These verses are similar to 25.37-39, but there are several significant differences, especially in verse 23. The verbs, of course, are here rendered in the past tense. The second part of 25.37 is omitted entirely in verse 23, since it refers to the placement of the lamps rather than to how they were made. Verse 24 is almost the same as 25.39, but all its utensils is different from “all these utensils.”

The seven lamps, as Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, and others translate, seem to have been made of pure gold, whereas in 25.37 it is not indicated what material was used. (See the comment there.) Good News Translation may be correct in separating the first part of verse 23 from the second part with a comma, for the Masoretic Text shows a major mark setting the word for lamps apart from the other things. Thus the words of pure gold may be understood as referring only to the snuffers and the trays. The ceramic oil lamp was used so widely in Israelite households that we would expect the Hebrew text to be more explicit than it is. However, it is probably better to assume that these lamps were also made of gold.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .