Lamp (3088) (luchnos/lychnos) literally refers to a portable lamp fed with oil and not to a candle. The lamp was usually placed on a stand in the house. A number of the uses of luchnos (as in the present passage) are figurative or metaphorical (see below). Thayer... (from Homer down); “a lamp, candle”, that is placed on a stand or candlestick (Latin candelabrum): Mt 5:15; Mark 4:21; Lk 11:36; Lk 12:35; Rev 22:5; phos luchnon, Rev 18:23; opposed to phos luchiou Rev 22:5; aptein luchnou (Lk 8:16; 11:33; 15:8). To a “lamp” are likened — (1) the eye, which shows the body which way to move and turn, Mt 6:22; Lk 11:34 (2) the prophecies of the OT, inasmuch as they afforded at least some knowledge relative to the glorious return of Jesus from heaven down even to the time when by the Holy Spirit that same light, like the day and the daystar, shone upon the hearts of men, the light by which the prophets themselves had been enlightened and which was necessary to the full perception of the true meaning of their prophecies, 2Pe 1:19; (3) to the brightness of a lamp that cheers the beholders a teacher is compared, whom even those rejoiced in who were unwilling to comply with his demands, John 5:35; (4) Christ, who will hereafter illumine his followers, the citizens of the heavenly kingdom, with his own glory, Revelation 21:23. TDNT... The luchnos is a lamp, originally an open bowl, then a closed lamp in various forms, usually put on a stand to give better light, the luchnÃa being the stand. Both words are common in the Septuagint (LXX) (cf. the seven-branched candelabra, a luchnÃa with seven luchnoi). The lamp is a common metaphor in the OT. It denotes length of life (2Sa 21:17), the source of divine help (Job 29:3), and the law (Ps 119:105). The lamp of the wicked will be put out (Job 18:6). Luchnos - 27x in the LXX - Ex 25:37; 27:20; 30:7f; 37:20, 23; 39:37; 40:4, 25; Lev 24:2, 4; Num 4:9; 8:2f; 1 Sam 3:3; 2 Sam 21:17; 22:29; 1 Kgs 7:49; 2 Kgs 8:19; 1 Chr 28:15; 2 Chr 4:20f; 13:11; 21:7; 29:7; Job 18:6; 21:17; 29:3; Ps 18:28; 119:105; 132:17; Pr 6:23; 31:18; Jer 25:10; Dan 5:1; Zeph 1:12; Zech 4:2. Here are two figurative uses of luchnos... Thy word is a lamp (luchnos) to my feet, and a light to my path. (Ps 119:105-note) Spurgeon: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light giving word, lest we slip with our feet. Each man should use the word of God personally, practically, and habitually, that he may see his way and see what lies in it. When darkness settles down upon all around me, the word of the Lord, like a flaming torch, reveals my way. Having no fixed lamps in eastern towns, in old time each passenger carried a lantern with him that he might not fall into the open sewer, or stumble over the heaps of ordure which defiled the road. This is a true picture of our path through this dark world: we should not know the way, or how to walk in it, if Scripture, like a blazing flambeau, did not reveal it. One of the most practical benefits of Holy Writ is guidance in the acts of daily life: it is not sent to astound us with its brilliance, but to guide us by its instruction. It is true the head needs illumination, but even more the feet need direction, else head and feet may both fall into a ditch. Happy is the man who personally appropriates God's word, and practically uses it as his comfort and counselor, -- a lamp to his own feet. For the commandment is a lamp (luchnos), and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life (Pr 6:23) Luchnos - 14x in 14v in the NT in the NAS - lamp(13), lamps(1). Matthew 5:15-note nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Comment: In context the light of the lamp is compared to the light of one's life, which for believers is to shine forth so that the spiritually dark world can see the light of the world in us the (only) hope for (future) glory. Matthew 6:22-note "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. Comment: Clearly figurative (metaphorical) use comparing to the eye which admits light and which enables understanding (as the brain processes that which the eye lets in). Mark 4:21 And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? Luke 8:16 "Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. Luke 11:33 "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness...36 "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays." Luke 12:35 Be (present imperative = The "Captain's" [Jesus'] Command to make it your habitual practice to be...) dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Comment: Figurative use of lamps - The idea is that the servant of Christ is to be about his Master’s business until He returns. Be active. Be diligent. Be filled with the Spirit. Live in constant expectancy of our Bridegroom's return, our Lord's Second Coming which is always imminent! Be watchful about the future. Although you are in the present, determine to keep living in "the future tense" (so to speak), for if you are it will be more difficult for the the world, the flesh and the devil to ensnare you, dear child of the Living God! Note: "Your" is placed near the beginning of the sentence for emphasis = emphasize our personal responsibility to choose to be ready! Whatever others do, YOU stay dressed and keep your lamps lit! Compare some interesting parallel passages - Ex 27:20, 21; Lev 24:2; Ps 18:28 Barnes: Be ready at all times to leave the world and enter into rest, when your Lord shall call you. Let every obstacle be out of the way; let every earthly care be removed, and be prepared to follow him into his rest. Servants were expected to be ready for the coming of their lord. If in the night, they were expected to keep their lights trimmed and burning. Wiersbe: Jewish weddings were held at night (Ed: Thus the need for lamps), and a bridegroom’s servants would have to wait for their master to come home with his bride. The new husband would certainly not want to be kept waiting at the door with his bride! But the servants had to be sure they were ready to go to work, with their robes tucked under their girdles so they were free to move (see 1Pe 1:13, 14, 15-note). But the remarkable thing in this story is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride was treated like a queen and the groom like a king; so you would not expect the “king” to minister to his staff. Our King will minister to His faithful servants when He greets us at His return, and He will reward us for our faithfulness. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary - New Testament. 1989. Victor or Logos or Wordsearch) Luke 15:8 "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? John 5:35 "He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. Comment: Metaphorical description of John the Baptist! Application - Are you a "lamp" (living forth and even speaking forth the Word of Truth and Life) in the spiritual darkness of this world whether that is your home, your school, your business, etc? Let your light shine like John the Baptist! 2Pe 1:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Comment: The prophetic word (prophecy is not just that which is spoken before but also that which is spoken forth - so here the reference is not just to OT prophecies of things to come but by extension refers to all of the recorded "spoken" forth words of God) is able to give spiritual understanding to those whose mind is opened by the Spirit. Revelation 18:23-note and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. Revelation 21:23-note And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 22:5-note And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Shining (5316) (phaino) means to illuminate, give light, shine forth as a luminous body. Shining is present tense (continuous action) which pictures the OT prophetic "lamp" as still shedding its light. The lamp that is shining brightly is the Old Testament, which in the NT is usually indicated by the term "Scriptures [word study]". (Click all 52 uses of the term "Scriptures "used as a synonym of a part or all of the Old Testament) IN A DARK PLACE: en auchmero topo: Related Resource: Torrey's topic "Spiritual Blindness" Place (5117) (topos) means an area of any size (space, place, room), a defined place, the present use being in a geographical or topographical sense, such as a place, a part of a country or even the entire world. Peter combines this word with the adjective below to describe the murky darkness of the fallen world which obscures the truth until the lamp of divine revelation shines forth.