Lamps in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

lamp'-stand (nir, ner, lappidh, Phoenician lampadh, whence lampas; luchnos is also used): Ner or nir is properly "light" or "a light-giving thing," hence, "lamp," and is so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American), but often "candle" in the King James Version. Its use in connection with the tabernacle and the temple (Ex 25:37 ff; 2 Ch 4:20 f), where oil was employed for light (Ex 35:14; Lev 24:2), shows that this is its proper meaning. Lappidh is properly "a torch" and is thus rendered generally in the Revised Version (British and American), but "lamp" in Isa 62:1, where it is used as a simile. the King James Version renders it "lamp" usually, but "torch" in Nah 2:3 f; Zec 12:6. In Job 12:5 the Revised Version (British and American) renders it "for misfortune," regarding it as composed of the noun pidh, and the preposition l-. Lampas in Greek corresponds to it, but luchnos is also rendered in the Revised Version (British and American) "lamp," while the King James Version gives "candle," as in Mt 5:15 and corresponding passages in the other Gospels. 1. Forms and History: Lamps were in use in very remote times, though we have few allusions to them in the early history of Egypt. There are indications that they were used there. Niches for lamps are found in the tombs of Tell el-Amarna (Archaeological Survey of Egypt, Tell el-Amarna Letters, Part IV, 14). Lampstands are also represented (ibid., Part III, 7). Torches were of course used before lamps, and are mentioned in Gen (15:17 the Revised Version (British and American)), but clay lamps were used in Canaan by the Amorites before the Israelites took possession. The excavations in Israel have furnished thousands of specimens, and have enabled us to trace the development from about 2000 BC onward. The exploration carried out at Lachish (Tell Hesy) and Gezer (Tell Jezer) by the Israel Exploration Fund has given ample material for the purpose, and the numerous examples from tombs all over Israel and Syria have supplied a great variety of forms. 2. Figurative Use: "Lamp" is used in the sense of a guide in Ps 119:105; Prov 6:23, and for the spirit, which is called the lamp of Yahweh in man (Prov 20:27), and it of course often signifies the light itself. It is used also for the son who is to succeed and represent his father (1 Ki 15:4), and it perhaps is employed in this sense in the phrase, "The lamp of the wicked shall be put out" (Job 21:17; Prov 13:9; and perhaps Job 18:6). The early Canaanite or Amorite lamp was a shallow, saucer- like bowl with rounded bottom and vertical rim, slightly pointed or pinched on one side where the lighted end of the wick was placed. This form continued into Jewish times, but was gradually changed until the spout was formed by drawing the rim of the sides together, forming a narrow open channel, the remainder of the rim being rolled outward and flattened, the bottom being also flattened. This was the early Hebrew pattern and persisted for centuries. The open bowl was gradually closed in, first at the spout, where the rim of one side was lapped over the other, and finally...