Exodus 25:38

And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(38) Tongs . . . snuffdishes.—“Tongs,” or pincers, were required for trimming the wicks of the lamps, and removing loose portions; “snuffdishes” for receiving the fragments thus removed.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:31-40 The candlestick represents the light of God's word and Spirit, in and through Christ Jesus, afforded in this dark world to his believing people, to direct their worship and obedience, and to afford them consolations. The church is still dark, as the tabernacle was, in comparison with what it will be in heaven; but the word of God is a light shining in a dark place,

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The tongs - Used to trim and adjust the wicks. (Compare Isaiah 6:6.)

The snuff-dishes - These were shallow vessels used to receive the burnt fragments of wick removed by the tongs. The same Hebrew word is translated, in accordance with its connection, "fire pans," Exodus 27:3; Exodus 38:3; and "censers," Numbers 4:14; Numbers 16:6.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

38. tongs—snuffers.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which, according to Jarchi, was a sort of forks with which they took the wicks out of the oil, and put them in the lamps; or, as some think, the snuffers, but they are distinguished from tongs, 1 Kings 7:49 and the snuffdishes thereof shall be of pure gold; in which the tongs or snuffers were put, or into which the snuff itself was put that was snuffed off. Jarchi says they were a sort of small cups, in which they put the ashes of the lamp, morning by morning, when they trimmed the lamps from the ashes of the wicks which burned in the night, and were extinct: so Ben Gersom and Lyra say they were vessels full of water where those were put which were snuffed off, that they might not make a smoke, which is not improbable.

Geneva Study Bible

And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

38. tongs] so Exodus 37:23, Numbers 4:9, 1 Kings 7:49 b (=2 Chronicles 4:21 a), Isaiah 6:6†. In Isaiah 6:6 we should still say ‘tongs’ (the Heb. is lit. the two takers), but not in the other cases. Probably in all cases something of the nature of tweezers for drawing up the wick is meant (like the forcipes figured in Smith’s Dict. of Class. Antiq.3. i. 872): ‘snuffers,’ which in the case of a lamp we should naturally think of, represents a different Heb. word (1 Kings 7:50 al.).

snuffdishes] so Exodus 37:23, Numbers 4:9. The same word (lit. (fire-) catcher) is also used for what we should denote by the separate terms fire-pan (Exodus 27:3 al.), and censer (Numbers 16:6 al.).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 38. - The tongs thereof. Tongs or pincers were required for trimming the wicks of the lamps. Compare 1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chronicles 4:21. Snuff-dishes were also needed for the reception of the fragments removed from the wicks by the tongs. "Snuffers," though the word is used in Exodus 37:23, in the place of tongs, had not been indented, and were indeed unknown to the ancients. Exodus 25:38

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The other things belonging to the candlestick were מלקחים tongs (Isaiah 6:6), i.e., snuffers, and מחמּות snuff-dishes, i.e., dishes to receive the snuff when taken from the wicks; elsewhere the word signifies an ash-pan, or vessel used for taking away the coal from the fire (Exodus 27:3; Leviticus 16:12; Numbers 17:3.).