π: A Line of Thirty Cubits Did Compass It Round About (1 Kings 7:23)

2024-03-14

And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. (1 Kings 7:23)

This molten sea “was for the priests to wash in” (2 Chronicles 4:6) when the Temple was built. You see that the diameter of this sea was 10 cubits, and the circumference was 30 cubits. It was five cubits high. Considering that a cubit is about a foot and a half, this is quite a big tub to bathe in.

With a 10-cubit diameter and digging out our math knowledge from ages ago, we can calculate to confirm the circumference: π * diameter. We get the answer around 31.4159, or about 30. There was a little rounding in there somewhere, which is normal in the Bible, being that there are so many round numbers in there. They could have also measured slightly below the brim of the sea, which also could do it, depending on the exact shape.

But anyway, here is an example of seeing π in the Bible.