an instrument to hold a candle, made in different forms, and of all sorts of matter.

The golden candlestick was one of the sacred utensils made by Moses to be placed in the Jewish tabernacle. It was made of hammered gold, a talent in weight. It consisted of seven branches supported by a base or foot. These branches were adorned at equal distances with five flowers like lilies, and with as many bowls and knobs placed alternately. Upon the stock and six branches of the candlestick were the golden lamps, which were immovable, wherein were put oil and cotton.

These seven lamps were lighted every evening, and extinguished every morning. The lamps had their tongs or snuffers to draw the cotton in or out, and dishes underneath them to receive the sparks or droppings of the oil. This candlestick was placed in the antechamber of the sanctuary on the south side, and served to illuminate the altar of perfume and the tabernacle of the shew-bread. When Solomon had built the temple of the Lord, he placed in it ten golden candlesticks of the same form as that described by Moses, five on the north and five on the south side of the holy: But after the Babylonish captivity, the golden candlestick was again placed in the temple, as it had been before in the tabernacle by Moses. This sacred utensil, upon the destruction of the temple by the Romans, was lodged in the temple of Peace built by Vespasian; and the representation of it is still to be seen on the triumphal arch at the foot of Mount Palatine, on which Vespasian's triumph is delineated.