4 Let Aaron put the lights in order on the support before the Lord at all times.
And you are to make a support for lights, of the best gold; its base and its pillar are to be of hammered gold; its cups, its buds, and its flowers are to be made of the same metal. It is to have six branches coming out from its sides; three branches from one side and three from the other. Every branch having three cups made like almond flowers, every cup with a bud and a flower, on all the branches. And on the pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower: And under every two branches a bud, made with the branch, for all the six branches of it. The buds and the branches are to be made of the same metal; all together one complete work of hammered gold. Then you are to make its seven vessels for the lights, putting them in their place so that they give light in front of it. And the instruments and trays for use with it are all to be of the best gold. A talent of gold will be needed for it, with all these vessels.
Then he made the support for the lights, all of the best gold; its base and its pillar were of hammered gold; its cups and buds and flowers were all made out of the same metal: It had six branches coming out from its sides, three from one side and three from the other; Every branch having three cups made like almond flowers, every cup with a bud and a flower on all the branches; And on its pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower; And under every two branches a bud, made with the branch, for all six branches of it. The buds and the branches were made of the same metal, all together one complete work of the best hammered gold. And he made the seven vessels for the lights, and all the necessary instruments for it, of gold. A talent of the best gold was used for the making of it and its vessels.
And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I see a light-support, made all of gold, with its cup on the top of it and seven lights on it; and there are seven pipes to every one of the lights which are on the top of it; And two olive-trees by it, one on the right side of the cup and one on the left.
And I made answer and said to him, What are these two olive-trees on the right side of the light-support and on the left? And answering a second time, I said to him, What are these two olive branches, through whose gold pipes the oil is drained out? And he said in answer to me, Have you no knowledge what these are? And I said, No, my lord. And he said, These are the two sons of oil, whose place is by the Lord of all the earth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 24
Commentary on Leviticus 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 24
Le 24:1-23. Oil for the Lamps.
2. Command the children of Israel—This is the repetition of a law previously given (Ex 27:20, 21).
pure oil olive beaten—or cold-drawn, which is always of great purity.
3, 4. Aaron shall order it from the evening unto the morning—The daily presence of the priests was necessary to superintend the cleaning and trimming.
4. upon the pure candlestick—so called because of pure gold. This was symbolical of the light which ministers are to diffuse through the Church.
5-9. take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes—for the showbread, as previously appointed (Ex 25:30). Those cakes were baked by the Levites, the flour being furnished by the people (1Ch 9:32; 23:29), oil, wine, and salt being the other ingredients (Le 2:13).
two tenth deals—that is, of an ephah—thirteen and a half pounds weight each; and on each row or pile of cakes some frankincense was strewed, which, being burnt, led to the showbread being called "an offering made by fire." Every Sabbath a fresh supply was furnished; hot loaves were placed on the altar instead of the stale ones, which, having lain a week, were removed, and eaten only by the priests, except in cases of necessity (1Sa 21:3-6; also Lu 6:3, 4).
10. the son of an Israelitish woman, &c.—This passage narrates the enactment of a new law, with a detail of the circumstances which gave rise to it. The "mixed multitude" [Ex 12:38] that accompanied the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt creates a presumption that marriage connections of the kind described were not infrequent. And it was most natural, in the relative circumstances of the two people, that the father should be an Egyptian and the mother an Israelite.
11. And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord—A youth of this half-blood, having quarrelled with an Israelite [Le 24:10], vented his rage in some horrid form of impiety. It was a common practice among the Egyptians to curse their idols when disappointed in obtaining the object of their petitions. The Egyptian mind of this youth thought the greatest insult to his opponent was to blaspheme the object of his religious reverence. He spoke disrespectfully of One who sustained the double character of the King as well as the God of the Hebrew people; as the offense was a new one, he was put in ward till the mind of the Lord was ascertained as to his disposal.
14. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp—All executions took place without the camp; and this arrangement probably originated in the idea that, as the Israelites were to be "a holy people" [De 7:6; 14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9], all flagrant offenders should be thrust out of their society.
let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, &c.—The imposition of hands formed a public and solemn testimony against the crime, and at the same time made the punishment legal.
16. as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death—Although strangers were not obliged to be circumcised, yet by joining the Israelitish camp, they became amenable to the law, especially that which related to blasphemy.
17-22. he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death—These verses contain a repetition of some other laws, relating to offenses of a social nature, the penalties for which were to be inflicted, not by the hand of private parties, but through the medium of the judges before whom the cause was brought.
23. the children of Israel did as the Lord's commanded—The chapter closes with the execution of Shelomith's son [Le 24:14]—and stoning having afterwards become the established punishment in all cases of blasphemy, it illustrates the fate of Stephen, who suffered under a false imputation of that crime [Ac 7:58, 59].