Exodus 25:31

“And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold, etc.] Another piece of household furniture, and an useful one, especially in a house where there are no windows, as there were none in the tabernacle, denoting the darkness of the legal dispensation, (see <120410>2 Kings 4:10). This candlestick was set in the holy place, on the south side of it, opposite the shewbread table, (<022635>Exodus 26:35 40:24) and was typical of the church of God; so the candlesticks John had a vision of signify seven churches, (<660113>Revelation 1:13,20), the general use of which is, to hold forth light put into it, for it has none of itself, but what is put there by Christ: and this is not the light of nature and…”

“candlestick--literally, "a lamp bearer." It was so constructed as to be capable of being taken to pieces for facility in removal. The shaft or stock rested on a pedestal. It had seven branches, shaped like reeds or canes--three on each side, with one in the center--and worked out into knobs, flowers, and bowls, placed alternately [Exo 25:32-36]. The figure represented on the arch of Titus gives the best idea of this candlestick.”

“Exodus 25:31 A candlestick of pure gold - (Compare Exodus 37:17-24.) A lampstand rather than a candlestick. Its purpose was to support seven oil-lamps. Its height appears to have been about three feet, and its width two feet. The original foot was lost or stolen when the candlestick was taken out of the temple, and the pedestal in the sculpture was added by some Roman artist to set off the trophy. His shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers - Or, its base, its stem, its flower cups, its knobs, and its lilies. Exodus 25:33 Three bowls made like unto almonds - Three cups of almond flowers. These appear to be the cups in immediate contact with the knobs as shown in the…”

“This candlestick had many branches drawn from the main shaft, which had not only bowls to put the oil and the kindled wick in for necessity, but knops made in the form of a pomegranate and flowers for ornament. The tabernacle had no windows, all its light was candle - light, which notes the comparative darkness of that dispensation, while the sun of righteousness was not as yet risen, nor had the day - star from on high visited his church. Yet God left not himself without witness, nor them without instruction; the commandment was a lamp, and the law a light, and the prophets were branches from that lamp, which gave light in their several ages. The church is still dark, as the tabernacle was,…”

“25:31-39 The lampstand of pure, hammered gold stood on the south side of the Holy Place (26:35). It showed the light of God’s presence to his people. The lamps (25:37) were flat dishes containing olive oil. A wick extended into the oil and hung down from a lip on one side of the dish. The dishes, resting on the upturned almond blossoms (25:33), were to be turned so that all their wicks faced the center of the room (25:37). The total number of lamps is not clear. Although seven lamps are mentioned in 25:37, there seem to be 22 lamp cups in 25:33-34.”

“a candlestick: Exo 35:14, Exo 37:17-24, Exo 40:24, Exo 40:25; Kg1 7:49; Ch2 13:11; Zac 4:2; Heb 9:2; Rev 1:12, Rev 1:20, Rev 2:1, Rev 2:5, Rev 4:5 his knops: Kg1 6:18, Kg1 7:24 Exodus 25:33”

“(cf. Exo 37:17-24). The Candlestick was to be made of pure gold, "beaten work." מקשׁה: see Exo 25:18. For the form תּיעשׂה instead of תּעשׂה (which is probably the work of a copyist, who thought the reading should be תּעשׂה in the Niphal, as the י is wanting in many MSS), see Gesenius, Lehrgeb. p. 52, and Ewald, 83b. "Of it shall be (i.e., there shall issue from it so as to form one complete whole) its ירך" (lit., the loins, the upper part of the thigh, which is attached to the body, and from which the feet proceed, - in this case the base or pedestal, upon which the candelabrum stood); its קנה, or reed, i.e., the hollow stem of the candelabrum rising up from the pedestal; - "its גּבעים,"…”