Speaking about the Shpidin, The Rogatchover Gaon wants to say pshat that according to the Psikta that says it was 8 shpidin, they were really not mekayim the Mitzvah of the Menorah (as per Bais ha’Bchirah) it was just the mitzvah of Hadlakah. See the two links below. He explains that they lit the Ner haHaravi every day with a fresh shpid as the first one became Tamah being that once used it has a status of a “kli”…
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=40659&st=&pgnum=76
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15094&st=&pgnum=428&hilite=