Candle

The word rendered candle in the King James Version consistently refers to an oil lamp rather than a wax candle, as candles were not used in ancient Israel. The Hebrew ner and Greek lychnos both denote a clay or metal lamp burning olive oil. Scripture uses the lamp as a rich symbol: God's word is a lamp to one's feet and a light to one's path (Psalm 119:105); the lamp of the wicked is said to be put out in judgment (Job 18:6; Proverbs 24:20); and a virtuous woman's lamp does not go out at night (Proverbs 31:18). Jesus used the lamp as an image of witness and judgment — a city on a hill cannot be hidden, nor is a lamp put under a basket (Matthew 5:14–15) — and of readiness, as in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13).