lamp

A vessel used to keep and control fire as a source of light. This vessel, known as the oil lamp, had two basic parts: a receptacle for the oil and a wick inserted into the oil, whose protruding end would burn. Olives provided the main source of oil in Palestine; various materials, including flax, served as wicks. An easily understandable and powerful symbol of the importance of light, the oil lamp is referred to frequently in the Bible in a wide range of contexts. In the OT it conveys, e.g., the illuminating power of God (2Sam 22:29; Job 29:3) and of God’s precepts (Ps 119:105); a father’s instructions to his dutiful son (Prov 6:23); and the lasting existence of the Davidic dynasty (1Kgs 11:36; 1Kgs 15:4). In the NT it is a symbol of the eye of the body (Matt 6:22); the vigilance of the faithful servant (Luke 12:35); and the function of the disciples in the world (Matt 5:14-16).