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golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

35 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.

36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

37 And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.

38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

39 ¶ And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of 8 Heb. fill their hand.

7 Ecclus. 45. 9.

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40 T And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.

42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover 'their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach :

10.

43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

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Verse 2. Holy garments.'-Under the views which have been indicated in the notes to ch. xxv. we may expect to derive from the antiquities of Egypt no small illustration of the details given in this chapter. These details are somewhat obscure to us, as the particulars relate to matters remote from our actual knowledge, but clear to those to whom the law was given, as they had, or were to have, the same particulars exemplified before their eyes in circumstances of dress and usage. The dresses and ceremonies of the Egyptian priesthood are represented most profusely in the sculp

tured and pictured monuments of Egypt; and if the views we have already set forth be correct, we may reasonably calculate on obtaining from this source some more distinct notions of the priestly costumes of the Hebrews than can through any other means be secured. Indeed, the degree of success with which this object may be realised, might not unfairly be made a test of the general soundness of the principle, that the Hebrew ritual embodied a guarded transfer of modified and expurgated Egyptian ceremonies to the worship of the true God. Before proceeding to the

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8. EGYPTIAN EPHOD.

details, we may point out a few general considerations. The priests ministered at the altar and in the holy place with covered heads and naked feet, like the priests of Egypt; but these indeed have ever been, throughout the East, circumstances of respect. Their services were, in most respects, the same as those of the Egyptian priests, as, indeed, necessarily resulted from the fact, that the Lord required from them most of the observances which they had learned to regard as acts of becoming worship, but always took care to draw the line distinctly between the good and the evil, the use and the abuse. They were hence also required to be as scrupulously clean as the Egyptian priests; they were to bathe themselves with water daily, before they commenced their ministrations; before their original consecration they were also ordered to shave their persons completely; but it does not appear that they were required to keep themselves thus constantly shaven, like the priests of Egypt. Indeed, we know that they wore beards, which the latter never did: but although they were forbidden to shave their heads, they were not allowed to appear with long hair at the time of their ministrations; and the highpriest, whose presence was always necessary, was not allowed to let his hair grow at all, but had it cut close, once every week. Compare Lev. xxi. 5, and Ezek. xliv. 20. We are inclined to suspect that the reason why, although their hair was kept short, it was not shaven, was that they might not be induced to wear wigs, etc., like the Egyptians, which might with other circumstances have suggested or tended to the use of such symbolical hooded masks, representing the heads of beasts, birds, etc., as were on some occasions worn in their ministrations by the priests of Egypt. The retention of the beard would also be an obstacle to this. In ordinary life, when not engaged in their sacred duties, the priests were dressed like other Israelites of good condition; but, like the priests of Egypt, they had a peculiar dress, appropriated to their sacred ministrations. This dress was kept in the wardrobe of the tabernacle, and was put on by the priests before they commenced their actual duties, and afterwards restored to the wardrobe. Exod. xxviii. 4-13; Ezek. xliii. 14; xliv. 19. The Jewish

writers speak much concerning the priestly ropes, but with particular reference to the temple, where doubtless the usages in this matter were the same as in the tabernacle. We learn from them that a priest could not officiate without his robes, evidently to preclude him from wearing any other, with superstitious or idolatrous symbols; neither could he wear these beyond the sacred precincts. When the priests arrived to take their turns of duty, they put off their usual dress, washed themselves in water, and put on the holy garments. While they were in the temple, attending upon their service, they could not sleep in their sacred habit, but in their own wearing clothes: these they put off in the morning, when they went to their service, and, after bathing, resumed their official dress.

The more detailed comparison to which we now proceed will be useful not only from the analogies it may suggest, but by enabling us to detect such differences as suggest a reason for the minute directions concerning dresses which are given-namely, to exclude matters that were objectionable, as being idolatrously symbolical, or as tending to idolatry or superstition, by preventing everything from being used which was not described. The Hebrews were at this time acquainted with no other forms of ritual worship, no other priestly institutions and attire, than those of Egypt, which were so calculated to strike, and did strike, their imaginations deeply; and there can be no doubt that, if left to themselves in the establishment of their ritual, they would have followed the Egyptian model, their tendency to which continued for a long time to be very strong. We shall now be able partly to see with what wisdom this tendency was met, and limited, and guided, by their new ritual being adapted, so far as it might with usefulness or safety, to the notions they had imbibed. We may easily believe that if this had not been done-if they had been confined to a system more simple and austere, when all the world had fallen into pompous ceremonials-the probabilities of their being drawn aside into idolatry would have been increased beyond calculation. In more ways than one did God deal with the Israelites as a parent deals with his children.

The dresses of the Egyptian priests were various, according to the god they served and the office they exercised: in Israel there were but two dresses, that of the priests and that of the high-priest. We shall see whether, among the dresses of the former, we cannot illustrate or explain the latter. The description of the priestly dress which is given in this chapter is rather defective, probably from most of the articles being then so well known as to need no particular description. It is, however, partly assisted by the notices in Ezekiel, who manifestly describes such raiment as the priests of the first temple actually wore. Josephus may assist in some points of difficulty, but he is to be resorted to with caution. He was a priest himself, and could well describe what was worn in his time, and was then understood to have been prescribed by Moses; but it is possible that some of the particulars may have been of later introduction.

In the first place, it is to be observed that all the priestly garments were to be of linen. No wool was to form or enter into the texture of the garments in which they ministered. Cleanliness was assigned as the reason for this (Exod. xxviii. 39, 40, 43, xxxix. 27-29; compare Ezek. xliv. 17). This was exactly the Egyptian practice. The priests of that country were of all people the most studious of personal cleanliness. They wore linen robes; and although their outer garment, when dressed in their ordinary attire, was, as among the other people, a kind of woollen mantle, they were obliged to throw it off before they entered a temple (Herodotus, ii. 37, 81; see also Plutarch, De Is. et Osir. 4). Neither might any person be buried in woollen, nor, in fact, are any mummies found enveloped in other than linen or cotton. The dress of the Hebrew priests consisted of four articles.

6. The ephod.'-This was a very rich and splendid piece of dress, and is also one of those which is the most particularly described, although more with reference to its materials than to its form. It was a kind of brocade, made of byssus and gold thread interwoven, and adorned (in figures of some kind, probably) with scarlet, purple, and blue. The accounts given of it by different writers, even among the Jews, vary greatly. Josephus, who of course knew what was worn in his time, calls it a short coat, and gives it sleeves, which no other authority assigns to it. Jerome compares it to the short Roman cloak called caracalla, but without the hood. Under this view, it might seem to answer very closely to the common Egyptian garment represented in the annexed engraving, in which even the shoulder pieces, and other appendages of the Hebrew ephod are not inadequately represented. The more general account, however, supposes that it was, at least originally, without sleeves, and consisted of two pieces, of which

9. EPHOD AND GIRDLE.

that behind reached from the shoulders, downward, to below the buttocks (others, nearly to the feet), while the front part descended quite or nearly to the loins. If this description might be relied on, the dress would, in its general purpose and proportion of descent before and behind, answer to, and probably be intended to supersede, the leopard-skin, which, as shown in Cut 9, was sometimes worn by the highest order of Egyp tian priests when engaged in the most important functions of their service. But while we are thus prepared to meet the alternative, which, on rabbinical authority, insists on this form of the ephod, we are ourselves more disposed to complete, from Josephus, the brief indications of the text, and then, we apprehend the result will offer something very like that curt and very splendid outer robe which, as shown in Cut 10, was worn by priests of the highest rank, when discharging their most sacred functions.

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It was worn even by the sovereign when engaged, as highpriest, in offering sacrifice or incense to the gods. It has the merit also of providing explanations which have been found in no other form of the ephod which has been sug gested. This is in the 'shoulder-pieces' (v. 7), the use of which commentators have been sorely perplexed to make compatible with the form they assign to the ephod. According to our proposed illustration, it is not only explicable, but necessary. It is seen that the robe as represented is properly a rich skirt or apron, varying in length but generally reaching from below the paps to the knees. In this form it must have had some support, in the shape of straps or braces, to prevent it from slipping down. Now this support it actually received, either in straps passing over the shoulders (as in Figs. 4, 6 of Cut 7; see also Cut 10), when the priest wore no collar; or, when a collar was worn by straps connecting the collar with the ephod, which thus obtained the requisite support. Here, then, we have the shoulder-pieces, which have occasioned so much difficulty, and which, in the dress of the Jewish high-priest, bore, immediately on the shoulders, two onyx stones, set in gold, on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes, six on each stone, in the order of their birth (v. 9, 10). In its immediate use, this ornament, perhaps, served as a button to connect the strap behind with the strap before (for there seems to have been no collar), or else to cover the point where this junction was

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there made by other means. The prohibition of idolatrous and superstitious images and figures must greatly have modified the appearance of this article of ceremonial dress; for, in the Egyptian specimens, we see it highly charged with all kinds of idolatrous figures and symbols, and even with scenes of human immolation.

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8. The curious girdle of the ephod.'-This being described by Moses as 'a girdle of fine linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and needlework,' we are probably to understand that it was embroidered in these various colours with the needle. The supplementary descriptions of Josephus and of Maimonides differ considerably; but as the former was the older writer, and ought, as a priest, to know best, we prefer his statement. According to him it was a hand's breadth in width, woven in such a manner as to exhibit the appearance of a serpent's scales, and was ornamented with various flowers, embroidered with the colours mentioned. It was worn a little below the breast, encircled the body twice, and was tied in a knot before. The extremities of the girdle hung down nearly to the ancle; and the priest, when engaged in some of his sacred services, flung the ends over his left shoulder, that he might not be impeded by them (Antiq. iii. 7). For this article of priestly attire we perceive that we have not provided all the illustration it is capable of receiving from the antiquities of Egypt. There is, however, sufficient to shew that some classes of the Egyptian priesthood wore girdles of the form and in the fashion described. For examples, hanging down in the manner described, we may refer to the cuts marked 3 and 9: the latter of these is also a specimen of one richly embroidered; and if any stress is to be laid on the imbricated appearance of the girdle which Josephus mentions, that may be seen very strikingly in Cut 14. The figure of a priestly scribe, given Gen. xli. 8, offers a clear and interesting example of both tunic and girdle. In other examples the girdle has greater length.

The curious girdle of the ephod' was of the same substance as the ephod itself, doubtless corresponded to that rich and narrow girdle which passes round the ephod, at the loins, in the Egyptian examples which we offer.

15-19. The breastplate.'-This splendid ornament consisted of a piece of the rich brocade of the ephod. It was a span square when doubled, which it was, to strengthen it to bear the precious stones which were set in it. These stones were twelve, of as many different kinds, each bearing the name of one of the tribes of Israel. They were arranged in four rows, of three in each row. This magnificent piece of jewelled work was worn upon the breast, over the ephod. It had at each corner a gold ring, from the two uppermost of which went two golden chains of wreathed work, to connect it with the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, while, from the rings below, similar chains joined it to the girdle of the ephod. In this we see an adaptation and correction of an Egyptian custom, under which the higher Egyptian priests wore a large and splendid ornament upon the breast. It was generally an idolatrous symbol-often a winged scarabæus-the emblem of the sun, as in the annexed example (Cut 11), in which we even see the connecting ring and chain, although only, in this instance, to fasten it to the girdle. For an account of the precious stones composing the breastplate, see the notes in ch. xxxix.

30.Urim and Thummim' Den, light and truth, or justice, Sept. Shλwois kai aλheeia-by means of which the high-priest obtained responses from God, was certainly either connected or identical with the breastplate, and, on account of it, that ornament itself was sometimes called the breastplate of judgment. Some writers, whose authority is now much followed, think that the Urim and Thummim was merely a sacred lot, afforded by three precious stones contained in a purse or bag, formed by the lining, or interior of the breastplate. According to this conjecture, on one of the stones was engraven 1, yes; on the other, no; the third being destitute of any inscription; and that the question was to be proposed in such a form that an affirmative or negative answer might suffice.

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11. BREASTPLATE.

Then the answer was determined by the stone which the high-priest drew forth, the blank stone intimating that no answer was to be given. This seems better than the dreams of the rabbins, who teach that the answer was conveyed by the supernatural irradiation or development of such of the letters graven on the breastplate (contained in the names of the twelve tribes) as were needed to spell out the answer. According to this, it follows that the Urim and Thummim was no other than the breastplate itself; and, although the subject is one of considerable difficulty, we are rather disposed to concur in that opinion. But the notion as to the manner in which the response was given by this breastplate appears to us the most awkward and improbable contrivance that can be imagined. It seems more likely, and much more seemly, that the breastplate merely qualified the high-priest to seek and to receive an answer when he presented himself, wearing it, before the inner veil of the tabernacle, and that then the answer was conveyed to him in an audible voice, from the mercy-seat, beyond the veil. This agrees also with the frequent notice of the response as being from the mouth of the Lord.' Anything analogous to the Urim and Thummim, whichever interpretation be taken, few readers would expect to derive from the ancient usages of Egypt. But it happens that the illustration which the old writers on the subject were in the habit of most frequently adducing is found among them. On account of the difference of purpose, we are, upon the whole, inclined to lay less stress upon this instance than upon some others which we have ourselves first produced, from newlyopened sources; but it is, however, too remarkable to be overlooked. When a case was brought for trial,' says Sir J. G. Wilkinson, 'it was customary for the arch-judge to put a golden chain around his neck, to which was suspended a small figure of Truth, ornamented with precious stones. This was, in fact, a representation of the goddess who was worshipped under the double character of truth and justice, and whose name, Thmei (the Egyptian or Coptic name of justice or truth; hence the Oéus of the Greeks), appears to have been the origin of the Hebrew thummim, a word, according to the Septuagint translation, implying truth, and bearing a further analogy in its plural termination. And what makes it more remarkable is, that the chief priest of the Jews, who, before the election of a king, was also the judge of the nation, was alone entitled to wear this honorary badge; and the thummim of the Hebrews, like the Egyptian figure, was studded with precious stones.' This is certainly a remarkable set of coincidences; but it ought to be stated, that although the Jewish high-priest was a judge, he did not wear his breastplate in his judicial capacity, in which capacity alone the arch-judge of the Egyptians wore his badge of truth and justice. The Scripture affords no in

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stance in which the Lord was consulted by Urim and Thummim later than the time of David.

31. The robe of the ephod,' or mantle, was worn over the inner tunic or shirt. Except in colour and ornaments, it seems to have differed little from a robe of the same name worn by the more wealthy of the laity. This of the high-priest was of sky blue. At the top, surrounding the neck, it had a strong binding of woven-work, that it might not be rent, and the bottom had a kind of border or fringe, composed of tassels made of blue, purple, and scarlet, in the form of a pomegranate, interspersed with small bells of gold, which gave a tinkling sound when the wearer moved. The further descriptions of Josephus and other Jewish writers would intimate that it was without sleeves, having a hole, or slit on each side to put the arms through (Antiq. iii. 7). Josephus adds, that it reached to the feet, contrary to the usual pictures, which, for the sake of shewing the under tunic (which appears to us to have been a plain skirt), make it come but little below the knees. The description agrees very well with the general character of the Egyptian outer robes represented in our cuts. It is true they have all sleeves; but if we are to insist, from Josephus, that the mantle had no sleeves, then we may mention that there are instances at Thebes of priests wearing over the shirt a loose robe which is sleeveless, and which exposes the sleeves of the inner tunic. To us the descriptions suggest the notion of an abba, an outer article of dress common among the Arabs of Syria and Arabia (but not among those of Egypt and Barbary, who use the the large folding burnous), and which has also been adopted to a considerable extent by the townspeople. This is frequently represented in our illustrations from modern Oriental sources. Josephus also describes it as all of one piece, like our Saviour's robe (John xix. 23), which is another characteristic of the abba. We will not, therefore, contend that this was an Egyptian article of priestly dress. The Hebrews may have worn something of the sort before and after in ordinary life. But if they had something answering to the abba, so had the Egyptians; and it happens that the robe which best exhibits this correspondence (Cut 12) agrees better with the description than does the

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12. EGYPTIAN TUNIC.

abba now in use; it has, for instance, a deep fringe, which the abba wants.

33. Pomegranate- rimmon. The Punica granatum, or pomegranate-tree, bears a leaf and a flower which resemble the myrtle. It was formerly ranked among the myrtaceous family. The flowers differ in different varieties, so that four several kinds may be observed in the same localities, growing generally near wells and cultivated enclosures. The fruit is larger than the golden pippin, and filled with seeds, imbedded in a pulp, which is the part eaten. The leaves, flowers, and fruit are remarkable for their beauty; hence the last were selected as objects of skilful imitation.

POMEGRANATE.

34. A golden bell and a pomegranate.'-On the skirt, at the bottom of the robe of the ephod, figures of pomegranates were wrought with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. These pomegranates, according to Jarchi, were hollow, and about the size and form of a hen's egg. If, however, they resembled hens' eggs, they could not be like pomegranates, which have a very different shape. Our version is doubtless right in saying that the bells were hung between the pomegranates, or that there was a bell and a pomegranate alternately; although some of the rabbins have a conceit that the bells were enclosed within the pomegranates. The number of bells and pomegranates is not mentioned in Scripture; and those who undertake to inform us differ much among themselves. Seventy-two is the number most commonly mentioned; but Clement of Alexandria says there were as many as days in the year. The object of these bells is not very clear: the reason given in v. 35, That his sound may be heard.... that he die not'-would seem to intimate that the sound of the bells was to be considered to harbinger his approach to the Sacred Presence; which, without such announcement, would be regarded as an unceremonious and disrespectful intrusion. The sound also intimated that he was clothed in his proper robes, to minister without which was death (v. 43) and it might likewise serve to admonish the people of the sacred offices in which their priest was engaged.

36-38. The mitre.'-This article must have been understood from the terms which were employed to denote it, as the Law gives no account of its form or appearance, but merely mentions that it was to be of linen. We must, therefore, resort to the account given by Josephus, who first describes the mitre of the common priest, and then adds what was peculiar to that of the high-priest. Upon his head he [the ordinary priest] wears a cap not brought to a conical form, nor including the entire head, but still including more than the half of it. It is called a mitre, but its make is such that it resembles a crown. It is made of thick swathes; but the contexture is of linen, and it is folded round many times, and sewed together, besides which a piece of fine linen covers the whole cap from the upper part, and reaches down to the forehead, and conceals the seams of the swathes, which would otherwise appear unseemly. This adheres closely to the head, that it may not fall off during the sacred service.' A little further on, he adds: The high-priest's tiara, or mitre, was like that of the other priests, only it had another of purple, or violet colour, above, and a crown of gold of three rows about that, and terminating above in a golden cup, about the size of the joint of the little finger. To the untravelled reader, that may suggest the idea of a turban, to which biblical writers | are in the habit of referring for a comparison; but to one who knows that there is no sewing, no seam in a turban, nor any envelope as described, it will not suggest that comparison; but may be rather supposed to denote the construction of a stiff cap, formed by bands of linen wound over and sewed on one another, and the whole made to present a smooth and even appearance.

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In this point of view it may appear to have been similar in general purpose and make to the head-cap, divested of

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