Numbers 8:4

Num 8:4 And this work of the candlestick [was of] beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, [was] beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

Ver. 4. Beaten work.] To show that ministers must beat their brains to beat out the sense of the Scriptures, as the fowl beats the shell, to get out the fish, with great vehemency. {a}

{a} Kοπιαν, παρα το κοπτειν.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 8:4. Of beaten gold — Not hollow, but solid gold, beaten out of one piece, not of several pieces joined or soldered together.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And not set together of divers pieces.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. This work of the candlestick, c.] See many curious particulars relative to this candlestick, See Clarke on Ex 25:31 and "Ex 25:39". The candlestick itself was an emblem of the Church of Christ the oil, of the graces and gifts of the Spirit of God; and the light, of those gifts and graces in action among men. See Re 1:12-20. God builds his Church and sends forth his Spirit to dwell in it, to sanctify and cleanse it, that it may be shown unto the world as his own workmanship. The seven lights in the candlesticks point out the seven Spirits of God, the Holy Ghost being thus termed, Re 3:1, from the variety and abundance of his gifts and influences; seven being used among the Hebrews to denote any thing full, complete, and perfect. A candlestick or lamp without oil is of no use; oil not burning is of no use. So a Church or society of religious people without the influence of the Holy Ghost are dead while they have a name to live; and if they have a measure of this light, and do not let it shine by purity of living and holy zeal before men, their religion is neither useful to themselves nor to others. Reader, it is possible to be in the Church of God and not be of that Church; it is possible to have a measure of the Spirit and neither profit nor be profited. Feel this dreadful possibility, and pray to God that thou be not a proof of it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) And this work of the candlestick . . . —Better, And this was the work of the candlestick, i.e., the material of which it was made.

Beaten gold.—Better, turned (or twisted) gold.

Unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof.—Literally, unto its base, unto its flower or blossom, i.e., the whole of the candlestick, from its base to its flowers. The several parts of the candlestick, beginning with the base and ending with the flowers, are enumerated in Exo_25:31.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. beaten work] Repoussé work, hammered out of a solid plate of gold (Exo_25:31; Exo_25:36; Exo_37:17-22). This work was employed also for the Cherubim (Exo_25:18; Exo_37:7) and the two silver clarions (Num_10:2).

unto the base … and unto the flowers] The Heb. idiom means both base and flowers. The flowers were the ornamentation on each of the six shafts and on the central stem. In every shaft there were three cups, and on the central stem four, each consisting of a calyx and petals of an almond blossom. The lampstand of Herod’s temple was made on this model, and is familiar from its representation on the arch of Titus.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold,.... As it is also said to be; See Gill on Exo 25:31; and See Gill on Exo 25:36,

unto the shalt thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work; of which, see Exo 25:31,

according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses; when on Mount Sinai with him:

so he made the candlestick; that is, ordered it to be made, and took care that it was made exactly to the pattern he had of it; otherwise Bezaleel was the artificer; and so the Targum of Jonathan here expresses him by name.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Beaten gold, not hollow, but solid and massive gold, beaten out of one piece, and not of several pieces joined or soldered together. See Exo 25:18,31; 37:17.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And this work of the candlestick. For the meaning of the details here given see Exo_25:31, sq. According unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses, viz., in the mount (see Exo_25:40) so he made the candlestick. This has been recorded in Exo_37:17. The repetition of the statement in this place seems to be conclusive that these verses are out of their historical position, and that their insertion here is due to some fact connected with the original records with which we are not acquainted. It may be simply this, that these verses originally followed verse 89 of the previous chapter, and followed it still when it was inserted, for reasons already suggested, after the narrative of the offerings of the princes. Why, or how, such an admission should discredit the sacred narrative or imperil the truth of its inspiration it would be hard to say. The only thing really likely to imperil the sacred narrative is to persistently deny the obvious literary conclusions which arise from an honest consideration of the text.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of beaten gold - Not hollow, but solid gold, beaten out of one piece, not of several pieces joined or soldered together.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

וזה מעשה המנרה AND THIS IS THE WORK OF THE CANDLESTICK — “This” — we may gather that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed it to him (Moses) with His finger, because he was puzzled by it (how to construct it); and that is why it states, “this is [the construction of the candlestick]” (Sifrei Bamidbar 61; Menachot 29a).

מקשה means batediz in O. F., — [English = beaten], an expression of the same meaning as in (Daniel 5:6) “[and his feet] knocked (נקשן) one against another”. There was a block weighing a talent of gold and he (who made the candlestick) beat it with the hammer, and cut away with a chisel in order that its branches might be made to spread out as they should do, and it was not formed of separate pieces made into a whole by joining them together.

עד ירכה עד פרחה UNTO THE SHAFT THEREOF, UNTO THE FLOWERS THEREOF — Its ירך was the boxlike base which was above the feet (thus, the feet stood beneath this; cf. Rashi on Exodus 25:31), hollow, like the candlesticks of princely houses (lit., as the candlesticks standing before the princes).

עד ירכה עד פרחה — This phrase means as much as: the whole body of the candlestick and everything attached to it.

עד ירכה — FROM THE BASE which is a massive part.

עד פרחה — UP TO ITS FLOWER, which was the most slender piece of work in it — all was beaten out of the lump. The double form of עד … עד) עד) is used in this sense (to include everything), as e.g., (Judges 15:5) “[and he (Samson) burnt up everything] from the shocks to (עד) the standing corn and to (ועד) the vineyard and the olives".

כמראה אשר הראה וגו׳ ACCORDING UNTO THE PATTERN WHICH [THE LORD] HAD SHOWED [MOSES] — i. e. according to the shape which he had shewn him on the mountain, as it is said, (Exodus 25:40) and see, that thou make them after their pattern [which was shewn thee in the mountain]".

כן עשה את המנורה SO HE MADE THE CANDELABRUM — “he” means, the one who made it (not Moses, as might be assumed from the wording of the text; the subject is suppressed and it means no more than: so was the candlestick made). A Midrashic explanation is: By the instrumentality of the Holy One, blessed be He, it was made of itself (according to this the subject is “God” who is mentioned immediately before) (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 3; cf. Rashi on Exodus 25:31).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND THIS WAS THE WORK OF THE CANDELABRUM, BEATEN WORK OF GOLD. The meaning thereof is to allude [to the law] that throughout all [future] generations the candelabrum must be beaten [and fashioned out of one solid piece of metal], and that this is essential [for the validity of the candelabrum and lighting the lamps therein]. This is why He expressly mentioned at the beginning [that it is to be] beaten work, but did not mention [here] that in the making thereof there should be branches [going out of the candelabrum], knops, and cups shaped like almond-blossoms. But He did mention [here that it be of] gold, for it is likewise a commandment for all generations that it be made of gold, in order to glorify the House of our G-d. Then He repeated [in the verse before us] it was beaten work, in order to say that it is only [failure to make it] of beaten work that invalidates the candelabrum, but [the requirement] of gold is not [indispensable, since it is valid if made of any metal], and certainly its other embellishments [such as the cups and knops do not invalidate it if they are missing]. And thus have our Rabbis said in the Sifre 61. and in Tractate Menachoth.

ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH THE ETERNAL HAD SHOWN MOSES, SO ‘HE’ MADE THE CANDELABRUM — that is, Moses mentioned above, for it was he who made efforts to learn about it and directed the making thereof by command. And so the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: 61. “[This is stated] in order to praise Moses, [by emphasizing] that he made it exactly as the Holy One, blessed be He, told him to make [the candelabrum].” And Rashi wrote: “So he made — [the word ‘he’ refers to] the one who made it [i.e., to whomever it was that made it, and does not refer to Moses]. But a Midrash Agadah 5. — “Midrash Agadah.” Rabbinic texts on the Five Books of Moses are divided into two classes: “Midrash Halachah” (texts dealing mainly with the legal parts of the Torah), which consist of the Mechilta on the Book of Exodus, Sifra [or Torath Kohanim] on the Book of Leviticus, and Sifre on the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Another set of texts deal mainly with the narrative, ethical and homiletical aspects of the Scriptures. These comprise two major works — the Midrash Rabbah and Tanchuma. There is in addition a large group of smaller Midrashim that belong to this category. The generic term “Midrash Agadah” includes all this second group of texts. has it: [The subject ‘he’ refers to the Eternal, for] it was made of its own accord [without human intervention], by the Holy One, blessed be He.”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.