(Exodus 28:1 - 28:43)
From among the Israelites appoint your brother Aaron to minister to me as high priest, that is, Aaron along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Make sacred vestments for your brother Aaron to reflect the magnificence and dignity of his office. You must therefore instruct craftsman, those I have endowed with the greatest skill, to create a special wardrobe appropriate for Aaron’s office as high priest.
These are the articles of clothing that should be made: a chestpiece, a vest, a robe, a patterned tunic, a turban, and a sash. These sacred vestments should be made for Aaron and his sons to wear when they minister to me as priests. (Gold and fine linen of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn should be used in making them.)
The vest should be made by skilled craftsmen of finely loomed linen of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and decorated with gold. It should consist of two pieces, a front and a back, fastened together by two shoulder straps. The decorative sash, of similar craftsmanship, should be executed as well in finely loomed linen of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.
Select two onyx stones and engrave them with the names of the 12 sons of Israel, six on one stone and six on the other, inscribed in the order of their birth. (This should be done in the same manner as a jeweler would engrave a signet ring.) Mount the gems into settings of gold and attach them onto the shoulders of the vest to represent Israel’s sons. Aaron should wear their names on his shoulders to honor Jehovah’s memory of them. Also there should be set upon the shoulders of the vest two gold rings with two strands of purest gold twisted together into a cord and threaded into the rings.
With great care and skill you should make a chestpiece (worn for seeking the judgment of Jehovah) to match the vest with its finely loomed linen made of yarn dyed blue, purple, and scarlet. It should be folded in two so that it will be 9 inches square. Upon it there should be mounted four rows of gemstones. In the first row there should be a carnelian, a topaz, and an emerald; in the second, a turquoise, a lapis lazuli, and a beryl; in the third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; in the fourth, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They should be mounted in gold settings. The stones, representing the sons of Israel, should be engraved like a signet with the names of each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
For the chestpiece make twisted strands of purest gold. Put two gold rings on the top corners of the chestpiece and attach the gold cords to them, then attach the other ends of the cords into the gold rings at the shoulders of the vest. Put two more gold rings on the bottom corners of the chestpiece, on the inside surface next to the vest. Next, make two more rings for the vest and place them at the edges of the vest just above the sash. With blue cords bind the vest to the chestpiece by running the cords through both sets of rings and securing them. In this way the chestpiece piece will be securely attached to the vest and be positioned just above the sash.
Aaron shall thusly bear the names of the sons of Israel upon his chest and over his heart when he goes to perform his sacred duties before Jehovah. (They will serve, too, as a reminder to Jehovah of his contract with Israel’s people.) Inserted into the pouch of the folded chestpiece (over Aaron's heart) should be the Urim and the Thimmim, to assist him in making judgments for the Israelites. Thus, when Aaron approaches Jehovah he will always carry them with him.
The robe covering the vest should be of a single piece of cloth, blue in color. It should have a hole in the top of it. Around the hole, so that it will not tear, there should be a row of top stitching like that which binds the borders of garments. The hem of the robe should be adorned with decorative motif consisting of pomegranate balls, made of yarn dyed blue, purple, and scarlet, and gold bells, with the pomegranates and the bells alternating in the decoration around the entire length of the hem. Aaron must always wear this robe when ministering so the tinkle of the bells will announce his presence as he enters and exits the Sanctum; otherwise he might be thought a violator and killed.
And there should be made a medallion of pure gold and engraved upon it, in the manner of signets, "Holiness to Jehovah." It should be fastened with a blue cord to the turban. It should be placed in the front of the turban so that it hangs over the forehead of the high priest. It should rest on Aaron's forehead to symbolize his role in assuming the guilt of his people and in making the offerings they consecrate to Jehovah acceptable to him. (It must always rest on his forehead so that Jehovah will be pleased with the offerings.)
The tunic should be made from finely loomed, patterned linen. A turban should be fashioned from the same material, and there should be a decorated sash.
For the sons of Aaron you should also make linen robes, sashes, and turbans of magnificence and dignity. Garb your brother Aaron and his sons in these vestments, consecrate, and anoint them so that they may serve as priests for me.
Also you should make for them linen underdrawers to cover their bare skin from the waist to the knees. Aaron and his sons should wear them whenever they enter the Tabernacle or approach the altar to officiate in the Sanctum; not to do so is to commit a capital offense. (This will be a permanent rule for them and for the descendants that will succeed them.)
Notes
1. Finding the correct names for the gems to be fitted into the chestpiece has always been problematic. Many translations, especially the older ones, cite gems that would not have been available to the Israelites. Diamonds were not known in the West or Middle East until Roman times, and even then it was a long time after before they were cut into gemstones. Sapphires and rubies were also not known during biblical times. Although modern translators should know better, there are still references to these gems in many recent versions of the Bible. It should be mentioned that this interest in gemstones on the part of the Hebrews is probably derived from the Egyptians. Gemstones were regarded as having mystical properties as well as symbolic significance.
2. The gold chains described would be corded chains made of twisted strands like a rope and not the linked chain, which was not invented until the 3rd Century B.C.
2. The description of the robe, apparently just a piece of material with a hole in it, gives one an insight to the rather primitive state of tailoring at this time. A sash to secure at the waist would be necessary to prevent the robe from being a formless sack. The vest is just two pieces, a front and back, no fastenings, not even sewn together, but attached with straps. Rings tied together seem to be the sole means of fastening at the time and little sewing of the fabric seems to be done. Decoration of garments is often referenced. Were they painted or dyed or was there some sort of applique involved? Embroidery, the obvious means of decoration, was not yet practiced, although many translations inaccurately use the term.
3. Different translations suggest disparate images of how the Jehovan high priest may have looked. Breastplate, mitre, and girdle present a different picture than the more accurate chestpiece, turban, and sash. The vest is generally called the Ephod, but I have avoided using the term for what was in all respects a vest.
3. The Urim and Thimmim are a source of much intriguing speculation. Most believe they were small objects of some sort, gems, amulets, stones, tablets, that were held inside the chestpiece. The words mean something akin to revealed truth. The Urim and the Thimmim functioned as a means of divination in some way we do not understand. The authors of Exodus probably did not understand their use either, since by the time of the writing of the Bible the practice had died out. We may assume that the high priest would sometimes be consulted as an oracle. Divinely inspired answers to the questions posed to him would be conveyed through the Urim, meaning “no” or “guilty” and the Thimmim, meaning “yes” or “innocent.” Possibly the objects were cast like lots or one of them was drawn out from the chestpiece by the priest as an “answer.” The result of the ceremony would express the will and judgment of Jehovah. There was a similar practice among the ancient Canaanites and the pre-Islamic Arabs. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saints, reportedly used the Urim and the Thimmim, diamond-like stones, to translate the gold tablets upon which the Book of Mormon was inscribed.
4. There is a provision that the priest must wear underdrawers (that seems the best translation since breeches are not regarded as undergarments and a loincloth would not covered the thigh). This is to prevent any leg from showing, a petty detail, but, upon reflection, not so unreasonable, for I imagine few would care to see a modern priest celebrating mass in shorty shorts.
5. Jehovah understandably wants his priests to look like something and be well turned out. The gemstones and all the gold, however, suggest what is to most moderns an unseemly opulence -- inconsistent, to be sure, with the Christian (at least early Christian and Protestant) attitude toward ostentatious displays of wealth.
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