Exodus 25:31-36
New English Translation
The Lampstand
31 [a] “You are to make a lampstand[b] of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups,[c] its buds, and its blossoms are to be from the same piece.[d] 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand,[e] three branches of the lampstand from one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it.[f] 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[g] branch, and the same[h] for the six branches extending from the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 35 with a bud under the first[i] two branches from it, and a bud under the next[j] two branches from it, and a bud under the third[k] two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 36 Their buds and their branches will be one piece,[l] all of it one hammered piece of pure gold.
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- Exodus 25:31 sn Clearly the point here is to provide light in the tent for access to God. He provided for his worshipers a light for the way to God, but he also wanted them to provide oil for the lamp to ensure that the light would not go out. Verses 31-36 describe the piece. It was essentially one central shaft, with three branches on either side turned out and upward. The stem and the branches were ornamented every so often with gold that was formed into the shape of the calyx and corolla of the almond flower. On top of the central shaft and the six branches were the lamps.
- Exodus 25:31 tn The word is מְנֹרָה (menorah)—here in construct to a following genitive of material. The main piece was one lampstand, but there were seven lamps on the shaft and its branches. See E. Goodenough, “The Menorah among the Jews of the Roman World,” HUCA 23 (1950/51): 449-92.
- Exodus 25:31 sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 342-44) says that the description “the cups, knobs and flowers” is explained in vv. 32-36 as three decorations in the form of a cup, shaped like an almond blossom, to be made on one branch. Every cup will have two parts, (a) a knob, that is, the receptacle at the base of the blossom, and (b) a flower, which is called the corolla, so that each lamp rests on top of a flower.
- Exodus 25:31 tn Heb “will be from/of it”; the referent (“the same piece” of wrought metal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Exodus 25:32 tn Heb “from the sides of it.”
- Exodus 25:32 tn Heb “from the second side.”
- Exodus 25:33 tn The text uses “one” again; “the one…the one” means “the one…and the next” in the distributive sense.
- Exodus 25:33 tn Heb “thus.”
- Exodus 25:35 tn For clarity the phrase “the first” has been supplied.
- Exodus 25:35 tn For clarity the phrase “the next” has been supplied.
- Exodus 25:35 tn For clarity the phrase “the third” has been supplied.
- Exodus 25:36 tn Heb “will be from it.”
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