Said to Moses: see 4.1.

Command the people of Israel: in other contexts where a series of regulations is introduced, the verb used is simply “Say…” (as in 23.34 and elsewhere), but a stronger term is used in this verse. Also at this point the translator must once again decide whether to use direct (as in Revised Standard Version) or indirect discourse (as in Good News Translation). Naturalness in the receptor language should be the determining factor. It is even possible to have an additional level of quotation, since Moses tells the people what the LORD told him. But quotations within quotations are often a problem in languages that do not have a long history of written documents.

Pure oil from beaten olives: this indicates the purest and finest available olive oil, which results from pounding the olives in a mortar and then straining the liquid. The idea of purity may be expressed in some languages by the word “clear,” which is very similar to the Hebrew. Compare 2.1 where the more general term for oil is used. The whole phrase may be rendered “clear oil from olives that have been crushed.”

The lamp … a light: the Hebrew has the singular forms lamp and light here, but the singular may possibly be taken in the collective sense, making it synonymous with “lamps” in verse 4. Porter, however, insists that this passage, together with Exodus 27.20-21 and other references, indicates the presence of a single lamp, separate from the lamps that were on the lampstand mentioned in verse 4 and following and that were described in Exodus 25.31-40 and 37.17-24. In this case, the distinction between the singular and plural (verse 4) should be maintained in the receptor language.

Continually: this may be translated “every evening” or “regularly,” since the following verse makes it clear that they did not burn throughout the day. In some languages the habitual form of the verb may be adequate to translate the idea here.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .