וְכַפְתֹּ֡ר תַּחַת֩ שְׁנֵ֨י הַקָּנִ֜ים מִמֶּ֗נָּה וְכַפְתֹּר֙ תַּ֣חַת שְׁנֵ֤י הַקָּנִים֙ מִמֶּ֔נָּה וְכַפְתֹּ֕ר תַּחַת־שְׁנֵ֥י הַקָּנִ֖ים מִמֶּ֑נָּה לְשֵׁ֙שֶׁת֙ הַקָּנִ֔ים הַיֹּצְאִ֖ים מִן־הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃
在燈臺伸出的兩個分枝下面要有一個球,與燈臺連成一體;在另外兩個分枝下面要有一個球,與燈臺連成一體;在再兩個分枝下面也要有一個球,與燈臺連成一體;從燈臺伸出的六個分枝都要這樣。
Siftei Chakhamim
Upon which the kohein stood. You might ask: Surely a man is four amos high, corresponding to twenty-four tefachim, while the height of the menorah was only eighteen tefachim, as Rashi explains in Parshas Terumah (Shemos 25:35). If so, why does he need a platform? The answer is that the tefachim of the Temple were ‘extended,’ such that the eighteen tefachim of the menorah were equal to twenty-four regular tefachim, i.e. equal to the height of a man. If one comes to clean the lamps he needs to see inside the lamps in order to clean them, therefore he needed a platform. (Divrei Dovid) Were all the kohanim of equal height? Surely it is possible that a kohein has a slightly shorter stature. Thus there needs to be a platform there so that every kohein can comfortably perform the service of the menorah.
Rashi
כפתריה ITS KNOBS — These were like apples, globular, projecting all round the middle branch (shaft), such as are made for candlesticks of princely houses (lit., which stand before the princes), and which are called pommeaux in old French, apple-shaped ornaments. Their number is stated in this section — how many knobs projected from it (the middle branch) and how much was left plain between one knob and the other.