Hebrew word · H4501

מְנוֹרָה

menorah

lampstand

A stand for lamps; from the root n-w-r / n-y-r associated with light and fire (compare ner, 'lamp').

Appears 42 times in 31 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

lamp stand

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 25:31

Range of meaning

A stand for lamps; from the root n-w-r / n-y-r associated with light and fire (compare ner, 'lamp'). Used of the tabernacle lampstand, of the ten lampstands of Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 7:49), of a household lampstand (2 Kgs 4:10, the room prepared for Elisha), and of Zechariah's visionary lampstand (Zech 4:2).

Against the English

Modern versions say 'lampstand'. The KJV's 'candlestick' follows the Latin Vulgate's candelabrum and English usage of 1611. There were no candles: the menorah held seven small clay or metal oil lamps (v.37) burning olive oil (27:20).

How it drifted

Latin candelabrum ('a stand for lights') came into English as 'candlestick' at a time when candles were the normal light, so the object was pictured as holding wax candles.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX translates lychnia ('lampstand'), the word used in Revelation 1–2 for the seven lampstands. Josephus describes the temple lampstand (Antiquities 3.144–146) and it appears among the spoils carried to Rome on the Arch of Titus (after AD 70). Late Bronze Age Canaanite and Egyptian cult stands with plant-like forms offer parallels for the type (Meyers 1976).

From the study of 2 Chronicles 13:11

Range of meaning

Menorah is a lampstand: a stand with branches, and on top of each branch an open oil lamp (ner) with a wick. Baʿar in this form means to kindle or set burning. The priestly law has the lamps lit at evening to burn 'from evening to morning before Yahweh' (Exod 27:20–21; Lev 24:2–4), using pure beaten olive oil.

Against the English

KJV says 'candlestick', which suggests wax candles that did not exist in ancient Israel. BSB and WEB say 'lampstand'.

How it drifted

Early English translators used 'candlestick', the household lighting object of their own day. The Vulgate had already used 'candelabrum'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The menorah is described in Exod 25:31–40. In the Second Temple it was a single lampstand (1 Macc 1:21; 4:50; later on the Arch of Titus), even though Solomon is said to have had ten (1 Kgs 7:49; 2 Chr 4:7).

From the study of Zechariah 4:2

Range of meaning

A stand for lamps that raises a light source so it lights a room. It comes from the root nwr / ner, 'light, lamp.' It is used for the tabernacle lampstand (Exodus 25:31–40; 37:17–24), the ten lampstands in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:49), and once for a household lampstand (2 Kings 4:10, in the Shunammite's room).

Against the English

KJV's 'candlestick' brings in a technology Israel did not use: wax or tallow candles. Modern versions say 'lampstand'. Many readers still picture the seven-branched menorah of later Jewish art or the nine-branched Hanukkah lamp, and neither fits Zechariah's description well.

How it drifted

In 1611, 'candlestick' was the ordinary English word for any stand holding a light, and the Latin Vulgate's candelabrum pointed that way too. Once candles became the default image, the word misled readers about how the object worked: it burned oil and needed a supply of oil, and that supply is the point of verses 3, 11 and 12.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint translates it as lychnia (λυχνία, lampstand), the word Revelation uses (1:12, 20; 11:4). Seven-branched menorah images are known mainly from the Hasmonean and Herodian periods (coins of Antigonus, the Arch of Titus), centuries after Zechariah. Persian-period lampstands are not known from depictions.

Where it appears

Exodus · 20

  1. Exodus 25:31 מְנֹרַ֖ת הַמְּנוֹרָה֙ a lampstand of, the lampstand

    Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

    Here: 'Lampstand made of…'. A menorah is a stand that holds oil lamps up high; the word is built from the root for 'light, fire' (nur/ner). The form links directly to the following word: 'a lampstand of gold'.

  2. Exodus 25:32 מְנֹרָ֗ה מְנֹרָ֔ה lampstand

    Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other.

  3. Exodus 25:33 הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃ the lampstand

    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.

  4. Exodus 25:34 וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה and [will be] on the lampstand

    And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

  5. Exodus 25:35 הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃ the lampstand

    For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.

  6. Exodus 26:35 הַמְּנֹרָה֙ the lampstand

    And place the table outside the veil on the north side of the tabernacle, and put the lampstand opposite the table, on the south side.

  7. Exodus 30:27 הַמְּנֹרָ֖ה the lampstand

    the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense,

  8. Exodus 31:8 הַמְּנֹרָ֥ה the lampstand

    the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,

  9. Exodus 35:14 מְנֹרַ֧ת [the] lampstand of

    the lampstand for light with its accessories and lamps and oil for the light;

  10. Exodus 37:17 הַמְּנֹרָ֖ה הַמְּנֹרָה֙ the lampstand

    Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold, all of one piece: its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

  11. Exodus 37:18 מְנֹרָ֗ה מְנֹרָ֔ה lampstand

    Six branches extended from the sides, three on one side and three on the other.

  12. Exodus 37:19 הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃ the lampstand

    There were 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 extended from the lampstand.

  13. Exodus 37:20 וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה and [were] on the lampstand

    And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

  14. Exodus 39:37 הַמְּנֹרָ֨ה the lampstand

    the pure gold lampstand with its row of lamps and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light;

  15. Exodus 40:4 הַמְּנֹרָ֔ה the lampstand

    Then bring in the table and set out its arrangement; bring in the lampstand as well, and set up its lamps.

  16. Exodus 40:24 הַמְּנֹרָה֙ the lampstand

    He also placed the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 24:4 הַמְּנֹרָ֣ה the lampstand

    He shall tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.

Numbers · 6

  1. Numbers 3:31 וְהַמְּנֹרָ֣ה and the lampstand

    Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain—all the service for these items.

  2. Numbers 4:9 מְנֹרַ֤ת [the] lampstand of

    They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, together with its lamps, wick trimmers, and trays, as well as the jars of oil with which to supply it.

  3. Numbers 8:2 הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה the lampstand

    “Speak to Aaron and tell him: ‘When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.’”

  4. Numbers 8:3 הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה the lampstand

    And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps facing toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

  5. Numbers 8:4 הַמְּנֹרָה֙ הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃ פ the lampstand

    This is how the lampstand was constructed: it was made of hammered gold from its base to its blossoms, fashioned according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 7:49 הַ֠מְּנֹרוֹת the lampstands

    the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:10 וּמְנוֹרָ֑ה and a lampstand

    Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”

1 Chronicles · 7

  1. 1 Chronicles 28:15 לִמְנֹר֣וֹת מְנוֹרָ֥ה וּמְנוֹרָ֖ה וְלִמְנֹר֨וֹת לִמְנוֹרָ֣ה מְנוֹרָ֥ה וּמְנוֹרָֽה׃ of [the] lampstands of, a lampstand, and a lampstand, and of [the] lampstands of, of a lampstand

    the weight of the gold lampstands and their lamps, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; the weight of each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand;

2 Chronicles · 3

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:7 מְנֹר֧וֹת [the] lampstands of

    He made ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

  2. 2 Chronicles 4:20 הַמְּנֹר֞וֹת the lampstands

    the lampstands of pure gold and their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;

  3. 2 Chronicles 13:11 וּמְנוֹרַ֨ת and [the] lampstand of

    Every morning and every evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the rows of showbread on the ceremonially clean table, and every evening they light the lamps of the gold lampstand. We are carrying out the requirements of the LORD our God, while you have forsaken Him.

    Here: The menorah, the branched stand holding oil lamps. Like the table it is singular, the one lampstand of the tabernacle tradition.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 52:19 הַמְּנֹר֗וֹת the lampstands

    The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

Zechariah · 2

  1. Zechariah 4:2 מְנוֹרַת֩ a lampstand of

    “What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.

    Here: A stand that holds oil lamps up high. The word is the same one used for the tabernacle and temple lampstand, so it calls up sanctuary associations at once. It is not a candlestick.

  2. Zechariah 4:11 הַמְּנוֹרָ֖ה the lampstand

    Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.