Exodus 37:20 — Word Study
WLCוּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה אַרְבָּעָ֣ה גְבִעִ֑ים מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔ים כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃
BSAAnd on the lampstandmᵉnôwrâh [candlestick] were fourʼarbaʻ [a simple counting number] cupsgᵉbîyaʻ [goblets] shaped like almond blossomsshâqad [almonds] with budskaphtôr [knobs] and petalsperach [flowers]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה | and [were] on the lampstand | Conjunction, preposition, noun common feminine singular absolute |
| אַרְבָּעָ֣ה | four | Adj |
| גְבִעִ֑ים | cups | Noun common, masculine plural absolute |
| מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔ים | shaped like almond blossoms | Verb, Pual, participle (active) masculine plural |
| כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ | bulbs its | Noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
| וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃ | and blossoms its | Conjunction, noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals. |
| KJV | And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers: |
| ASV | And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof; |
| YLT | And in the candlestick [are] four calyxes, made like almonds, its knops, and its flowers, |
| WEB | In the lamp stand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; |
| BBE | And on its pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower; |
Where they part company is מְנוֹרָה — see How Translations Differ.
The main clause introduces the lampstand, with additional phrases elaborating on its features and design.
3 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Ellicott, Whedon & more — read them ›
clause
verbמְשֻׁקָּד
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Exodus 37:20
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Design of the Lampstandgenerated
Exodus 37:20 describes the lampstand, an important fixture in the Tabernacle, which was designed with four cups resembling almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. This detailed description emphasizes the craftsmanship and significance of the lampstand in the context of worship, as seen in earlier instructions in Exodus 25:31.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exodus 25:33 | There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extend from the lampstand. |
| 2 | Numbers 17:8 | The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds. |
| 3 | Ecclesiastes 12:5 | when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels— for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets. |
| 4 | Jeremiah 1:11 | And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — מְנוֹרָה, u.va.me.no.Rahgenerated
The word מְנוֹרָה (mĕnôrâ) refers specifically to a lampstand or candlestick, often associated with the Temple. It is derived from a feminine form related to light, indicating its purpose as a source of illumination.
In this verse, it highlights the lampstand's role in the Tabernacle, symbolizing God's presence among His people. The design reflects not just functionality but also beauty, as it is crafted to resemble natural elements.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses lampstand for מְנוֹרָה, aligning with the KJV and ASV.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main clause is governed by the prepositional phrase וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה, and on the lampstand, which introduces the subject of the sentence. Following this, a series of noun phrases detail the components of the lampstand, including the number of cups and their design.
The structure emphasizes the lampstand first, drawing attention to its significance, followed by the description of its features, which creates a clear image of its ornate design.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint does not provide a direct Greek equivalent for the Hebrew terms in this verse, indicating a potential divergence in translation approach. The absence of a specific Greek rendering for מְנוֹרָה suggests that the translators may have opted for a more general term for lampstand.
This choice may reflect a broader understanding of the lampstand's function rather than a strict adherence to the Hebrew description.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Exodus 37:20 describes the lampstand, which had four cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. This detail highlights the beauty and significance of the lampstand in the Tabernacle's design.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The lampstand symbolizes God's presence and light among His people, serving as an important element in the worship practices of ancient Israel.
The almond blossom shape is significant as it represents new life and divine favor, reflecting the beauty of creation in the design of sacred objects.
This verse connects to other descriptions in Exodus, particularly in Exodus 25:31, where the lampstand's design is initially outlined.
The lampstand was made of pure gold, as indicated in the broader context of the Tabernacle's construction, emphasizing its value and importance.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What do the elements of the lampstand reveal about God's character and presence?
- How can I see God's light in my life, similar to how the lampstand provided light in the Tabernacle?
- What significance do you think the almond blossom shape holds in our understanding of beauty and design?
- In what ways can we reflect the beauty of God's creation in our own lives?
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Exodus 37:20 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same: He made the candlestick of pure gold.
Read Robert Jamieson on Exodus 37 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersXXXVII.(1-24) This passage corresponds with Exodus 37:10-29 of Exodus 25, and contains an account of the construction of the holy furniture: (1) That of the Holy of Holies: viz., the ark (Exodus 37:1-5), the mercyseat (Exodus 37:6-9); (2) that of the Holy Place, viz., the table of shewbread (Exodus 37:10-16) and the golden candlestick (Exodus 37:17-24). Exodus 37:1-5 correspond to Exodus 25:10-14 of Exodus 25 Exodus 37:6-9 correspond to Exodus 25:17-20 of Exodus 25 Exodus 37:10-16 correspond to Exodus 25:23-29 of Exodus 25 Exodus 37:17-24 correspond to Exodus 25:31-39 of Exodus 25
Read Charles John Ellicott on Exodus 37 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the BibleTHE ARK OF THE , Exodus 39:1-9. See notes on Exodus 25:10-22. THE TABLE OF , Exodus 39:10-16. See notes on Exodus 25:23-30. THE GOLDEN , Exodus 39:17-24. See notes on Exodus 25:31-40. THE ALTAR OF INCENSE, Exodus 39:25-28.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Exodus 37 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.
In the lamp stand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers;
And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.
On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,
Tyndale line
And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers:
And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof;
And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof:
And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, its knobs, and its flowers:
And vpon the Candlesticke were foure bolles after the facion of almondes, the knoppes thereof and the floures thereof:
Strictly literal
And in the candlestick were four cups, shaped like almonds, its knobs, and its flowers;
And in the candlestick [are] four calyxes, made like almonds, its knops, and its flowers,
And in the lampstand [are] four calyxes, made like almonds, its knobs, and its flowers,
And on the candlestick itself were four bowls, almond-shaped, with its knobs, and its flowers:
On the lampstand itself, the central shaft, there were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their leafy bases and the flowers.
From the Latin
And in the shaft itself were four cups after the manner of a nut, and bowls withal at every one, and lilies:
Simplified
On the main shaft of the lampstand he made four cups shaped like almond flowers, complete with buds and petals.
And on its pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower;
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text presents the verse as וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה אַרְבָּעָ֣ה גְבִעִ֑ים מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔ים כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃. The Samaritan Pentateuch agrees in general meaning but uses the term מנורה for lampstand, showing a slight variation in wording.
וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה אַרְבָּעָ֣ה גְבִעִ֑ים מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔ים כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃
4 of the 6 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ובמנורה ארבעה גבעים משׁקדים כפתריה ופרחיה
1 word differs from the Masoretic Text: מנורה (lamp stand)
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Exodus 37:20
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
מְנוֹרָה (mĕnôrâ) means 'lampstand' and refers specifically to a type of chandelier or candlestick. It is noted in the context of both private homes and the temple, particularly the seven-branched lampstand used in the tabernacle. The word is derived from a feminine form of another Hebrew word related to light.
מְנוֹרָה, מְנֹרָה 42 n.f. lampstand
in private house
ten lampstands in temple
seven-branched lampstand in tabern.
base
H4501 מְנוֹרָה, מְנֹרָה lampstand
4501 mnowrah men-o-raw'
or mnorah {men-o-raw'}; feminine of 4500 (in the original
sense of 5216); a chandelier:--candlestick.
see HEBREW for 04500
see HEBREW for 05216
מְנוֹרָה (me.no.rah) — lampstand.
lamp stand
Conj | Prep | N-fs — Conjunction · preposition · noun common feminine singular absoluteHC/Rd/Ncfsa
אַרְבַּע (arba) means 'four' in Hebrew. It is a masculine noun derived from the root associated with the number four. The entries consistently affirm this meaning without any significant disagreement among lexicons.
אַרְבַּע, אַרְבָּעָה four
base
H702 אַרְבַּע, אַרְבָּעָה four
702 'arba` ar-bah'
masculine oarbaah {ar-baw-aw'}; from 7251; four:--four.
see HEBREW for 07251
אַרְבַּע (ar.ba) — four.
four
Adj — AdjHAcbsa
for ('arba`; tessares): "Four" (cardinal number) was a sacred and complete number with the Hebrews, as well as with several other peoples. It occurs very frequently in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
(1) It indicates completeness. We have the four rivers of Paradise (Ge 2:10); the four winds of heaven (Eze 37:9; Da 7:2; 8:8; 11:4; Zec 6:5, the Revised Version, margin "spirits"; /APC 2Esdras 13:5); "the four winds" (Mt 24:31; Mr 13:27); "the four corners of the earth" (Isa 11:12;
גָּבִיעַ (gbiya`) refers to a cup or bowl, derived from an unused root meaning to be convex. It can also denote a goblet or, by analogy, the calyx of a flower. The entries consistently describe this word as related to vessels used for holding liquids.
גָּבִיעַ n.m. cup, bowl
base
H1375 גָּבִיעַ cup, bowl
1375 gbiya` gheb-ee'-ah
from an unused root (meaning to be convex); a goblet; by
analogy, the calyx of a flower:--house, cup, pot.
גָּבִיעַ (ge.vi.a) — cup.
cup, bowl
N-mp — Noun common · masculine plural absoluteHNcmpa
The Hebrew word שָׁקַד (*sha.qad*) is a denominative verb meaning to be almond-shaped or to make something almond-shaped. It specifically refers to cups shaped like almond blossoms, as noted in the Brown-Driver-Briggs entry. The word is derived from another Hebrew term related to almonds, but no specific Old Testament verses are cited in the entries.
שָׁקַד vb. Pu. denom. cups shaped like almond (blossoms)
base
H8246 שָׁקַד vb. Pu. denom. cups shaped like almond (blossoms)
8246 shaqad shaw-kad'
a denominative from 8247; to be (intensively, make)
almond-shaped:--make like (unto, after the fashion of)
almonds.
see HEBREW for 08247
שָׁקַד (sha.qad) — be almond shaped.
(Pual) cups shaped like almond blossoms (participle)
V-Pual-Inf-c — Verb · Pual · participle (active) masculine pluralHVPrmpa
כַּפְתּוֹר (kaphtor) refers to architectural elements, specifically a capital, which is the top part of a column, as well as a knob or bulb-like ornament. The word likely derives from a root meaning to encircle, and is used in contexts related to design and decoration, such as in the construction of a candelabrum.
כַּפְתּוֹר, כַּפְתֹּר n.m. 1. capital. 2. knob, bulb
base
H3730 כַּפְתּוֹר, כַּפְתֹּר 1. capital. 2. knob, bulb
3730 kaphtor kaf-tore'
or (Am. 9:1) kaphtowr {kaf-tore'}; probably from an unused
root meaning to encircle; a chaplet; but used only in an
architectonic sense, i.e. the capital of a column, or a
wreath-like button or disk on the candelabrum: knop, (upper)
lintel.
כַּפְתּוֹר (kaph.tor) — capital.
1) bulb, knob, capital, capital of a pillar
1a) knob, bulb (as ornament)
1b) capital (of a pillar)
N-mp | Suff — Noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHNcmpc/Sp3fs
פֶּ֫רַח (perach) refers to a bud or sprout, encompassing meanings such as bloom and flower. It is derived from a related term and is used in contexts related to natural growth. The entries consistently highlight its association with flowering and budding.
פֶּ֫רַח n.m. bud, sprout
base
H6525 פֶּ֫רַח bud, sprout
6525 perach peh'-rakh
from 6524; a calyx (natural or artificial); generally,
bloom:--blossom, bud, flower.
see HEBREW for 06524
פֶּ֫רַח (pe.rach) — flower.
bud, sprout
Conj | N-mp | Suff — Conjunction · noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHC/Ncmpc/Sp3fs