StrongerBible

menorah

מְנוֹרָה

HebrewH4501lampstand, candlestick

Appears 42 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 25:31 (2×)Exo 25:32 (2×)Exo 25:33Exo 25:34Exo 25:35Exo 26:35Exo 30:27Exo 31:8Exo 35:14Exo 37:17 (2×)Exo 37:18 (2×)Exo 37:19Exo 37:20Exo 39:37Exo 40:4Num 4:9Num 8:2Num 8:31Ki 7:492Ki 4:101Ch 28:15 (7×)2Ch 4:72Ch 4:202Ch 13:11Jer 52:19Zec 4:2Zec 4:11
Root family
Word studymeh-noh-RAHnoun

What menorah means

a lampstand: an upright stand made to hold oil lamps and lift their light off the ground

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

A lampstand is the fixture that holds the lamp, not the lamp itself. The word comes from the ordinary Hebrew word for a lamp, and it names the stand whose whole job is to raise a burning light where it can be seen. In an age before candles, the lamps it carried were small open dishes of olive oil with a floating wick.

Most of the time the word points to one famous object: the golden lampstand of Israel's worship. The book of Exodus describes it in loving detail, hammered from a single piece of pure gold, with branches shaped like almond blossoms and seven lamps burning across the top. It stood in the tabernacle, was tended morning and evening, and was later multiplied into the ten golden lampstands of Solomon's temple. When Babylon sacked Jerusalem, these were among the treasures carried off.

But the word is not locked to the sanctuary. It can name a plain piece of household furniture, such as the lampstand in the simple guest room built for the prophet Elisha, alongside a bed, a table, and a chair. And in one of Zechariah's visions the prophet is shown an all-golden lampstand as a picture with a deeper meaning, a sign of God's presence and provision for his people.

Nuances

1athe golden lampstand of Israel's worship: the seven-branched stand of the tabernacle, and the golden lampstands of Solomon's temple
Exo 25:31 (2×)Exo 25:32 (2×)Exo 25:33Exo 25:34Exo 25:35Exo 26:35Exo 30:27Exo 31:8Exo 35:14Exo 37:17 (2×)Exo 37:18 (2×)Exo 37:19
1ban ordinary household lampstand: a plain stand for a lamp
2Ki 4:10
1cthe lampstand of Zechariah's vision: an all-golden stand with a bowl and seven lamps, shown to the prophet as a sign
Zec 4:2Zec 4:11

What scholars say about menorah

The noun is formed from the root nr "lamp, to give light" with the instrument/place preformative mem, yielding "the thing that bears the lamp," i.e. a lampstand (BDB; HALOT, s.v.). Its referents are agreed and uncontested: predominantly the tabernacle lampstand of Exodus 25 and 37 (a single beaten piece of pure gold with six branches and a central shaft, seven lamps, and almond-blossom ornament), the ten golden lampstands of the Solomonic temple (1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chronicles 4:7, 20), one clearly domestic stand (2 Kings 4:10), and the visionary lampstand of Zechariah 4. Carol L. Meyers' monograph traces the object's form and its symbolic associations (light, the tree of life) across the biblical cult. The lexical meaning "lampstand" is settled; scholarly discussion concerns the object's design and symbolism, not what the word denotes.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. מְנוֹרָהlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. מְנוֹרָהlexicon
  • Carol L. Meyers, The Tabernacle Menorah: A Synthetic Study of a Symbol from the Biblical Cult (Missoula: Scholars Press, 1976)monograph

All attested forms of מְנוֹרָה

f s absolute

מְּנֹרָה, מְנוֹרָה, מְּנוֹרָה, מְנֹרָה

Exo 25:33, Exo 25:34, Exo 25:35, Exo 26:35, Exo 30:27, Exo 31:8, Exo 37:17, Exo 37:17

f s construct

מְנֹרַת, מְנוֹרַת

Exo 25:31, Exo 35:14, Num 4:9, 2Ch 13:11, Zec 4:2

f p absolute

מְּנֹרוֹת

1Ki 7:49, 2Ch 4:20, Jer 52:19

f p construct

מְנֹרוֹת

1Ch 28:15, 1Ch 28:15, 2Ch 4:7