LANIP (Vamp), (Heb. TI;12,1V-fieett; whence, perhaps, Gr. Xcuords, la/Vas, "lamp ," the p. being introduced in place of the Hebrew L'; Lat. la/Vets, and our la/V).
(1) Oil 'Used. Lamps are' very often men tioned in Scripture; but there is nothing to give any notion of their form. Almost the only fact we can gather is, that vegetable oils were burnt in them, and especially, if not exclusively, olive oil. This, of the finest quality, was the oil used in the seven lamps of the Tabernacle (Exod. xxvii:2o). Although the lamp-oils of the He brews were exclusively vegetable, it is probable that animal fat was used, as it is at present by the Western Asiatics, by being placed in a kind of lamp, and burnt by means of a wick inserted in it. This we have often witnessed in districts where oil-yielding plants are not common.
(2) Material and Form. It is somewhat re markable, that while the golden candlestick, or rather candelabrum, is so minutely described, not a word is said of the shape, or even the ma terial, of the lamps (Exod. xxv:37). This was, perhaps, because they were to be of the com mon forms, already familiarly known to the He brews, and the same probably which were used in Egypt, which they had just quitted. They were in this instance doubtless of gold, although metal is scarcely tbe best substance for a lamp. The golden candlestick may also suggest, that lamps in ordinary use were placed on stands, and where more than one was required, on stands with two or more branches. The modern Orienuts, who are satisfied with very little light in their rooms, use stands of brass or wood, on which to raise the lamps to a sufficient height above the floor on which they sit. Such stands are shaped not unlike a tall candlestick, spreading out at the top. Sometimes the lamps are placed on brackets against the wall, made for the pur pose, and often upon stools. Doubtless the same contrivances were employed by the Hebrews.
From the fact that lamps were carried in the pitchers of Gideon's soldiers, from which, at the end of the march, they were taken out, and borne in the hand (Judg. vii :16, 2o), we may with certainty infer that they were not, like many of the classical lamps, entirely open at top, but so shaped that the oil could not easily be spilled. This was. remarkably the case in the Egyptian specimens, and is not rare in the classical. Gideon's lamps must also have had handles; but that the Hebrew lamps were always furnished with handles we are not bound to infer : in Egypt we find lamps both with and without handles.
Cotton wicks are now used throughout Asia; but the Hebrews, like the Egyptians, probably em ployed the outer and coarser fiber of flax (Pliny, Hist. Nat. xix:1); and perhaps linen yarn, if the Rabbins are correct in alleging that the linen dresses of the priests were unraveled when old, to furnish wicks for the sacred lamps. (See CA N DLESTIC K.) (3) Use at Night. It seems that the Hebrews, like the modern Orientals, were accustomed to burn lamps overnight in their chambers; and this practice may appear to give point to the expression of 'outer darkness,' which repeatedly occurs in the New Testament (Matt. viii:r2;
xxii:x3) : the iorce is greater, however, when the contrast implied in the term 'outer' is viewed with reference to the effect produced by sudden ex pulsion into the darkness of night from a chamber highly illuminated for an entertainment. This custom of burning lamps at night, with the ef fect produced by their going out or being ex tinguished, supplies various figures.to the sacred writers (2 Sam. xxi :17; PrOV. xiii :9 ; xx:2o). And, on the other hand, the keeping up of a lamp's light is used as a symbol of enduring and unbroken succession (1 Kings xi:36; xv:4; Ps. cxxxii:17).
(4) Use at Marriage Ceremonies. It appears from Matt. xxv:1, that the Jews used lamps and torches in their marriage ceremonies, or rather when the bridegroom came to conduct home the bride by night. This is still the custom in those parts of the East where, on account of the heat of the day, the bridal procession takes place in the night time. The connection of lamps and torches with marriage ceremonies, it may be observed, is still preserved in Western Asia, even where it is no longer usual to bring home the bride by night. During two or three, or more nights preceding the wedding. the street or quarter in which the bridegroom lives is illuminated with chandeliers and lanterns, or with lanterns and small lamps suspended from cords drawn across from the bridegroom's house and several others on each side to the houses opposite: and several small silk flags. each of two colors, generally red and green, are attached to other cords (Lane's Afod. Egypt. i:2or). Lamps of this kind are sometimes hung over doors. There is reason to suppose that the Egyptians had lamps of glass, and if so, there is no reason why the Jews also might not have had them, especially as this material is more proper for lamps intended to be hung up, and therefore to cast their light down from above. The Jews certainly used lamps in other festivals besides those of marriage. If this custom had not been so general in the ancient and modern East, it might have been supposed that the Jews adopted it from the Egyptians, who, according to Herodotus (ii:62), had a 'Feast of Lamps,' which was celebrated at Sais,and,indeed, through out the country at a certain season of the year. The description which the historian gives of the lamps employed on this occasion, strictly applies to those in modern use already described, and the concurrence of both these sources of illus tration strengthens the probable analogy of Jew ish usage. He speaks of them as 'small vases filled with salt and olive-oil, in which the wick floated, and burnt during the whole night.' It does not indeed appear of what materials these vases were made; but we may reasonably suppose them to have been of glass.