Matthew 5:15
New International Version
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

New Living Translation
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.

English Standard Version
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Berean Standard Bible
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Berean Literal Bible
Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but upon the lampstand, and it gives light to all those in the house.

King James Bible
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

New King James Version
Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

New American Standard Bible
nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
“Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Legacy Standard Bible
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.

Amplified Bible
nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Christian Standard Bible
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.

American Standard Version
Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they do not light a lamp and set it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all those who are in the house.

Contemporary English Version
and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a clay pot. Instead, it is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.

English Revised Version
Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house.

Good News Translation
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house.

International Standard Version
People don't light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Literal Standard Version
nor do they light a lamp and put it under the measure, but on the lampstand, and it shines to all those in the house;

Majority Standard Bible
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

New American Bible
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.

NET Bible
People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

New Revised Standard Version
No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

New Heart English Bible
Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.

Webster's Bible Translation
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a close vessel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light to all that are in the house.

Weymouth New Testament
Nor is a lamp lighted to be put under a bushel, but on the lampstand; and then it gives light to all in the house.

World English Bible
Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.

Young's Literal Translation
nor do they light a lamp, and put it under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, and it shineth to all those in the house;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Salt and Light
14You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.…

Cross References
Zechariah 4:2
"What do you see?" he asked. "I see a solid gold lampstand," I replied, "with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.

Mark 4:21
Jesus also said to them, "Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn't he set it on a stand?

Luke 8:16
No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

Luke 11:33
No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a basket. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

Luke 11:36
So if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, you will be radiant, as though a lamp were shining on you."

Philippians 2:15
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

Hebrews 9:2
A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place.


Treasury of Scripture

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house.

do.

Mark 4:21
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?

Luke 8:16
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

Luke 11:33
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

a bushel.

it giveth.

Exodus 25:37
And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.

Numbers 8:2
Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.

Jump to Previous
Basket Bowl Burning Bushel Candle Candlestick Close Gives House Instead Lampstand Light Measure Measuring Rays Shines Shineth Stand Table Vessel
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Basket Bowl Burning Bushel Candle Candlestick Close Gives House Instead Lampstand Light Measure Measuring Rays Shines Shineth Stand Table Vessel
Matthew 5
1. Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3. The Beattitudes;
13. the salt of the earth;
14. the light of the world.
17. He came to fulfill the law.
21. What it is to kill;
27. to commit adultery;
33. to swear.
38. He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43. to love our enemies;
48. and to labor after perfection.














(15) Light a candle.--The word so rendered was probably a portable lamp rather than a candle in the common meaning of the word. The candles of the seven-branched candlestick of the Temple were undoubtedly lamps supplied with oil, and so probably were the "candles" of household use. The word is not the same, however, as that used for the "lamps" of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1), and was applied apparently to the cheaper vessels of the poor rather than to those of the wealthy. Wiclif translates it "lantern."

The image was drawn from objects familiar to all the hearers, and the presence of the article in the Greek, "under the bushel," "on the candlestick or lamp-stand," implies the familiarity. Each cottage had one such article of furniture. The "bushel" was a Latin measure, nearly the same as the English peck. It adds to the interest of the illustration to remember that as they were commonly of wood, such articles as these must often have been turned out from the carpenter's shop at Nazareth for the use of its neighbours. It should also be remembered that the self-same word had been applied a short time before by our Lord to the Baptist (John 5:35). His disciples were in this way to continue the Baptist's work.

Verse 15. - Neither do men light a candle, etc. The same illustration comes in Luke 8:16 (Mark 4:21), immediately after the parable of the sower, and again in Luke 11:33, immediately after the reference to the repentance of the men of Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah. All four passages have too much verbal similarity to admit of any of them being absolutely independent. Mark 4:21 has the greatest number of peculiarities. The two passages in Luke agree very closely with each other, but of the two, Luke 11:33 most resembles Matthew. The close agreement here with the context seems to point to this being an original position of the utterance. Of the other two contexts Luke 11:33, if we must choose, seems the more natural. Godet, however, says, "This passage has been placed in the sermon on the mount, like so many others, rather because of the association of ideas than from historical reminiscence" (similarly Weiss). Neither. The inherent position, so to speak, of Christ's disciples, as of a city set on a mountain, is not accidental. It answers to the purpose of their being disciples, as is explained further by the illustration of a lamp. A candle; Revised Version, a lamp (λύχνον); i.e. the flat, saucer-like Eastern lamp, in which sometimes the wick merely floats on the oil A bushel... a candlestick; Revised Version, the bushel... the stand (τὸν μόδιον... τὴν λυχνίαν). Probably rightly, for if the article had been generic (cf. Mishna, 'Sabb.,' 4:2, "One may fill a pitcher [literally, 'the pitcher,' את הקיתון]. and put it under, a [literally, 'the'] pillow, or under a [literally, the] bolster [on the sabbath in order to take the chill off it]," W.H. Lowe, 'Fragment of Pesachim,' 1879, p. 95; cf. also Driver on 1 Samuel 19:13) it would have been found also before λύχνον. "The description applies to the common houses of the people. In each there was one principal room, in which they ate and slept; the lampstand, with its single light, the flour-bin, and the bed, with a few seats, were all its furniture" (Cook, in 'Speaker's Commentary,' on Mark 4:21 ). A bushel (τὸν μόδιον). This is probably equivalent to the seah (so Peshito), which was "the ordinary measure for domestic purposes," and, as slated in the margins of the Authorized and the Revised Versions on Matthew 13:33, held "nearly a peck and a half" dry measure. The Latin modius, here used to render scab, itself held nearly a peck. In Luke 8:16 the vaguer term δκεῦος is used. "Bushel" is retained in the Revised Version probably because it can be used of the vessel apart from all thought of measure; cf. "The Sense represents the Sun no bigger than a Bushel" (Hale [1677], in Murray's 'Oxford Dictionary'). But on a candlestick; Revised Version, but on the stand (ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν); Vulgate, from Old Latin, Neque accendunt lucernam et possunt cam sub modio sed super candelabrum. Candelabrum (cf. "chandelier") meant a stand for either candles or lamps; hence Wickliffe, translating from the Vulgate, could say, "Ne me[n] teen-dith not a lanterne & puttith it vndir a buyschel: but on a candilstik." We still use "candlestick" in the rarer sense when we speak of the seven-branched "candlestick" of the tabernacle, which was lighted by lamps, not candies (cf. Humphry, on Revised Version, in loc.). It giveth Light; Revised Version, it shineth (λάμπει). The Rheims alone of the older English versions renders" shine," thus showing that the same Greek word is used as in the next verse. The Vulgate (followed by Wickliffe and Rheims) renders it in the subjunctive, ut lucent, possibly originally a copyist's error from the luceat of ver. 16. If so, it was apparently made before the time of Tertullian ('De Prescript.,' § 26). The thought is stir primarily of the light itself being necessarily seen rather than of its benefiting others (φωτίζω, Luke 11:36; cf. John 1:9). To all. For in a room none can help noticing it, even though the lamp and the light itself be but small. The negative of this verse is given in Pseudo-Cyprian, 'De Aleat.,' 3, "Monet dominus et dicit: nolite contris tare Spiritum Sanctum, qui in vobis est, et nolite exstinguere lumen, quod in vobis efful sit" (vide Resch, 'Agrapha,' pp. 111, 215).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Neither
οὐδὲ (oude)
Conjunction
Strong's 3761: Neither, nor, not even, and not. From ou and de; not however, i.e. Neither, nor, not even.

do [people] light
καίουσιν (kaiousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2545: To ignite, light, burn, lit. and met; I consume with fire. Apparently a primary verb; to set on fire, i.e. Kindle or consume.

a lamp
λύχνον (lychnon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3088: A lamp. From the base of leukos; a portable lamp or other illuminator.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

put
τιθέασιν (titheasin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 5087: To put, place, lay, set, fix, establish. A prolonged form of a primary theo to place.

it
αὐτὸν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

under
ὑπὸ (hypo)
Preposition
Strong's 5259: A primary preposition; under, i.e. of place, or with verbs; of place (underneath) or where (below) or time (when).

a basket.
μόδιον (modion)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3426: A dry measure, nearly two English gallons. Of Latin origin; a modius, i.e. Certain measure for things dry.

Instead,
ἀλλ’ (all’)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

[they set it] on
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

a lampstand,
λυχνίαν (lychnian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3087: A lamp-stand. From luchnos; a lamp-stand.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

it gives light
λάμπει (lampei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2989: To shine, give light. A primary verb; to beam, i.e. Radiate brilliancy.

to everyone
πᾶσιν (pasin)
Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

house.
οἰκίᾳ (oikia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3614: From oikos; properly, residence, but usually an abode; by implication, a family.


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