StrongerBible

ma'or

מָאוֹר

HebrewH3974“light, luminary, ...”

Appears 19 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 1:14Gen 1:15Gen 1:16 (3×)Exo 25:6Exo 27:20Exo 35:8Exo 35:14 (2×)Exo 35:28Exo 39:37Lev 24:2Num 4:9Num 4:16Psa 74:16Psa 90:8Pro 15:30Ezk 32:8
Word studyResearch-gradema-ORnoun

What ma'or means

a light-source: the thing that gives off light, such as a luminary in the sky or a lamp

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This word names the source or carrier of light, not light itself. Its near relative אוֹר is the glow, the brightness that fills a room or a sky; מָאוֹר is the object that produces that glow. The word is built to mean roughly "a light-maker," the same way Hebrew forms words for a key ("what opens") or an altar ("the place of slaughter").

The three settings where it appears are the same idea aimed at different objects.

  • In the sky it names the great bodies that light the day and night
  • in the worship tent it names the lamp that has to be kept burning and the oil poured into it
  • in poetry it can be turned on a face or a pair of eyes that shine

The lamp and the luminary are not two meanings but one: a thing that radiates light, scaled from a sun down to a flame, and then stretched figuratively to a glowing face.

The writers of the early books seem to have chosen this word on purpose to tie the heavens to the sanctuary. The same rare term that names the sun and moon in the creation account names the lamp oil in the tabernacle, so that the seven-branched lampstand quietly echoes the lights God hung in the sky. Reading the word across its handful of appearances, that link between the cosmos and the worship tent is the most striking thing about it.

Nuances

1athe great lights of the sky: sun, moon, and stars
Gen 1:14Gen 1:15Gen 1:16 (3×)Psa 74:16Ezk 32:8
1bthe lamp of the worship tent, and the oil that fed it
Exo 25:6Exo 27:20Exo 35:8Exo 35:14 (2×)Exo 35:28Exo 39:37Lev 24:2Num 4:9Num 4:16
1ca shining face or eyes, used as an image
Psa 90:8Pro 15:30

Disputed

What מָאוֹר means in the tabernacle texts, where it appears in phrases like "oil for the light" and "the lampstand of the light."

  • majorityAn abstract noun, "light" or "light-source"; the phrase "the lampstand of the light" is then "the shining lampstand," reading the word as describing a quality.; Cornelis Houtman and Raymond de Hoop, "מָאוֹר - light (source)," Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database, 2011/2019
  • minorityA verbal noun meaning "lighting," so the phrases read "oil for the lighting" and "the lampstand for lighting," avoiding the awkward "lampstand of the lamp."; Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 23-27 (AB 3B, Doubleday, 2001), on Lev 24:2
  • minorityA concrete "luminary" or lamp apparatus, deliberately the same word used for the heavenly lights of the creation account.; William H. C. Propp, Exodus 19-40 (AB 2A, Doubleday, 2006), on 25:6 and 27:20

What scholars say about ma'or

Scholars across the lexical tradition agree that מָאוֹר denotes the source or instrument of light rather than light itself: BDB gives "luminary, light-bearer, lamp," HALOT "light, luminary, light-source," DCH "light, light-source," and Aalen in TDOT calls it the concrete carrier of light. Its form is the kind Hebrew uses for nouns of instrument or place, which grounds that intuition; the closest ancient parallel is Akkadian nannaru, "luminary," used of the moon-god. The Greek translators coined the rare φωστήρ to render it in Genesis 1. The chief modern debates concern Genesis 1 (whether calling the sun and moon only "the greater light" and "the lesser light" is a deliberate polemic against worship of the heavenly bodies, argued by Cassuto, Sarna, and von Rad, with Wenham and Westermann more cautious) and the tabernacle texts (whether מָאוֹר there is a concrete "lamp," an abstract "light," or a verbal noun "lighting"; Milgrom proposed "lighting," while Houtman and de Hoop read it as an attribute noun, "the shining lampstand"). A major strand of scholarship, led by Levenson, reads the shared word for sky and sanctuary as binding the tabernacle to creation as a miniature cosmos.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDB, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford, 1907), s.v. מָאוֹר, p. 22lexicon
  • HALOT, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Brill), s.v. מָאוֹר, p. 539lexicon
  • DCH, Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, ed. D. J. A. Clines, V:116-17lexicon
  • S. Aalen, "אוֹר," in TDOT I:147-67 (1974)theological-dictionary
  • Alex Luc, "אור," in NIDOTTE, ed. W. VanGemeren (Zondervan, 1997), 1:324-29theological-dictionary
  • Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part I: From Adam to Noah (Magnes Press, 1961), pp. 42-47commentary
  • Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (JPS Torah Commentary, 1989), pp. 9-10commentary
  • Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15 (WBC; Word, 1987), pp. 21-23commentary
  • Claus Westermann, Genesis 1-11: A Commentary (Fortress, 1984), pp. 127-32commentary
  • Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 23-27 (AB 3B, Doubleday, 2001), on Lev 24:2commentary
  • Cornelis Houtman and Raymond de Hoop, "מָאוֹר - light (source)," Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database, 2011/2019monograph
  • Jon D. Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil (Princeton, 1988)monograph
  • Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48 (NICOT, Eerdmans, 1998), on 32:7-8commentary
  • Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31 (NICOT, Eerdmans, 2005), ad 15:30commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of מָאוֹר

m s absolute

מָּאוֹר, מָאוֹר, מָּאֹר

Gen 1:16, Gen 1:16, Exo 27:20, Exo 35:8, Exo 35:14, Exo 35:14, Exo 39:37, Lev 24:2

m p absolute

מְאוֹרֹת, מְאֹרֹת, מְּאֹרֹת

Gen 1:15, Gen 1:14, Gen 1:16

m s construct

מְאוֹר

Psa 90:8, Pro 15:30

m p construct

מְאוֹרֵי

Ezk 32:8