Light & Olive Oil in the Time of the Bible

“You shall charge the sons of Israel that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.” Exodus 27:20

Today, when night falls, to illuminate our homes, we simply switch on the lights. But how did people in the time of the Bible light their their homes in the dark? The word oil is referenced over 70 times in the Bible, illustrating the sheer importance of oil dating back thousands of years. Lighting an oil lamp was how homes were illuminated at night, and olive oil was the most widely available, and most used oil. We know both from ancient scriptures, and from archeological findings, that throughout history until today, lighting olive oil has, and continues, to take us from darkness, into the light. 

Olive oil burns at a slow and steady pace, much slower than other oils, making it the optimal choice during the dark hours of the night. Olive oil quickly became a much sought-after commodity in the time of the bible, and with it, a symbol of success, wealth, and prosperity. Only those rich enough could afford to buy olive oil to light their homes, while the less fortunate, those with lesser means, simply lived in the dark at night. 

At the time of the Bible, olive oil had other important uses as well, where it was used for cooking, producing cosmetics, to soothe and protect the skin, and for medicinal purposes. It was an integral part of people’s diets, as is written in the Bible by the repetition of the word, oil (in Hebrew, “Yitzhar”), together with wine, and grain, cited in Deuteronomy 7:13, 11:14, 12:17, 18:4, and other verses. For thousands of years, and up until today, olive oil is an essential ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine, and its production was one of the major sources of income in the time of the Bible.

Olive Oil in the Bible and in Sacred Rituals

Because of its significance in daily life, olive oil also was thought to have sacred and healing powers, and it was was used for holy rituals, such as anointing the Kings of Israel and Judea to show all that God chose them to rule (1 Samuel 16:1). Olive oil was also used to sanctify priests (Exodus 29:7), the tabernacle, and its holy furnishings (Exodus 40:9). It was used to produce anointing oil, the most celebrated of which was for lighting the elements inside the Temple. In fact, many scriptures and writings from the time of the Bible include detailed instructions on how to light the Temple lamps using anointing oil.

The most common use of olive oil at the time of the Bible was for lighting small lamps in the home, and for lighting the Temple “menorah,” described in the Bible as the seven-lamp (six branches) ancient Hebrew lampstand made of pure gold and used in the tabernacle. We know from the scriptures that fresh olive oil was burned daily to light the Temple lamps, the eternal flame, symbolizing God’s presence that illuminates and enlightens the world. 

Olive oil, in the time of the Bible, was the sacred source of the anointing oil used to produce the light that would, in turn, light up the world. And this was the proclamation and the light of Jesus, who called himself the “light of the world.”