 The mediaeval Masoretic Text claims that they were four cubits in diameter, and that they had a cubic capacity of forty baths, but the earlier writer Flavius Josephus claims that four cubits was the size of the radius, making the capacity even larger.Even with the masoretic text's measurements, these lavers would be so large that if one was to be filled with water, the water alone would weigh 14 long tons.Much greater detail is elaborated for the description of the supporting bases (Hebrew