In the plain of Jericho did the king cast them in the clay ground,.... Which being thick, as the word signifies, and stiff and close, was fit for such a purpose as casting brass; of such clay, furnaces of earth used to be made to melt metals in; but here were large things to be cast, as the two pillars, the sea, the ten lavers, &c.
moulds were made in the ground, and so the melted brass was poured into them, which gave it its different forms; this, no doubt, was done by Hiram, though said to be done by the king, because done by his orders: the place where it was done was a part of the plain of Jericho, which laybetween Succoth and Zarthan; Succoth was in the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan; Zarthan was near it on this side, in the tribe of Manasseh, the same that is called Zartanah, 1Ki 4:12 and Zaretan, Jos 3:16 and Zeredathah, 2Ch 4:17.
The first casters of brass are said to be Theodorus and Rhaecus, both Samians. Pausau. Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 479. & Boeotica, sive, l. 9. p.