Exodus 27:20

Offering the Oil

27:20 “You are to command the Israelites that they bring ¹  to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so that the lamps ²  will burn ³  regularly. ⁴ 

Exodus 29:40

29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah ⁵  of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin ⁶  of oil from pressed olives, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

[27:20]  ¹ tn The form is the imperfect tense with the vav showing a sequence with the first verb: “you will command…that they take.” The verb “take, receive” is used here as before for receiving an offering and bringing it to the sanctuary.

[27:20]  ² tn Heb “lamp,” which must be a collective singular here.

[27:20]  ³ tn The verb is unusual; it is the Hiphil infinitive construct of עָלָה (’alah), with the sense here of “to set up” to burn, or “to fix on” as in Exod 25:37, or “to kindle” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 370).

[27:20]  ⁴ sn The word can mean “continually,” but in this context, as well as in the passages on the sacrifices, “regularly” is better, since each morning things were cleaned and restored.

[29:40]  ⁵ tn The phrase “of an ephah” has been supplied for clarity (cf. Num 28:5). The ephah was a commonly used dry measure whose capacity is now uncertain: “Quotations given for the ephah vary from ca. 45 to 20 liters” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 2:340-41).

[29:40]  ⁶ tn “Hin” is a transliterated Hebrew word that seems to have an Egyptian derivation. The amount of liquid measured by a hin is uncertain: “Its presumed capacity varies from about 3,5 liters to 7,5 liters” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:550).