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his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, his flowers, shall

Having thus given a general view of the plan and uses of the golden Candlestick, we enter upon the more minute description of its individual parts.

be of the same.

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tinguishing parts of plants and trees, indicating a striking affinity in its structure, with the forms of the vegetable world. The reason of this singular fact we shall hope to elucidate in our remarks on the typical import of the Candlestick. In the present case the original term, though singular in form, has really a plural import, being intended to denote all the branches collectively, as appears from the next verse, and from the Greek rendering kalapioko, little reeds or canes. these the middle one, constituting the main trunk of it, was of course the most important. And hence in v. 33, 34, and Chron. 3. 20, it is actually called by the name (menorah) of the whole Candlestick. It is not indeed expressly so distinguished in the present text, and the reason we suppose to be, that all the lower part of the stock or trunk up to the point where the different arms branched off, three on either side, was called yerek, or thigh. Of the thickness of the central or the side branches we have no intimation, but Jarchi and Abenezra agree with Jose

Of beaten work. Heb. p mikshah, of hard or solid work; i. e. made of the solid material, having no woodwork about it, though Josephus represents it as being hollow. Our present rendering 'beaten work' is peculiarly unfortunate, as it leads the reader to suppose that several of the most exquisite fabrics of the Tabernacle were wrought out by a process of 'beating' with a hammer, than which nothing, we conceive, can be farther from the fact, as they were undoubtedly cast in moulds. So far as the present term is concerned, which is used several times in the narrative, it is designed to acquaint us solely with the character of the material, and not with the process of formation. See the remarks above on the use of the term, v. 18, in reference to the construction of the Cherubim. His shaft. Heb.yerëkah, her shaft; and so in all the following terms, kanah, her branches, &c., instead of 'his.' The original term yerek, properly sig-phus, who denominates them errous, nifies a thigh, but here is understood by the Rabbins of the base or thick lower part on which the main branch (7) rested and from which it rose. We suppose, therefore, the term yerek to have been applied to that thick and massive portion of the stock which extended upwards from the foot or bottom to the point where the lowermost pair of branches separated. branches. Heb. p kanah, her branch. The word properly signifies a reed or cane, which each of the branches prob. ably somewhat resembled; indeed nothing is more remarkable, as we shall soon see, throughout this description of the Candlestick, than the employment mine. The phrase in the original is of terms evidently drawn from the dis

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His

slender. His bowls. Heb.
gebia, calyx or cup; so called from its
resemblance to that part of the plant
from which the flower springs. The
Gr. however has
кρaτпρεs, bowls, and
the Vulg. scyphos, cups, from which the
English rendering has flowed. The
appendages here called 'bowls,' 'knops,'
and flowers,' were mere ornamental
devices, intended, it would seem, to
give to each of the branches the ap-
pearance of a succession of fruits and
flowers. As to the form of the 'bowls,'
it is clear from v. 33, that they had
some relation to the 'almond,' but in
what respect, it is not easy to deter

gebiim meshukkadim.

which is to be literally rendered cups made or figured almond-wise, by which perhaps is to be understood nothing more than that this calyx-shaped ornament was to be fashioned in imitation of the calyx of the almond, rather than of any other plant. The expression is less likely to have denoted the flower of the almond, because the flower-work is denoted by another term, and because the term almond-wise' is in some way inseparably connected with the original for cups or bowls, as if to indicate their form. For this purpose the calyx would be much more suitable than the corolla. But it may be asked whether the bowls were not shaped like the fruit or nut of the almond, the shell of which when divided into its halves presents the appearance of small scolloped vessels like our spoons. To

this we can only say, that if such appendages were intended as containing vessels, they would not only be useless in the place which they occupied,-for. what were they to hold? - but would be very unsightly and out of keeping as ornaments. If, moreover, they were intended to represent the fruit of the almond, then besides the intrinsic inappropriateness of the term, they would trench upon what we suppose to have been the design of the 'knops,' which is soon to be explained. On the whole, therefore, we seem to be shut up to the conclusion stated above, that the howls' were exquisitely wrought orna. ments in the shape of the calyx of the almond flower; and the annexed cut of the blossoms, flowers, and fruit of this plant may essentially aid our conception of this part of the workmanship.

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His knops.

THE ALMOND.

Heb. kaph- | biblical usage. It is only in Amos, torim. Gr. opaipwrnpes, spheres. Vulg. 9. 1, and Zeph. 14, that kaphsphærulas, little spheres. The term here tor, occurs, in the first of which it is employed receives but little light from rendered door' and in the other lin

will be shown to have been the spiritual or typical uses of the Candlestick.

tel,' and doubtless erroneously in both. | direct support from what is said Num. It is probably to be understood in each 17. 8, of the budding and blossoming case of some round moulding, rows of of Aaron's rod; 'And it came to pass knobs, or other architectural ornaments on the morrow Moses went into the of spherical form about the heads of tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the pillars. The Rabbins with somewhat rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was remarkable unanimity interpret it here budded ( porah), and brought forth by 'apple,' and Josephus expressly buds (NY yotzë perah), and likens it to the 'pomegranate' (granate-bloomed blossoms, and yielded al apple), of which a cut and a full ac-monds.' In both passages we find count is given hereafter; and we learn perah used in connexion with the al from 1 Kings, 7. 18, that the chapiters mond, and we shall see in the sequel of the pillars in Solomon's Temple were that the evidence in favor of this inter adorned with pomegranates. Maimon-pretation is much increased by what ides says, 'The kaphtor had the figure of a little globe, yet not exactly round, but somewhat oblong, like an egg.' He does not, however, it will be observed, recognise any allusion to the form of the pomegranate, and as the proper Hebrew for pomegranate is not kaphtor, but ¬ rimmon, we incline to think that the shelled fruit of the almond itself is intended, which the reader will perceive hears a striking resemblance to the form of an egg, and was well calculated for a decoration of such a fabric as the Candlestick. We understand then by the term in this connexion those rounded spherical swells or knobs occurring alternately with the calyxes and flowers, along the length of the several branches, and which were expressly intended to represent some kind of fruit; and that fruit, if we rightly conceive of the matter, was the nut of the almond.

T His flowers. Heb. perahëhah. Gr. κρίνα, lillies. Vulg. lilia; and so also Maimonides and Josephus. But the word in the original is the general word for flowers, or rather for the blossoms of trees; and we have nothing to guide us, in fixing upon any particular species. Yet as the other connected terms have a dominant reference to the almond tree, we seem to discover an intrinsic probability that the allusion is the same in the case before us; and this suggestion receives perhaps an in

As to the manner in which this threefold variety of ornament was arranged relatively to each other on the branches, the text is not free from ainbiguity. If our conception of the form were governed solely by what is said v. 33, we should perhaps infer that there was but one knop and one flower to the three bowls on each of the branches, as the two former are expressed by words in the singular, while bowls' is in the plural. Yet upon comparing the subsequent verses, and making up our idea of the whole, we cannot well resist the conclusion, that the bowls, knops, and flowers formed together one complex ornament which was three times repeated on each of the six side-branches, and four times on the central one. And thus we have represented them in the annexed original draft of the Candlestick, in which the reader will recognise the results of the foregoing researches and reasonings. It will be found to dif fer very considerably from the model given in the Candlestick represented on the Arch of Titus. But it is to be remem. bered that the utensils carried away by Vespasian were not the same with those made by Moses; and Josephus says the Candlestick was especially altered from its original form. The Mosaic Candlestick was transferred to the Temple and lost in the Babylonish captivity.

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32 And six branches shall come almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower : so in the six branches. that come out of the candlestick.

out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33 Three bowls made like unto

THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK.

As the Candlestick of the Tabernacle forms a constituent part of a system preeminently symbolical and typical, no good reason can be assigned why it should not, like the other sacred things with which it is connected, possess a meaning suited to the economy of which it formed a part. Its adaptation to its primary or material uses is evident; and equally obvious, if we mistake not, will appear its fitness to the spiritual ends which it was intended to answer. In the attempt to ascertain and settle these upon satisfactory grounds, it will be important to draw largely upon various portions of holy writ, through which the light of the Tabernacle-lamps shines more or less distinctly, and from the concentrated rays of which we are to deduce its ultimate scope. The inquiry naturally divides itself into two dis

tinct heads, the one in reference to the typical purport of the Lights, the other, that of the Candlestick viewed as a whole composed of its shaft and branches.

(1.) The Lights. As our grand object in this part of the investigation is, to obtain the unequivocal sanction of the Scriptures themselves for the solution which we propose to give to the symbol before us, we are naturally referred to those passages where an express mention of the Candlestick occurs, or which contain such allusions to its mystical import as will serve to guide us to correct conclusions. Several such places may be cited from which it will appear that Light, in its most genuine usage as a symbol, stands for knowledge, or rather that kind of sacred intelligence or moral illumination

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34 And in the candlestick shall | monds, with their knops and their be four bowls made like unto al- flowers.

which has for its object the things of God, and for its author the Holy Spirit, the great fountain of all spiritual light. The remarks of Pres. Edwards in his 'Notes on the Bible' may be pertinently cited in this connexion. 'In the golden Candlestick that stood before the throne, on the left side was a representation both of the Holy Spirit and of the Church. The pure oil olive that fed the lamps is indisputably a type of the Holy Ghost; and it is evident, from Rev. 4. 5, compared with chap. 1. 4, and v. 6, and Zech. 3. 9, and 4. 2, 6, 10. The burning of the lamp represents that divine, infinite, pure energy and ardor wherein the Holy Spirit consists. The light of the lamps filling the Tabernacle with light which had no windows, and no light but of those lamps, represents the divine, blessed communication and influence of the Spirit of God, replenishing the church and filling heaven with the light of divine knowledge in opposition to the darkness of ignorance and delusion, with the light of holiness in opposition to the darkness of sin, and with the light of comfort and joy in opposition to the darkness of sorrow and misery.'

As this light however is communicated for the most part through the intervention of certain agencies set apart for that purpose, it is quite natural that it should be symbolically exhibited in concentrated form, in those artificial luminaries with which all men are familiar. The light of the Tabernacle answers to the light of the church; and the light of the church is the light of the Spirit of God dispensed through such media as it has pleased infinite wisdom to adopt. Of these the sacred ministry is perhaps the chief; and though the ministers of Christ shine with a borrowed lustre, merely reflecting, like mirrors, the rays of the great fountain

of light, yet we see a peculiar propriety and felicity in their being symbolised by the lamps or lights of the golden Candlestick. This will appear more strikingly evident by recurrence to the mystic scenery of the Apocalypse. In the opening vision of that book, chap. 1. John, hearing a voice behind him turns and beholds seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of them one like unto the Son of Man clothed with a long priestly tunic or robe, and girt about the breast with a golden girdle. This indicated that the character in which he now appeared was a priestly character, and that the action which he performed was a priestly action. What this action was and what it was designed to shadow forth, will be easily inferred from the circumstances of the vision. The scene of it is undoubtedly laid in the outer room or holy place of the Tabernacle, where the priests were wont to officiate, and where among other things it was the duty of some one of the number to see to the lighting, trimming, and snuffing the lamps of the golden Candlestick, which was done just as it began to grow dark in the evening. Imagine the apostle then, about the hour of twilight, standing without, near the entrance of the holy place, and looking in to the further end of the room, and there beholding the Great High Priest of the Christian Church occupied about the lights of the seven distinct golden candlesticks into which the one large can. delabrum of the Tabernacle is multiplied under the New Testament economy. These lights thus seen from a distance in a room otherwise dark would have very much the appearance of stars, and it would be scarcely a stretch of language to say that the person employed in trimming and dressing the lamps, with his hand passing to and fro from one to the other, held the stars in

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