Exodus 27:20. Pure oil-olive beaten for the light.
This is supposed to have been oil which was obtained from olives not fully ripe, and pounded in a mortar instead of being put into a press. It was considered the best and purest, having a whiter color and better flavor, and yielding a clearer light than the ordinary oil from the press. Solomon made an annual present of this sort of oil to Hiram. 1 Kings 5:11. It is also mentioned in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 24:2; Numbers 28:5. It may have been what is known as “cold drawn oil.” See note on Psalm 92:10 (#446).