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Bible Dictionaries
Candle-stick
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Candle-stick.
1. The candlestick, which Moses was commanded to make for the Tabernacle, is described in Exodus 25:31-37; Exodus 37:17-24. It was not strictly a "candlestick," as it held seven richly-adorned lamps. With its various appurtenances, it required a talent of "pure gold;" and it was not moulded, but "of beaten work," and has been estimated to have been worth, in our money, over $25,000.
From the Arch of Titus, where they sculptured the spoils taken from Jerusalem, we learn that it consisted of a central stem, with six branches, three on each side. It was about five feet high. See Arch Of Titus. The candlestick was placed on the south side of the first apartment of the Tabernacle, opposite the Table of Shew Bread, Exodus 25:37, and was lighted every evening and dressed every morning. Exodus 27:20-21; Exodus 30:8. Compare 1 Samuel 3:2.
Each lamp was supplied with cotton and about two wineglasses of the purest olive oil, which was sufficient to keep it burning during a long night. In Solomon's Temple, instead of or in addition to this candlestick, there were ten Golden Candlesticks similarly embossed, five in the right and five on the left. 1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chronicles 4:7. They were taken to Babylon. Jeremiah 52:19. In the Temple of Zerubbabel, there was again a single candlestick. 1 Maccabees 1:21; 1 Maccabees 4:49.
2. The candlestick in Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21, is merely a lamp-stand, made in various forms, to hold up the simple Oriental hand-lamps.
These files are public domain.
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Candle-stick'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/c/candle-stick.html. 1901.
