Exodus 25:33-40

25:33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on the next ¹  branch, and the same ²  for the six branches extending from the lampstand. 25:34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 25:35 with a bud under the first ³  two branches from it, and a bud under the next ⁴  two branches from it, and a bud under the third ⁵  two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 25:36 Their buds and their branches will be one piece, ⁶  all of it one hammered piece of pure gold.

25:37 “You are to make its seven lamps, ⁷  and then set ⁸  its lamps up on it, so that it will give light ⁹  to the area in front of it. 25:38 Its trimmers and its trays ¹⁰  are to be ¹¹  of pure gold. 25:39 About seventy-five pounds ¹²  of pure gold is to be used for it ¹³  and for all these utensils. 25:40 Now be sure to make ¹⁴  them according to the pattern you were shown ¹⁵  on the mountain. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn The text uses “one” again; “the one…the one” means “the one…and the next” in the distributive sense.

² tn Heb “thus.”

³ tn For clarity the phrase “the first” has been supplied.

⁴ tn For clarity the phrase “the next” has been supplied.

⁵ tn For clarity the phrase “the third” has been supplied.

⁶ tn Heb “will be from it.”

⁷ tn The word for “lamps” is from the same root as the lampstand, of course. The word is נֵרוֹת (nerot). This probably refers to the small saucer-like pottery lamps that are made very simply with the rim pinched over to form a place to lay the wick. The bowl is then filled with olive oil as fuel.

⁸ tn The translation “set up on” is from the Hebrew verb “bring up.” The construction is impersonal, “and he will bring up,” meaning “one will bring up.” It may mean that people were to fix the lamps on to the shaft and the branches, rather than cause the light to go up (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 277).

⁹ tn This is a Hiphil perfect with vav consecutive, from אוֹר (’or, “light”), and in the causative, “to light, give light.”

¹⁰ sn The first word refers to something like small tongs or tweezers used to pull up and trim the wicks; the second word refers to fire-pans or censers.

¹¹ tn “are to be” has been supplied.

¹² tn Heb “a talent.”

¹³ tn The text has “he will make it” or “one will make it.” With no expressed subject it is given a passive translation.

¹⁴ tn The text uses two imperatives: “see and make.” This can be interpreted as a verbal hendiadys, calling for Moses and Israel to see to it that they make these things correctly.

¹⁵ tn The participle is passive, “caused to see,” or, “shown.”

¹⁶ sn The message of this section surely concerns access to God. To expound this correctly, though, since it is an instruction section for building the lampstand, the message would be: God requires that his people ensure that light will guide the way of access to God. The breakdown for exposition could be the instructions for preparation for light (one lamp, several branches), then instructions for the purpose and maintenance of the lamps, and then the last verse telling the divine source for the instructions. Naturally, the metaphorical value of light will come up in the study, especially from the NT. So in the NT there is the warning that if churches are unfaithful God will remove their lampstand, their ministry (Rev 2-3).