Keluaran 27:21

27:21 In the tent of meeting ¹  outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to arrange it from evening ²  to morning before the Lord. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for generations to come. ³ 

Keluaran 30:8

30:8 When Aaron sets up the lamps around sundown he is to burn incense on it; it is to be a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.

Imamat 24:3-4

24:3 Outside the veil-canopy ⁴  of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron ⁵  must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁶  24:4 On the ceremonially pure lampstand ⁷  he must arrange the lamps before the Lord continually.

Bilangan 8:2

8:2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you set up ⁸  the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light ⁹  in front of the lampstand.’”

Bilangan 8:1

Lighting the Lamps

8:1 ¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses:

1 Samuel 3:3

3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there.

1 Samuel 3:2

3:2 Eli’s eyes had begun to fail, so that he was unable to see well. At that time he was lying down in his place,

1 Tawarikh 13:11

13:11 David was angry because the Lord attacked Uzzah; ¹¹  so he called that place Perez Uzzah, ¹²  which remains its name to this very day.

[27:21]  ¹ tn The LXX has mistakenly rendered this name “the tent of the testimony.”

[27:21]  ² sn The lamps were to be removed in the morning so that the wicks could be trimmed and the oil replenished (30:7) and then lit every evening to burn through the night.

[27:21]  ³ sn This is the first of several sections of priestly duties. The point is a simple one here: those who lead the worship use the offerings of the people to ensure that access to God is illumined regularly. The NT will make much of the symbolism of light.

[24:3]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

[24:3]  ⁵ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”

[24:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “for your generations.”

[24:4]  ⁷ tn Alternatively, “pure [gold] lampstand,” based on Exod 25:31, etc., where the term for “gold” actually appears (see NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395, etc.). However, in Lev 24:4 the adjective “pure” is feminine, corresponding to “lampstand,” not an assumed noun “gold” (contrast Exod 25:31), and the “table” in v. 6 was overlaid with gold, but was not made of pure gold. Therefore, it is probably better to translate “[ceremonially] pure lampstand” (v. 4) and “[ceremonially] pure table” (v. 6); see NEB; cf. KJV, ASV; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 164-65; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 307.

[8:2]  ⁸ tn The verb is עָלָה (’alah). The Hiphil infinitive construct functions in a temporal clause. The idea of arranging the lamps on the lampstand certainly involved raising the lamps and placing them on the tops of each shaft and branch. Some have taken the idea to mean cause the flame to go up, or light the lamps.

[8:2]  ⁹ tn The imperfect tense forms part of the instruction, and so the translation has to indicate that. The instruction would seem obvious, but the light was to shine in the area immediately in front of the lampstand, so that it would illumine the way and illumine the table that was across the room (hence, “in front of”).

[8:1]  ¹⁰ sn This chapter has three main sections to it: the lighting of the lamps (vv. 1-4), the separation of the Levites (vv. 5-22), and the work of the Levites (vv. 23-26). Many modern scholars assume that the chapter belongs to P and was added late. But the chapter reiterates some of the Mosaic material concerning the work of the Levites in the new sanctuary. For the chapter to make sense the historical setting must be accepted; if the historical setting is accepted, the chapter is necessary as part of that early legislation. For more reading, see M. Haran, “The Nature of the’ohel mo‘edh in the Pentateuchal Sources,” JSS 5 (1960): 50-65, and “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 191-226; and C. L. Meyers, The Tabernacle Menorah.

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because the Lord broke out [with] breaking out [i.e., an outburst] against Uzzah.”

[13:11]  ¹² sn The name Perez Uzzah means in Hebrew “the outburst [against] Uzzah.”