lamp Summary and Overview

(1.) That part of the candle-sticks of the tabernacle and the temple which bore the light (Ex. 25:37; 1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chr. 4:20; 13:11; Zech. 4:2). Their form is not described. Olive oil was generally burned in them (Ex. 27:20). (2.) A torch carried by the soliders of Gideon (Judg. 7:16, 20). (R.V., "torches.") (3.) Domestic lamps (A.V., "candles") were in common use among the Hebrews (Matt. 5:15; Mark 4:21, etc.). (4.) Lamps or torches were used in connection with marriage ceremonies (Matt. 25:1). This word is also frequently metaphorically used to denote life, welfare, guidance, etc. (2 Sam. 21:17; Ps. 119:105; Prov. 6:23; 13:9).

1. That part of the golden candlestick belonging to the tabernacle which bore the light; also of each of the ten candlesticks placed by Solomon in the temple before the holy of holies. #Ex 25:37; 1Ki 7:49; 2Ch 4:20; 13:11; Zec 4:2| The lamps were lighted every evening and cleansed every morning. #Ex 30:7,8| 2. A torch or flambeau, such as was carried by the soldiers of Gideon. #Jud 7:16,20| comp. Judg 15:4 The use in marriage processions of lamps fed with oil is alluded to in the parable of the ten virgins. #Mt 25:1| Modern Egyptian lamps consist of small glass vessels with a tube at the bottom containing a cotton wick twisted around a piece of straw. For night travelling, a lantern composed of waxed cloth strained over a sort of cylinder of wire rings, and a top and bottom of perforated copper. This would, in form at least, answer to the lamps within pitchers of Gideon. "The Hebrews, like the ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as the modern Orientals, were accustomed to burn lamps all night. This custom, with the effect produced by their going out or being extinguished, supplies various figures to the sacred writers. #2Sa 21:17; Pr 13:9; 20:20| On the other hand, the keeping up of a lamp's light is used as a symbol of enduring and unbroken succession. #1Ki 11:36; 15:4; Ps 132:17| " --McClintock and Strong.

LAMP . The lights of the East are of various kinds; not only oil, but pitch, naphtha, and wax are used to maintain the flame. The wicks were generally made of cotton or of flax. According to rabbinical tradition, the wicks of the sacred lamps were made of the old linen garments of the priests. The form of Oriental lamps was fanciful, and often elegant. We have no descriptions of the forms specially used by the Hebrews, but they were probably not different from those used in Egypt and Western Asia. The materials of which lamps were made were baked clay, terra cotta, bronze, etc. The lamps of the Hebrews, it is probable, were suffered to burn all night, and this occasioned no great expense in a country so rich in oil. We are told that this was considered indispensable to the comfort of a family, and that the poorest people would rather deny themselves food than neglect it. The putting out of the light denoted the ruin and extinction of the family and the desertion of the house. This gives force to the words in Job 18:5-6; John 21:17; Job 29:3:" The light of the wicked shall be put out; * * * light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him." "How oft is Assyrian Terra-Cotta and Glass Lamps. (From British Museum.) Chaldaean Lamps Lamp with Christian Inscription. the candle of the wicked put out." Jer 25:10-11: Prov 20:20. Also in Prov 13:9: "The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out;" and of the prudent wife, "Her candle goeth not out by night." Prov 31:18.

(See CANDLE; CANDLESTICK.) The ordinary means of lighting apartments. In Judges 7:16; Judges 7:20, lamps mean torches; so John 18:3; Matthew 25:1. The terra cotta and bronze handlamps from Nimrud and Koyunjik perhaps give a good idea of the Bible lamp. The Egyption kandeel or common lamp is a small glass vessel with a tube in the bottom in which is stuck a wick of cotton twisted round straw. Water is poured in first, then the oil. The usual symbols of the early Christian lamps found at Jerusalem are the cross, the seven branched candlestick, the palm (John 12:13; Revelation 7:9). The rudeness of the lamps indicates the poverty of the early saints at Jerusalem. The inscriptions that occur are "the light of Christ shineth to all," and the initials I. X. TH., "Jesus Christ God."