Matthew 5:15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.
See also Mark 4: 21; Luke 8:16; 11:33.
1. “Lamp” would be a better word here than “candle,” since oil is what was used for illuminating purposes in Palestine. Though frequent reference is made in Scripture to the lamp, no description of it is given. Many ancient lamps of various shapes and material have been preserved to the present time, and doubtless give some idea of the sort of lamp used in our Saviour’s time. The Egyptian monuments have also representations of still earlier lamps, such as were probably used by the Hebrews.
The common lamps among the Greeks and Romans were made of clay, the more costly ones of bronze, and even sometimes of gold. Some of these were very beautiful. Most of the lamps were oval in shape and flat on top, on which there were often figures in relief.
A wick floated in the oil or passed through holes in the lamp. The lamps received different names according to the number of holes which they had for the wicks.
See Job 18:6; Proverbs 31:18; Jeremiah 25:10; Zephaniah 1:12; Luke 15:8. See further note on Matthew 25:3 (#708).
2. Mόὁιος “bushel,” represents the chief Roman dry-measure, the modius. Its capacity is reckoned at nearly one peck, English measure.
3. The candlestick or lamp-stand was as varied in shape and quality as the lamp. The rudest sort was to be found sometimes in houses with mud walls, where, in building up the wall, a portion of the clay was suffered to bulge out into the room at a suitable height. It was then hollowed; and, when the house was finished, the hollow was filled with oil, and a wick was made to float in it.
This contrivance combined lamp and lamp-stand in one utensil. The ordinary lamp-stands were made of wood; the better kinds, of bronze. They were of various heights, and some of them of very beautiful form and workmanship. The lamp-stand is also referred to in Revelation 2:5.