Leviticus 24:2

Pure oil olive. The instruction here given in regard to oil for the lamps of the candlestick is the same as that recorded in Ex. 27:20, 21. The oil was furnished by the congregation, as was also the flour for the shewbread and the loaves of the Feast of Weeks. Aaron was responsible for the lamps, and at first he trimmed them himself (Ex. 30:8), but later this became the work of the priests.

Ordinary oil was pressed out in an oil press, but oil for the sanctuary lamps was beaten out. The berries were carefully washed, and all impurities, leaves, and twigs removed. Then they were beaten and bruised, and the oil was allowed to seep out of itself. This produced less oil than the other method, but the result was a superior product.

Authorities do not agree as to whether the lamps burned both day and night. Verse 3 says that Aaron shall “order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually,” whereas v. 2 states that the lamps are to burn continually. According to Ex. 30:8, Aaron lighted the lamps in the evening, but 1 Sam. 3:3 speaks of “the lamp of God” going out. In standard practice, however, “the lamps were never all extinguished at one time, but shed their light by day and by night” (PP 348). The various statements, while seeming to be contradictory, are thus actually harmonious. It is probable that the “lamp of God” (1 Sam. 3:3) was not the candlestick. Or it may have been that Eli was not as careful as he might have been in following the prescribed ritual. As there must always be a sacrifice on the altar and shewbread on the table, so also there must always be a lamp burning. Even in the daytime the natural light would be insufficient for the priests to perform the daily ritual, in a tent heavily covered and without windows.