Leviticus 24:4-8

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 24:1-9

Care is here taken, and orders are given, for the decent furnishing of the candlestick and table in God's house. I. The lamps must always be kept burning. The law for this we had before, Exod. 27:20, 21. It is here repeated, probably because it now began to be put in execution, when other things were settled. 1. The people were to provide oil (Lev. 24:2), and this, as every thing else that was to be used in God's service, must be of the best, pure olive-oil, beaten, probably it was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 24:4

He shall order the lamps on the pure candlestick ,.... So called, as Jarchi suggests, for these two reasons, partly because it was made of pure gold, and partly because it was to be kept pure and clean, and free from ashes, by the priest; see Exodus 25:31 , before the Lord continually ; which both respects the situation of the candlestick, and the work about it, which Aaron was to do continually before and in the presence of the Lord. Jarchi thinks this ordering respects the measure of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 24:5

And thou shalt take fine flour ,.... Of wheat, and the finest of it: and bake twelve cakes thereof ; answerable to the twelve tribes, as the Targum of Jonathan, which were typical of the spiritual Israel of God: two tenth deals shall be in one cake ; that is, two tenth parts of an ephah, which were two omers, one of which was as much as a man could eat in one day of the manna: so that one of these cakes was as much as two men could eat of bread in one day; each cake was ten hands'... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 24:6

And thou shalt set them in two rows ,.... The twelve cakes: six on a row ; not by the side of each other, but six upon one another: upon the pure table ; the shewbread table, so called because overlaid with pure gold, and kept clean and bright, Exodus 25:24 , before the Lord ; for this stood in the holy place, in the same place as the candlestick did, which has the same position, Leviticus 24:4 ; of the mystical and typical sense of these cakes; see Gill on Exodus 25:30 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 24:7

And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row ,.... Two cups of frankincense, in each of which was an handful of it, and which were set by each row of the cakes, as Jarchi observes: that it may be on the bread for a memorial ; or "for the bread", instead of it, for a memorial of it; that being to be eaten by the priests, and this to be burned on the altar to the Lord, as follows: even an offering made by fire unto the Lord ; not the bread that was after a time taken away,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 24:8

Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually ,.... That is, the priest or priests then ministering, who should bring new cakes and place them in the above order, having removed the old ones, which was done in this manner; four priests went in, two had in their hands the two rows (of bread), and two had in their hands two cups (of frankincense); four went before these, two to take away the two rows (of the old bread), and two to take away the two cups (of frankincense);... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 24:5

Bake twelve cakes - See the whole account of the shew-bread in the notes on Exodus 25:30 ; (note); and relative to the table on which they stood, the golden candlestick and silver trumpets carried in triumph to Rome, see the note on Exodus 25:31 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 24:5

Verse 5 We now come to the third part of the external service of God, which will bring us to the end of our exposition of the Second Commandment. We have, then, now to treat of the sacred oblations, the first place amongst which I have thought it best to give to the loaves, which had their peculiar table opposite the candlestick on the north side, as we saw in the construction of the Tabernacle; for although the mention of them will recur elsewhere, yet, since they were offered separately, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 24:1-4

The ordinance on the lamps contained in the first three verses is repeated from Exodus 27:20 . The oil to be used for the lamps was to be pure oil olive , that is, oil made of picked berries, without any intermixture of dust or twigs; and it was to be beaten instead of "pressed," because when the berries were crushed in the olive-press, small portions of them became mixed with and discoloured the oil, which was, therefore, less pure than when the fruit was simply beaten and then left... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 24:1-4

Everlasting light. cf. Revelation 1:12-20 ; also Psalms 43:3 . The holy place, like the most holy, had no windows, and consequently required illumination. This was secured by the golden candlestick, with its seven lamps. These were to be always emitting some light. If all the seven lamps were not lit during the daytime, one or two of them were. The idea carried out was that there should be in God's sanctuary everlasting light. That the candlestick was taken as the symbol of God's ... read more

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