Exodus 35:14

35:14 the lampstand for ¹  the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light;

Exodus 37:17-24

The Making of the Lampstand

37:17 He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from the same piece. ²  37:18 Six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. 37:19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the next ³  branch, and the same ⁴  for the six branches that were extending from the lampstand. 37:20 On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 37:21 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it; according to the six branches that extended from it. ⁵  37:22 Their buds and their branches were of one piece; ⁶  all of it was one hammered piece of pure gold. 37:23 He made its seven lamps, its trimmers, and its trays of pure gold. 37:24 He made the lampstand ⁷  and all its accessories with seventy-five pounds of pure gold.

Exodus 40:24-25

40:24 And he put the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. 40:25 Then he set up the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Exodus 40:1

Setting Up the Sanctuary

40:1 ⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ⁹ 

Exodus 7:1-2

7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God ¹⁰  to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ¹¹  7:2 You are to speak ¹²  everything I command you, ¹³  and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release ¹⁴  the Israelites from his land.

Exodus 13:11

13:11 When the Lord brings you ¹⁵  into the land of the Canaanites, ¹⁶  as he swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it ¹⁷  to you,

Zechariah 4:2

4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, ¹⁸  “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps.

Hebrews 9:2

9:2 For a tent was prepared, the outer one, ¹⁹  which contained ²⁰  the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this ²¹  is called the holy place.

Revelation 1:12

1:12 I ²²  turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, ²³  and when I did so, ²⁴  I saw seven golden lampstands,

Revelation 1:20--2:1

1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: ²⁵  The seven stars are the angels ²⁶  of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

To the Church in Ephesus

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, ²⁷  write the following: ²⁸ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ²⁹  the one who has a firm grasp on ³⁰  the seven stars in his right hand ³¹  – the one who walks among the seven golden ³²  lampstands:

Revelation 2:5

2:5 Therefore, remember from what high state ³³  you have fallen and repent! Do ³⁴  the deeds you did at the first; ³⁵  if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place – that is, if you do not repent. ³⁶ 

Revelation 4:5

4:5 From ³⁷  the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring ³⁸  and crashes of thunder. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, ³⁹  were burning in front of the throne

[35:14]  ¹ tn “for” has been supplied.

[37:17]  ² tn Heb “from it”; the referent (“the same piece” of wrought metal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:19]  ³ tn Heb “the one branch.” But the repetition of “one…one” means here one after another, or the “first” and then the “next.”

[37:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “thus for six branches….”

[37:21]  ⁵ tn As in Exod 26:35, the translation of “first” and “next” and “third” is interpretive, because the text simply says “under two branches” in each of three places.

[37:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “were from it.”

[37:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the lampstand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[40:1]  ⁸ sn All of Exod 39:32-40:38 could be taken as a unit. The first section (39:32-43) shows that the Israelites had carefully and accurately completed the preparation and brought everything they had made to Moses: The work of the Lord builds on the faithful obedience of the people. In the second section are the instruction and the implementation (40:1-33): The work of the Lord progresses through the unifying of the work. The last part (40:34-38) may take the most attention: When the work was completed, the glory filled the tabernacle: By his glorious presence, the Lord blesses and directs his people in their worship.

[40:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying.”

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn The word “like” is added for clarity, making explicit the implied comparison in the statement “I have made you God to Pharaoh.” The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is used a few times in the Bible for humans (e.g., Pss 45:6; 82:1), and always clearly in the sense of a subordinate to GOD – they are his representatives on earth. The explanation here goes back to 4:16. If Moses is like God in that Aaron is his prophet, then Moses is certainly like God to Pharaoh. Only Moses, then, is able to speak to Pharaoh with such authority, giving him commands.

[7:1]  ¹¹ tn The word נְבִיאֶךָ (nÿvi’ekha, “your prophet”) recalls 4:16. Moses was to be like God to Aaron, and Aaron was to speak for him. This indicates that the idea of a “prophet” was of one who spoke for God, an idea with which Moses and Aaron and the readers of Exodus are assumed to be familiar.

[7:2]  ¹² tn The imperfect tense here should have the nuance of instruction or injunction: “you are to speak.” The subject is singular (Moses) and made emphatic by the presence of the personal pronoun “you.”

[7:2]  ¹³ tn The phrase translated “everything I command you” is a noun clause serving as the direct object of the verb “speak.” The verb in the clause (אֲצַוֶּךָ, ’atsavvekha) is the Piel imperfect. It could be classified as a future: “everything that I will command you.” A nuance of progressive imperfect also fits well: “everything that I am commanding you.”

[7:2]  ¹⁴ tn The form is וְשִׁלַּח (vÿshillakh), a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. Following the imperfects of injunction or instruction, this verb continues the sequence. It could be taken as equal to an imperfect expressing future (“and he will release”) or subordinate to express purpose (“to release” = “in order that he may release”).

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and it will be when Yahweh brings (will bring) you.”

[13:11]  ¹⁶ sn The name “the Canaanite” (and so collective for “Canaanites”) is occasionally used to summarize all the list of Canaanitish tribes that lived in the land.

[13:11]  ¹⁷ tn The verb וּנְתָנָהּ (unÿtanah) is the Qal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; this is in sequence to the preceding verb, and forms part of the protasis, the temporal clause. The main clause is the instruction in the next verse.

[4:2]  ¹⁸ tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”

[9:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the first,” in order of approach in the ritual.

[9:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in which [were].”

[9:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “which,” describing the outer tent.

[1:12]  ²² tn Throughout the translation John’s use of καί (kai) often reflects the varied usage of the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav). A clause which καί introduces has been translated in terms of its semantic relationship to the clause that preceded it. If the καί seemed redundant, however, it was left untranslated; that is the case in this verse.

[1:12]  ²³ tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[1:12]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and turning I saw.” The repetition of ἐπιστρέφω (epistrefw) is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been translated generally.

[1:20]  ²⁵ tn The words “is this” are supplied to make a complete sentence in English.

[1:20]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps “the messengers.”

[2:1]  ²⁷ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” The expression τάδε λέγει (tade legei) occurs eight times in the NT, seven of which are in Rev 2-3. “The pronoun is used to add solemnity to the prophetic utterance that follows. …In classical drama, it was used to introduce a new actor to the scene (Smyth, Greek Grammar, 307 [§1241]). But the τάδε λέγει formula in the NT derives from the OT, where it was used to introduce a prophetic utterance (BAGD, s.v. ὅδε, 1)” (ExSyn 328). Thus, the translation “this is the solemn pronouncement of” for τάδε λέγει is very much in keeping with the OT connotations of this expression.

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “holds,” but the term (i.e., κρατῶν, kratwn) with an accusative object, along with the context, argues for a sense of firmness. (Cf. ExSyn 132.)

[2:1]  ³¹ sn On seven stars in his right hand see 1:16.

[2:1]  ³² tn Grk “lampstands of gold” with the genitive τῶν χρυσῶν (twn cruswn) translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:5]  ³³ tn Grk “from where,” but status is in view rather than physical position. On this term BDAG 838 s.v. πόθεν 1 states, “from what place? from where?…In imagery μνημόνευε πόθεν πέπτωκες remember from what (state) you have fallen Rv 2:5.”

[2:5]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and do” (a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text). For stylistic reasons in English a new sentence was started here in the translation. The repeated mention of repenting at the end of the verse suggests that the intervening material (“do the deeds you did at first”) specifies how the repentance is to be demonstrated.

[2:5]  ³⁵ tn Or “you did formerly.”

[2:5]  ³⁶ tn Although the final clause is somewhat awkward, it is typical of the style of Revelation.

[4:5]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:5]  ³⁸ tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

[4:5]  ³⁹ sn Some interpret the seven spirits of God as angelic beings, while others see them as a reference to the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit.