Basin

Basins are small vessels, easy to overlook, yet the Bible lists them with care. The older English text spells the word “bason.” In Exodus they are made of brass for the altar, alongside pots, shovels and firepans. For Solomon’s temple they are of gold: 1 Chronicles 28:17 sets out gold “by weight for every bason,” and 2 Chronicles 4:8 mentions “an hundred basons of gold.” Ezra 1:10 counts thirty gold ones among the vessels brought back from exile. Such lists show how much care went into the everyday objects of worship.

7 verses

Exodus

Exodus 27:3

And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.

Exodus 38:3

And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

1 Kings

1 Kings 7:50

And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 28:17

Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver:

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 4:8

He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

2 Chronicles 4:22

And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

Ezra

Ezra 1:10

Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Or Bason. (1.) A trough or laver (Heb. aggan’) for washing (Ex. 24:6); rendered also “goblet” (Cant. 7:2) and “cups” (Isa. 22:24).

(2.) A covered dish or urn (Heb. k’for) among the vessels of the temple (1 Chr. 28:17; Ezra 1:10; 8:27).

(3.) A vase (Heb. mizrak) from which to sprinkle anything. A metallic vessel; sometimes rendered “bowl” (Amos 6:6; Zech. 9:15). The vessels of the tabernacle were of brass (Ex. 27:3), while those of the temple were of gold (2 Chr. 4:8).

(4.) A utensil (Heb. saph) for holding the blood of the victims (Ex. 12:22); also a basin for domestic purposes (2 Sam. 17:28).

The various vessels spoken of by the names “basin, bowl, charger, cup, and dish,” cannot now be accurately distinguished.

Read the full entry

The basin in which our Lord washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:5) must have been larger and deeper than the hand-basin.

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

Among the smaller vessels for the tabernacle or temple service, many must have been required to receive from the sacrificial victims the blood to be sprinkled for purification. The "basin" from which our Lord washed the disciples’ feet was probably deeper and larger than the hand-basin for sprinkling.