Why is a mitzvah compared to a lamp and the Torah to light?

Question: The Book of Proverbs says: “For a mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light” (Proverbs 6:23). Why specifically a lamp and light?

Answer:

The Ben Ish Chai explains that a lamp has three main components:

1. The vessel that holds the oil.

2. The wick.

3. The oil.

If one of them is missing, the lamp cannot properly do its job.

So too the service of Hashem: it needs thought, speech and action.

The Ben Ish Chai adds that in the light of a flame one can also distinguish three shades, which hint at these three components.

That is why the Torah is called light and the mitzvah is called a lamp.