׁ.

^{2 Kgs 23:11} He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of the House of YHWH, near the chamber of the eunuch Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts. He burned the chariots of the sun. ^23:12

Apparently, these chariots were supplied with their own horses, and the Temple was provided with triple gates of a type designed to hitch and unhitch them.^[15] It is unlikely that these giant stands, filled with water, would have been actually paraded around the Temple grounds, dragged by horses; wheeling basins filled with water around the Temple courtyard would have made a splash, and not in a good way. Nevertheless, we can imagine they were ceremonially connected to the laver-chariots, in rituals meant to encourage YHWH’s army to come protect the people of Judah.^[16]

But why call them “chariots of the sun” and why purge them? I suggest this term is used for polemical reasons by the Deuteronomistic author to express contempt for the imagery on these lavers and what they represented. The reformers felt that these celestial chariots violated the prohibition of graven images, recorded, for example, in the Decalogue:

^{דברים ה:ח} לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל כׇּל תְּמוּנָה אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ. ^ה:ט לֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לָהֶם וְלֹא תׇעׇבְדֵם...

^{Deut 5:8} You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters below the earth. ^5:9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them…

Deuteronomy warns that YHWH was intentional in showing no image of YHWH’s divine self on the mountain and insists on Israel making no images whatsoever that could function as idols:

^{דברים ד:טו} וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם כׇּל תְּמוּנָה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְ־הֹוָה אֲלֵיכֶם בְּחֹרֵב מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ. ^ד:טז פֶּן תַּשְׁחִתוּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כׇּל סָמֶל תַּבְנִית זָכָר אוֹ נְקֵבָה. ^ד:יז תַּבְנִית כׇּל בְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ תַּבְנִית כׇּל צִפּוֹר כָּנָף אֲשֶׁר תָּעוּף בַּשָּׁמָיִם. ^ד:יח תַּבְנִית כׇּל רֹמֵשׂ בָּאֲדָמָה תַּבְנִית כׇּל דָּגָה אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ.

^{Deut 4:15} For your own sake, therefore, be most careful—since you saw no shape when YHWH spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire—^4:16 not to act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness whatever: the form of a man or a woman, ^4:17 the form of any animal on earth, the form of any winged bird that flies in the sky, ^4:18 the form of anything that creeps on the ground, the form of any fish that is in the waters below the earth.

The passage continues with a warning not to perform any act of worship involving the hosts of heaven:

^{דברים ד:יט} וּפֶן תִּשָּׂא עֵינֶיךָ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְרָאִיתָ אֶת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְאֶת הַיָּרֵחַ וְאֶת הַכּוֹכָבִים כֹּל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ לָהֶם וַעֲבַדְתָּם...

^{Deut 4:19} And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them…

Josiah’s reform likely saw these lavers— whose function went well beyond supplying water for purification—as manifestations of celestial objects elaborately decorated with graven images of animals, and considered them religiously out of bounds. Thus, they removed these chariots in their zeal for a purist YHWH-cult. Nevertheless, the chariots reappear later.

The Restoration of the Laver-Chariots

In 609 B.C.E., Josiah was killed suddenly by the Egyptian army in Megiddo, and his throne is assumed first by one son (Jehoahaz), then another (Jehoiakim), and finally a third (Zedekiah), during whose reign, Jerusalem is destroyed. The laver stands are specifically mentioned among the booty taken by Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem before it was burned to the ground:

^{מלכים ב כה:יג} וְאֶת עַמּוּדֵי הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר בֵּית יְ־הֹוָה וְאֶת הַמְּכֹנוֹת וְאֶת יָם הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית יְ־הֹוָה שִׁבְּרוּ כַשְׂדִּים וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת נְחֻשְׁתָּם בָּבֶלָה.

^{2 Kgs 25:13} The Chaldeans broke up the bronze columns of the House of YHWH, the stands, and the bronze tank that was in the House of YHWH; and they carried the bronze away to Babylon.^[17]

Assuming the destruction of the chariots was indeed historical, their restoration suggests that someone thought, particularly in view of the debacle with the Egyptian army, that Josiah had been mistaken. Thus, the chariots/laver stands were refashioned, conceivably from their own melted metal,^[18] only to be destroyed again permanently by the Babylonian conquerors, who do the same to the bronze sea and everything else of value. Nevertheless, the memory of these chariots continues on in the prophetic vision of Ezekiel, and eventually in Synagogue and Church art.