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Antiq.
Heb.

1. III. c.8.

Josephus, two, and one part put on the head*. Josephus represents it as a cap made of linen, twisted several times round, and smoothed by a covering of other linen, by which it was so fastened to the head, that it could not fall off in the time of officiating; so that it seems such a covering of the head as continues the custom of the eastern nations to this day, that is, a sort of turban.

High priest's garments.

Besides these garments of the priests in common, the ritual had provided richer and more glorious garments, for the high priest. These, by way of distinction, were called the golden garments, because wrought with gold, as well as purple and scarlet. These were four-the robe, or robe of the ephod; the ephod; the breastplate, in which was set the Urim and Thummim; and the golden plate for the mitre. The ritual directed the robe to be made after this manner: And thou shalt make the Xxxviii. robe of the ephod all of blue: and there shall 31,32,33. be an hole on the top of it, in the midst

Robe.

Exodus,

thereof; it shall have a binding of woven work, round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent. And beneath upon the hem of it, shalt thou make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof;

* Rotundum pileolum, quasi sphera media sit divisa, & pars una ponatur in capite, tiaram Græci, & nostri appellant. Sigonius de Repub. Hebr. 1. V. c. 2.

34.

36.

and bells of gold between them round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister; and his sound shall be heard, when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not. This coat of the ephod (according to Dr. Lightfoot) "was without any sleeves, and con- Temple "sisted of two pieces, one of which hung Service, "before, and the other behind; in the "middle there was an opening, through "which they put their heads; from the "collar, downwards, the pieces were part

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ed, and his arms came out between them; "at the lower end of either of these pieces were thirty-six little golden bells, with

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clappers, and pomegranates of needle"work between every bell: seventy-two "bells in all." This robe was blue, or the colour of the air. Hence Josephus and Philo, very reputable authors of the Hebrew nation, represent it a sky-colour, or as a sky-blue.

1. III.

xxviii.

Another part of the garments peculiar Ephod. to the high priest was the ephod: concerning this the ritual directs, And they shall Exodus, make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of 6-12. purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder-pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, cording to the work thereof, even of gold, of

Temple Service, 1. III.

blue, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And
thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave
on them the names of the children of Israel,
six of their names on one stone, and the
other six names of the rest on the other stone,
according to their birth; with the work of
an engraver in stone, like the engravings of
a signet shalt thou engrave the two stones,
with the names of the children of Israel:
thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of
gold. And thou shalt put the two stones
upon the shoulders of the ephod, for stones
of memorial unto the children of Israel. And
Aaron shall bear their names before the
Lord, upon his two shoulders, for a memo-
rial.
"the

According to Dr. Lightfoot,
"breadth of this ephod was the breadth of
"the back, from shoulder to shoulder, and
"it hung behind him, from his arm-holes
"to his feet; from it there came two pieces
"under his arm-holes, and met together,
"and clasped over his paps. It had two
"shoulder-pieces also, which went over the

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priest's shoulders, and were fastened to "the ephod behind, and to the girdle be"fore, and so the ephod hung low behind, "and came but short before. Upon these "shoulder-pieces were two beryl-stones, "in which the names of the twelve tribes "were engraven. Upon these shoulderpieces there were two bosses of gold, near "to these stones, into which two gold

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OF THE HEBREW WORSHIP.

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chains, which tied the breast-plate to the ephod, were fastened, that the breastplate and ephod might not be parted."

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Urim and

xxviii. 15.

The breast-plate, with the Urim and BreastThummim placed in it, was another plate with ment peculiarly appointed for the high Thumpriest. The ritual thus directed: And thou mim. shalt make the breast-plate of judgment with Exodus, cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen thou shalt make it. It was to be a Exodus, span square; four rows of stones were to xxviii.15. be set in it, and the stones were to be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, that they be according to the twelve tribes.

21.

It is directed also, this breast-plate should have chains and rings of gold, by which it was to be fastened to the ephod, that the breast-plate be not parted from the ephod. This breast-plate, then, according to Dr. Lightfoot*, "was a rich piece of Ibid. "cloth of gold, an hand-breadth square,

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double, and set with twelve precious stones, in four rows, three in a row: "these," he adds, "are called Urim and

* Huic insertæ erant 12 gemmæ per 4 ordines digestæ, quibus insculptæ erant nomina filiorum Israelis, quas ipsas nomine D'on appellatas fuisse, videtur liquere ex Exod. xxxv. 9, & collatis Exod. xxxix. 10, Levit. viii. 8.-Reland Ant. Heb. Part II. c. i. p. 152.

Patrick

viii. 8.

"Thummim, Exod. xxviii.30." Most learn-
ed men agree
with Dr. Lightfoot in this opi-
nion; Reland, in particular, gives some
reasons to confirm it, as what alone is ac-
cording to the pattern and directions given
by the law: and it must seem very strange,
that the law should be quite silent on a part
of the priest's garments, of so principal use
as the Urim and Thummim, when it is so
particular in every other part.

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"It is observable," says Bishop Patrick, on Levit." that he (Moses) saith nothing here in "this place of the precious stones, but only " mentions Urim and Thummim; as in Ex"odus, xxxix. 10, where he describes the "same thing, he makes mention only of "the four rows of stones, but saith not one word of Urim and Thummim; which I look upon as a proof they were all one." This seems more likely than the conjectures of some learned men, without any authority from the ritual itself, and founded only on very uncertain criticism. Some have imagined they were a kind of teraphim, or two little images, which gave the oracle. So Spencer represents the opinion of Castro*. He differs from him, as supposing but one image, not two; and

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* Non à veritate, sine ratione saltem speciosa aberravit author noster, cum simulachra duo quorum unum Urim, alterum Thummim dicebatur, ad hoc oraculi tradendi munus, consecrasse, dixerit. Spencer,

1. III. Dissert. vii. 353.

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