CANDLESTICK
11
CANDLESTICK
Aw/iq. ill, 6). But as the tefm here used !• not the eomiDon name for pomegnmates, and as the Sept. and Talgate render it <rfaifNin^pfC And «pfteen(^ it is safest to asBome that it denotes bodies of a spherical shape, sod to leave the precise kind nndefined. B&hr, however, is in fiavor of applet (difmbolik, i, 414). See Kirop. Tlie name of the third ornament (d'^B, Kpivoj UBd) means bUmom, bud; but it b so general a term that it may apply to any flower. The Sept., Tulg., Josephos, and Mai- monides understand it of the lily, and Bfthr pre- fers the flower ot the almond. It now remains to consider the manner in which theto three nraamPHfai were attached to the candelabrom. The obecnri^ of verse 88, which orders that there shall be *' three almond-shaped cups on one srm, ^lobe and blossom, and three almond- shaped cups on the other, arm, globe and blos- som, and so on all the arms which come out of the shaft,*' has led some to suppose that there was onlj one globe and blossom to every tliree cope. However, the fisct that, according to Terse 34, the shaft (which, as being the princi- psl part of the whole, is here called the cande- labnm itself), which had only fonr cups, is ordered to have globes and blossoms (in the plural), Is a sufficient proof to the contrary. According to Joeephns, the ornaments on the shaft and branches were 70 in number, and this was a notion in which the Jews, with their pe- culiar reverence fbr that number, would read- fly coincide ; but it seems difficult, from the de- scription in Exodus, to confirm the statement It is to be observed that the original text does not define the height and breadth of any part of the can- delabrum ; nor whether the shaft and arms were of equal height ; nor whether the arms were curved round the shaft, or left it at a right angle, and then ran par- allel with it. The Jewish authorities maintain that the height of the candelabrum was eighteen palms, or about five feet ; and that the distance between the outer lamps on each side was about 8^ feet (Jahn, BibL Arch, i 829). B&hr, however, on the ground of harmonical proportion with the altar of incense and table of shew- bresd, the dimensions of which are assigned, conjec- tures that the candelabrum was only an ell and a half high and broad. The Jewish tradition uniformly sup- ports the opinion that the arms and shaft were of equjd height, as do also Josephus and Philo (/. c. ; Quis Rer, Dm. Ear, § 44), as well as the representation on the Arch of Titus. Scacchius has, however, maintained that they formed a pyramid, of which the shaft was the spex. The lamps themselves were doubtless simply set upon the summits of the shafts, and removed for the purpose of cleaning. As the description given in Exodus is not very clear, we abbreviate lightfoot's explanation of it. ''The foot of it was gold, from which went up a shaft straight, which was the middle Uc^t Near the foot was a golden dish wrought al- mmdwise, and a little above that a golden knop, and above that a golden flower. Then two branches, one on each side, bowed, and coming up as high as the middli shaft. On each of them were three golden cops placed almondwise on sharp, scallop-shell fiuihion, ahove which was a golden knop, a golden flower, and the socket. Above the branches on the middle shaft WIS a golden boas, above which rose two shafts more ; above the coming out of these was another boss, and two more shafts, and then on the shaft upward were three golden scallop^ups, a knop, and a flower, so that tiie heads of the branches stood an equal height" (ITorb, ii, 897, ed. Pitman). Calmet remarks that **the namber 7 might remind them of the Sabbath :*' we hare seen that Josephus gives it a somewhat Egyptian reference to the number of the planets, but elsewhere (H^or, vii, 5, 6) he assigns to the 7 branches a merely gsnend reftrenoe to the Jewish hebdomadal division
of time. The whole weight of the candlestick was 100 minsB (see Lamy, De Tci, Feed,), It has been calcu- lated to have been worth $25,880, exdusiye of work- manship.
Usual repreeentatioo of the '^Golden Gandleetiek,** the arms being aUinthea
DIflbrent arrangement of the branches of the "Golden Can- dlestick.** 1. Flan; 8. EteratioQ.
This candelabrum was placed in the Holy Place, on the south side (». e. to the le/t of a person entering the tabernacle), opposite the table of shew-bread (Exod. xxvi, 85). Its lamps, which were supplied with wick (? of cotton) and half a log (about two wine-glasses) of pure olive oil oxdy, were lighted every evening, and extinguished (as it seems) every morning (Exod. xxvii, 21 ; xxx, 7, 8 ; Lev. xxiv, 8 ; 1 Sam. iii, 8 ; 2 Chron. xiii, 11). Although the tabernacle had no windows (Exod. xxx, 8; Maoc iv, 50), there is no good ground for believing that the lamps burnt by day in it, whatever may have been the usage of the second Temple. It has also been much disputed whether the candelabrum stood lengthwise or diagonally as re- gards the tabernacle ; but no conclusive argument can be adduced for either view. According to Josephus, it was placed in an oblique position (Xo^tSf), so that the lamps looked to the east and south (Ant. iii, 6, 7 ; Exod. XXV, 87). As the lamp on the centi^d shaft was by the Jewish writers called the western^ or enening lampf some maintain that the former tkme could not be applicable unless the candelabrum stood across the tabernacle, as then only would the central lamp point to the west. Others, again, adhere to the latter signi- fication, and build on a tradition that the central lamp alone burnt from evening to evening, the other six being extinguished by day (Reland, Aniiq. i., 5, 8). The priest in the morning trimmed the lamps with