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The Iligh-priesfs Kobe. (From Biauu, ut atip. p. 4G0.) " He compassed him with pomegranates and with many golden bells round about, that as he Avent there might be a soimd, and a noise made that might be heard in the Temple, for a memorial to the children of his peo- ple." Perhaps, however, he means to intimate that the use of the bells was to give notice to the people outside when the high-priest went in and came out of the sanc- tuary, as Whiston, Vatablus, and many others have sup- posed. See Kobe.
(5.) The epkod, 'ISX, consisted of two parts, of which one covered the back, and the other the front, i. e. the breast and upper part of the body, like the tTrai/d'e of the Greeks (see Smith, Diet, of AnHquilies, s. v. Tunica). These were clasped together on the shoidder with two large onyx stones, each having engraved on it six of the names of the tribes of Israel. It was further united by a " curious girdle" of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen round the waist. Upon it was placed the breastplate of judgment, which in fact was a part of the ephod, being included in the term in such passages as 1 Sam. ii, 28 ; xiv, 3 ; xxiii, 9, and was fastened to it just above the curious girdle of the ephod. Linen ephods were also worn by other priests (1 Sam. xxii, 18). by Samuel, who was only a Levite (1 Sam. ii, 18), and by David when bringing up the ark (2 Sam. vi, 14), The expression for wearing an ephod is ^•gh-ded with a linen ephod." The ephod was also frequently used in the idolatrous worship of the Israelites (see Judg. viii, 27 ; xvii, 5, etc.). See Ephod.
(6.) The breasfplaie, *TI3h, clio'slien, or, as it is further named, verses 15, 29, 30, the breastplate of judgment, aQ'IJ'a V^'^^^' ^oytiov Tuiv Kpiatwv (or rjjc Kpla(tog) in the Sept., only in ver. 4 TriptarijOiov. It was, like the inner curtains of the tabernacle, the vail, and the ephod, of "cunning work," 3'^?'^ '^"4??.^ (^'u^g- ojms plumcn-i- um. and arte jilumaria). See Embroider. The breast- plate was originally two spans long and one span broad, but when doubled it was square, the shape in which it
The High-priest's Breastplate. (From Braun, Be Vestitu Sacerdotuvi Hcbrceorum, p. 4S6-S.)
1. The "(tin, cho'shen (lit. ornnment), or pectoral gorget itself, with its four rings, 6, m"S^, tabhaoth' (lit. seals or signets), constituting the inside, a, when put on, be= iiig then folded down backward under.
2. The plate of twelve gems, set In gold, c, attached to the linen backing at the upper edge ; with its two gold wreathen chains, d, nibs.^'O rii"ld"l^ {chains of cords), to hook its upper corners' to the shoulder-clasps of the ephod, as at/, tig. 3 ; e, two hyacinth-colored ribbons at-
HIGH-PRIEST
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I
m si
tached to the lower corners of the plate for passing tlirough the other iwo riugs of the liueu, and theu tying to tlie hip-rings of the ephod, as at y, tig 3. 3. The Ei'uoi) (q. v.), with the breastplate inserted, and the two straps, h, constituting the girdle, 311"n, che'sheb {belt), of the ephod.
■was worn. It was fastened at the top rings and by chains of ^\Teathen gold to the two onyx stones on the shoidders, and beneath with two other rings and a lace of blue to two corresponding rings in the ephod, to keep it tixed in its place, above the curious girdle. But the most remarkable and most important part of this breast- plate were the twelve precious stones, set in four rows, three in a row, thus corresponding to the twelve tribes, and divided in the same manner as their camps were, each stone having the name of one of the children of Israel engraved upon it. Whether the onler followed the ages of the sons of Israel, or, as seems most probable, the order of the encampment, may be doubted; but,im- less some appropriate distinct sj-mbolism of the different tribes be found in the names of the precious stones, the question can scarcely be decided. According to the Sept. and Josephus, and in accordance with the lan- guage of Scripture, it was these stones which consti- tuted the Urim and Thummim, nor does the notion ad- vocated by Gesenius after Spencer and others, that these names designated two little images placed between the folds of the breastplate, seem to rest on any sufficient ground, in spite of the Egyptian analogy brought to bear upon it. (For an account of the image of Thmei worn by the Egyptian judge and priest, ste Kalisch's note on Exod. xxviii; Hengstiiilicr^'s JO/i/pt and the £oo':s of Moses; Wilkinson's l-jjiipl'imifi. ii. 27, etc.) Jo- sephus's ophiion, on the other hand, impro\-ed upon by the rabbins, as to the manner in which the stones gave out the oracular answer, by preternatural illumination, appears equally destitute of probability. It seems to be far simplest, and most in agreement with the different accounts of inquiries made by Urim and Thummim (1 Sam. xiv, 3, 18, 19 ; xxiii, 2, 4, 9, 11,12; xxviii, 6 ; Judg. XX, 28; 2 Sam. v, 23, etc.), to suppose that the answer was given simply by the Word of the Lord to the high- priest (comp. John xi, 51), when he had inquired of the Lord, clothed with the ephod and breastplate. Such a view agrees with the true notion of the breastplate, of which it was not the leading characteristic to be oracu- lar (as the term Xoyt loj^ supposes, and as is by many thought to be intimated liy the descriptive addition "of judgment," i. e. as they understand it, "decision"), but only an incidental jirivilege connected w'ith its funda- mental meaning. What that meaning was we leant from Exod. xxviii, 30, where we read, "Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually." Now IJE'Cj'a is the judi- cial sentence by which any one is eitlier justified or con- demned. In prophetic vision, as in actual Oriental life, the sentence of justification was often expressed by the nature of the robe worn. "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself ■with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels" (Isa. Ixi, 10), is a good illustration of this; comp. Ixii, .3. In like manner, in Eev. iii, 5 ; vii, 9; xix, 14, etc., the white linen robe expresses the righteousness or justi- fication of saints. Something of the same notion may be seen in Esth. vi, 8, 9, and on the contrary ver. 12. The addition of precious stones and costly ornaments express- es glorj' beyond simple justification. So, in Isa, Ixii, 3, " Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." Ex- actly the same s\TnboUsm of glory is assigned to the precious stones in the description of the New Jerusalem (Rev. xxi, 11, 12-21), a passage which ties together with singular force the arrangement of the tribes in their camps and that of the precious stones in the breastplate. ~ut, moreover, the high-priest being a representative personage, the fortimes of the whole people would most