Lamp in Biblical History

Bible History

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is a Lamp?
LAMP
The lights of the East are of various kinds; not only oil, but pitch, naphtha, and wax are used to maintain the flame. The wicks were generally made of cotton or of flax. According to rabbinical tradition, the wicks of the sacred lamps were made of the old linen garments of the priests. The form of Oriental lamps was fanciful, and often elegant. We have no descriptions of the forms specially used by the Hebrews, but they were probably not different from those used in Egypt and Western Asia. The materials of which lamps were made were baked clay, terra cotta, bronze, etc. The lamps of the Hebrews, it is probable, were suffered to burn all night, and this occasioned no great expense in a country so rich in oil. We are told that this was considered indispensable to the comfort of a family, and that the poorest people would rather deny themselves food than neglect it. The putting out of the light denoted the ruin and extinction of the family and the desertion of the house. This gives force to the words in Job 18:5-6; John 21:17; Job 29:3:" The light of the wicked shall be put out; * * * light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him." "How oft is Assyrian Terra-Cotta and Glass Lamps. (From British Museum.) Chaldaean Lamps Lamp with Christian Inscription. the candle of the wicked put out." Jer 25:10-11: Prov 20:20. Also in Prov 13:9: "The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out;" and of the prudent wife, "Her candle goeth not out by night." Prov 31:18.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'lamp' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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