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LAMP.—There are two words in the Gospels translated ‘lamp,’ ëý÷íïò and ëáìðÜò . The former (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘lamp,’ Authorized Version ‘candle’) is used Mat_5:15, Mar_4:21, Luk_8:16 of the usual means of lighting a house. In Mat_6:22 the eye, as the source of light, the organ by which light is appreciated, is called the lamp (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ; Authorized Version ‘light’) of the body. In Joh_5:35 the same word is applied to John the Baptist, who is not the eternal light ( öῶò , Joh_1:8), but the burning and shining lamp kindled by it and bearing witness to it.
The word ëáìðÜò occurs in Joh_18:3, where it is rendered ‘torch.’ It is also used in the parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25, where it would be better translated ‘torch.’ In Eastern countries the torch, like the lamp, is fed with oil, which is carried in small vessels constructed for the purpose ( ἀããåῖïí , Mat_25:4). See Candle, Light, Torch.
Literature.—Trench, Synonyms, xlvi.; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible , artt. ‘Lamp’ and ‘Lantern’; Edersheim, Life and Times, ii. 455 ff.; H. J. van Lennep, Bible Lands and Customs, p. 132; W. M. Thomson, Land and Book, iii. 472.
C. H. Prichard.