Exodus 27:20
in Exodus 27And you are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.
KJV
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
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This verse in Exodus 27
Commentary
7 notes on this versePure 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.
This site's exposition
bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light
on Exodus 27:20-21
The chapter turns from building to a standing duty, and it does so before Aaron is consecrated in chapters 28 and 29. The oil is beaten rather than milled, which is the first and clearest run, and the lamp is to be ordered from evening to morning every night. The phrase statute for ever occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and it falls on the first continuing obligation laid on the priesthood. Leviticus 24:2 to 4 gives the command again almost word for word, and 1 Samuel 3:3 dates the call of Samuel by a night when the lamp of God was close to going out.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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, Zech. iv, 11, 12.
The grate was set into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of it, in which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt; it was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the fire might burn the better, and that the ashes might fall through. Now, this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins.
And thou shall command the children of Israel,....
There an altar was ordered to be set up, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God: and this altar was to sanctify their gifts. Here they were to present their services to God, as from the mercy-seat he gave his oracles to them; and thus a communion was settled between God and Israel.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתָּ֞ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תְּצַוֶּ֣ה׀ | tetzaveh | you will command | H6680 → | 494 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְיִקְח֨וּ | veyikchu | so they may bring | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֵלֶ֜יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שֶׁ֣מֶן | shemen | oil of | H8081 → | 193 times |
| זַ֥יִת | zayit | olive | H2132 → | 38 times |
| זָ֛ךְ | zakh | pure | H2134 → | |
| כָּתִ֖ית | katit | pressed | H3795 → | |
| לַמָּא֑וֹר | lamaor | for the light | H3974 → | 19 times |
| לְהַעֲלֹ֥ת | lehaalot | to lift up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| נֵ֖ר | ner | a lamp | H5216 → | 49 times |
| תָּמִֽיד׃ | tamid | continually | H8548 → | 104 times |
וְאַתָּ֞הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
תְּצַוֶּ֣ה׀you will command
tetzavehH6680 →494 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְיִקְח֨וּso they may bring
veyikchuH3947 →966 times
אֵלֶ֜יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
שֶׁ֣מֶןoil of
shemenH8081 →193 times
זַ֥יִתolive
zayitH2132 →38 times
זָ֛ךְpure
zakhH2134 →
כָּתִ֖יתpressed
katitH3795 →
לַמָּא֑וֹרfor the light
lamaorH3974 →19 times
לְהַעֲלֹ֥תto lift up
lehaalotH5927 →890 times
נֵ֖רa lamp
nerH5216 →49 times
תָּמִֽיד׃continually
tamidH8548 →104 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
it leads to
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Psalms 92:10
But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.
- Psalms 45:7
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.
- Psalms 16:5
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- 1 John 2:20
You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- Ephesians 3:20
Through
Judges 9:9But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’
it leads to
- Psalms 104:15
wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- 1 Kings 19:15–16
Then the LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram.
- Acts 10:38
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
- Psalms 104:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
On this verse
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.