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Text -- Exodus 27:20 (NET)

Strongs On/Off
Context
Offering the Oil
27:20 “You are to command the Israelites that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so that the lamps will burn regularly.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:
 · Israel a citizen of Israel.,a member of the nation of Israel


Dictionary Themes and Topics: Tabernacle | SANCTUARY | Revelation | Priest | Olive | Oil | OLIVE TREE | OIL, BEATEN | Lampstand | Lamp | LEVITICUS, 1 | Israel | Festivals, Religious | FOOD | CANDLESTICK | Beaten oil | ARCHITECTURE | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Calvin , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Haydock , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable , Guzik

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Exo 27:20 - -- We read of the candlestick in the 25th chapter; here is order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in it. The pure oil signified the ...

We read of the candlestick in the 25th chapter; here is order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in it. The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which are communicated to all believers from Christ the good olive, of whose fulness we receive, Zec 4:11-12. The priests were to light the lamps, and to tend them; to cause the lamp to burn always, night and day. Thus it is the work of ministers to preach and expound the scriptures, which are as a lamp to enlighten the church. This is to be a statute for ever, that the lamps of the word be lighted as duly as the incense of prayer and praise is offered.

JFB: Exo 27:20-21 - -- That is, such as runs from the olives when bruised and without the application of fire.

That is, such as runs from the olives when bruised and without the application of fire.

JFB: Exo 27:20-21 - -- Were to take charge of lighting it in all time coming.

Were to take charge of lighting it in all time coming.

Clarke: Exo 27:20 - -- Pure oil olive beaten - That is, such oil as could easily be expressed from the olives after they had been bruised in a mortar; the mother drop, as ...

Pure oil olive beaten - That is, such oil as could easily be expressed from the olives after they had been bruised in a mortar; the mother drop, as it is called, which drops out of itself as soon as the olives are a little broken, and which is much purer than that which is obtained after the olives are put under the press

Columella, who is a legitimate evidence in all such matters, says that the oil which flowed out of the fruit either spontaneously, or with little application of the force of the press, was of a much finer flavour than that which was obtained otherwise. Quoniam longe melioris saporis est, quod minore vi preli, quasi luxurians, defluxerit - Colum., lib. xii., c. 50

Clarke: Exo 27:20 - -- To cause the lamp to burn always - They were to be kept burning through the whole of the night, and some think all the day besides; but there is a d...

To cause the lamp to burn always - They were to be kept burning through the whole of the night, and some think all the day besides; but there is a difference of sentiment upon this subject. See the note on Exo 27:21

This oil and continual flame were not only emblematical of the unction and influences of the Holy Ghost, but also of that pure spirit of devotion which ever animates the hearts and minds of the genuine worshippers of the true God. The temple of Vesta, where a fire was kept perpetually burning, seems to have been formed on the model of the tabernacle; and from this the followers of Zeratusht, commonly called Zoroaster, appear to have derived their doctrine of the perpetual fire, which they still worship as an emblem of the Deity.

Calvin: Exo 27:20 - -- Exo 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel I have transferred these two passages from elsewhere, since they relate to the service of the ...

Exo 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel I have transferred these two passages from elsewhere, since they relate to the service of the tabernacle; for the children of Israel are commanded to contribute as much oil as may be sufficient for the seven lamps. Now, since Divine illumination and the grace of the Holy Spirit were, as we have seen, the truth of this symbol, God requires pure oil, i.e., not muddy, or mixed with lees, for, had it been in any respect faulty, so much would have been detracted from the dignity of the mystery. Its purity, then, shewed that nothing mean or common was signified by it; that the Israelites also might bring with them pure minds, and duly prepared and disposed to consider the spiritual light. He again repeats, that the oil must be supplied seasonably at its proper hours, so that the lamps may be always burning; that thus the children of Israel might learn that nothing is more opposed to the worship of God than obscurity and darkness; and that it is not to be interrupted at intervals, 137 but that the direction of the Spirit should shine from heaven in a perpetual flow. Thus, in the second passage cited, He thrice reiterates the word “continually,” to shew that the true light should never be put out in any respect. This office God enjoins upon the priests, because they ought to be ministers of light when they are interpreting the Law, which David calls “the lamp of our feet, and the light of our paths.” (Psa 119:105.) But what is the meaning of the offering (of the oil) by the people, since men are possessed of no power for the spiritual enlightening of their own minds? I reply that, in the types of the Law, the several parts are not to be so scrupulously forced to the rule, as if there were nothing in the outward sign with which the reality did not correspond; and again, that although men having nothing of their own and of themselves to bring, yet, that they may more diligently exert themselves in their endeavors to serve God, they are justly required to dedicate themselves and all that they have to God. At the end, where the words “a statute for ever” are added, understand them to mean, until the real manifestation of those things, of which the candlestick and its lamps were a type. This point I have discussed in Genesis 138 It is called “a statute from the 139 children of Israel,” ( a filiis Israel,) since God requires its observance from them; unless it be preferred to translate it with Jerome, “Before ( coram) the children of Israel.” The exposition of others, “among ( apud) the children of Israel,” or from the fathers to the children, is harsher, and altogether forced.

TSK: Exo 27:20 - -- pure oil olive beaten : That is, such oil as could be easily expressed from the olives, after they had been bruised in a mortar; and which is much pur...

pure oil olive beaten : That is, such oil as could be easily expressed from the olives, after they had been bruised in a mortar; and which is much purer than that obtained after the olives are put under the press. Exo 39:37; Lev 24:2-4; Jdg 9:9; Psa 23:5; Zec 4:11-14; Rev 11:4

for the light : Exo 25:31-37

to cause the lamp : Josephus says, that the whole of the seven lamps burned all night; and that in the morning four were extinguished, and three burned the whole of the day. Such might have been the practice in his time; but it appears sufficiently evident from Exo 30:8, and 1Sa 3:3, that they were anciently extinguished in the morning.

to burn : Heb. to ascend up

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Exo 27:20 - -- Pure oil olive beaten - The oil was to be of the best kind. It is called beaten, because it was obtained by merely bruising the olives in a mor...

Pure oil olive beaten - The oil was to be of the best kind. It is called beaten, because it was obtained by merely bruising the olives in a mortar or mill, without the application of heat. The finest oil is now thus obtained from young fruit freshly gathered. The inferior kind is pressed from unselected fruit under stronger pressure, and with the application of heat.

The lamp - i. e. the lamps of the golden candlestick. (See Exo 25:37.)

To burn - See the margin "to ascend up."It should be observed that the word does not properly mean to burn in the sense of to consume, but is the word regularly used to express the action of fire upon what was offered to Yahweh (see Lev 1:9).

Always - i. e. every night "from evening until morning."Compare Exo 30:8.

Poole: Exo 27:20 - -- Beaten out of the olives with a pestle, which is freer from dregs than that which is squeezed out with a press. To burn always i.e. at all the tim...

Beaten out of the olives with a pestle, which is freer from dregs than that which is squeezed out with a press.

To burn always i.e. at all the times. appointed; daily, though not continually; as the lamb offered only every morning and every evening is called a continual burnt-offering , Exo 29:42 . For that these were lighted only at the evening, may seem probable from the next verse, and from Exo 27:21 30:8 Lev 24:3 1Sa 3:3 2Ch 13:11 . But because Josephus and Philo, who were eye-witnesses of the temple service, and had no temptation to lie in this matter, expressly affirm, that some lights did burn in the day-time; and it may seem indecent and improbable that God should dwell and the priests minister in darkness, and there were no windows to give light to the tabernacle by day; it may be granted that some few burnt in the day, and all in the night, and that the latter is only mentioned in the places alleged, as being a more solemn time when all are lighted.

Haydock: Exo 27:20 - -- Pestle. That it may be as free from dregs as possible; quasi luxurians defluxerit. (Columella xii. 20.) The Hebrew and Septuagint are silent abou...

Pestle. That it may be as free from dregs as possible; quasi luxurians defluxerit. (Columella xii. 20.) The Hebrew and Septuagint are silent about the pestle. The olives must, however, be a little bruised, before they will yield their oil. (Haydock) ---

Always: four of the seven lamps were extinguished every morning. ( Josephus ([Antiquities?] iii. 9); 1 Kings iii. 3.) Hecateus (ap. Eusebuis, præp. ix. 4) assures us, that a light was kept always burning in the tabernacle. The temple of Hercules, at the Straits, its priests and ceremonies, bore some resemblance with the tabernacle and usages prescribed by Moses. It was probably erected by the Phenicians. (Calmet) ---

"The wood seemed to be incorruptible. Women and swine are kept at a distance. White linen covers the priests at the altar; that which adorns their head is most beautiful, and brought from Pelusium. Et Pelusiaco præfulget stamine vertex. They offer incense in long ungirded robes, but the vestment in which they sacrifice, is distinguished with a Latus clavus, or with broad studs of purple, (like the Roman senators.) They go barefoot, their heads shaved, and they observe continence, castumque cubile. They keep a perpetual fire burning on the altars. But no images or statues of the gods have filled the place with majesty and sacred fear." Sed nulla effigies, simulacraque nota Deorum,

Majestate locum & sacro implevere timore. Sil. Italic. iii.

Gill: Exo 27:20 - -- And thou shall command the children of Israel,.... Here begins a new section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and ...

And thou shall command the children of Israel,.... Here begins a new section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and the furniture thereof, next the several parts of service done in it are observed; and the account begins with that of the candlestick in the holy place, in order to which Moses is directed to command the people of Israel, whose business it was to provide for it:

that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light; for the light of the candlestick, to light up the several lamps in the several branches of it; and the oil to be brought and used there was not any sort of oil, as what is got out of fishes, as train oil, or out of nuts, as oil of almonds, but what comes from the olive tree; and this must be pure and free from lees and dregs, and must be beaten with a pestle in a mortar, and not ground in a mill, that so it might be quite clear; for being bruised and beaten, only the pulp or flesh of the olive was broken, but being ground in a mill, the stones were broken and ground, and so the oil not so pure.Jarchi and Ben Melech, from their Rabbins, observe, that after the first drop was pressed out, they put them into mills and grind them; but then, though the oil was fit for offerings, it was not fit for the light of the candlestick. Ben Gersom says, they put the olives bruised into a basket, and the oil dropped from them without pressing at all; and this was the choicest and most excellent for the light. The quantity to be brought is not fixed; but the measure fixed by the wise men of Israel, as Jarchi says, was half a log, that is, for every lamp; and this was the measure for the longest nights, the nights of the month Tebet, and so the same for all other nights:

to cause the lamp to burn always night and day, continually, as it was proper it should, that the house of God might not be at any time in darkness; as it would otherwise be, since there were no windows in it; and his servants minister in it in the dark, even in the daytime, at the altar of incense, and at the shewbread table, which is not reasonable to suppose; and though there are some passages of Scripture which seem to intimate as though the lamps only burnt till the morning, and then went out, and were lighted every evening; this difficulty may be solved, and the matter reconciled by what Josephus l relates, who must be an eyewitness of it, that three of the lamps burned before the Lord in the daytime, and the rest were lighted at the evening; and Hecataeus m, an Heathen writer, speaking of the golden candlestick, says, its light was unextinguished day and night, particularly the lamp which was in the middle; also the candlestick is by the ancient Jews, and by Nachmanides, said to have been never extinct.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Exo 27:20 The word can mean “continually,” but in this context, as well as in the passages on the sacrifices, “regularly” is better, sin...

Geneva Bible: Exo 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive ( h ) beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. ( h ...

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Exo 27:1-21 - --1 The altar of burnt offering, with the vessels thereof.9 The court of the tabernacle inclosed with hangings and pillars.18 The measure of the court, ...

MHCC: Exo 27:20-21 - --The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot...

Matthew Henry: Exo 27:20-21 - -- We read of the candlestick in the twenty-fifth chapter; here is an order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in it, else it was us...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 27:20-21 - -- The instructions concerning the Oil For the Candlestick, and the daily trimming of the lamps by the priests, form a transition from the fitting up o...

Constable: Exo 15:22--Lev 1:1 - --II. THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL 15:22--40:38 The second major section of Exodus records the events associated with Go...

Constable: Exo 24:12--32:1 - --C. Directions regarding God's dwelling among His people 24:12-31:18 Having given directions clarifying I...

Constable: Exo 27:20--29:1 - --6. The investiture of the priests 27:20-28:43 Here begins the revelation of those things that re...

Constable: Exo 27:20-21 - --The oil 27:20-21 These instructions concern the clear olive oil that the priests were to...

Guzik: Exo 27:1-21 - --Exodus 27 - The Court of the Tabernacle A. The altar of burnt offering. 1. (1-2) The basic structure of the bronze altar. "You shall make an ...

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Introduction / Outline

JFB: Exodus (Book Introduction) EXODUS, a "going forth," derives its name from its being occupied principally with a relation of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and the i...

JFB: Exodus (Outline) INCREASE OF THE ISRAELITES. (Exo. 1:1-22) BIRTH AND PRESERVATION OF MOSES. (Exo 2:1-10) there went a man of the house of Levi, &c. Amram was the hus...

TSK: Exodus (Book Introduction) The title of this Book is derived from the Septuagint; in which it is called ΕΞΟΔΟΣ , " Exodus;" or, as it is in the Codex Alexandrinus, Ε...

TSK: Exodus 27 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Exo 27:1, The altar of burnt offering, with the vessels thereof; Exo 27:9, The court of the tabernacle inclosed with hangings and pillars...

Poole: Exodus (Book Introduction) SECOND BOOK OF MOSES CALLED EXODUS. THE ARGUMENT. AFTER the death of Joseph, who had sent for his father’ s house into Egypt, the children o...

Poole: Exodus 27 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 27 Of the brazen altar, Exo 27:1-8 . Of the court of the tabernacle, Exo 27:9-17 ; the length of it, Exo 27:18 . Of the lamps burning alway...

MHCC: Exodus (Book Introduction) The Book of Exodus relates the forming of the children of Israel into a church and a nation. We have hitherto seen true religion shown in domestic lif...

MHCC: Exodus 27 (Chapter Introduction) (Exo 27:1-8) The altar of burnt offerings. (Exo 27:9-19) The court of the tabernacle. (Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21) The oil for the lamps.

Matthew Henry: Exodus (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus Moses (the servant of the Lord in writing for him as well as ...

Matthew Henry: Exodus 27 (Chapter Introduction) In this chapter directions are given, I. Concerning the brazen altar for burnt-offerings (Exo 27:1-8). II. Concerning the court of the tabernacle...

Constable: Exodus (Book Introduction) Introduction Title The Hebrew title of this book (we'elleh shemot) originated from the...

Constable: Exodus (Outline) Outline I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21 A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. ...

Constable: Exodus Exodus Bibliography Adams, Dwayne H. "The Building Program that Works (Exodus 25:4--36:7 [31:1-11])." Exegesis ...

Haydock: Exodus (Book Introduction) THE BOOK OF EXODUS. INTRODUCTION. The second Book of Moses is called Exodus from the Greek word Exodos, which signifies going out; becaus...

Gill: Exodus (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS This book is called by the Jews Veelleh Shemoth, from the first words with which it begins, and sometimes Sepher Shemoth, an...

Gill: Exodus 27 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27 This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Exo 27:1, of the court of the taber...

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