Exodus 28

ENGWEBEnglish43 verses

1“Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

2You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

3You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.

4These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.

5They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.

6“They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman.

7It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together.

8The skillfully woven band, which is on it, that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

9You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:

10six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth.

11With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold.

12You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial.

13You shall make settings of gold,

14and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work: and you shall put the braided chains on the settings.

15“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it.

16It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length of it, and a span its breadth.

17You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row;

18and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald;

19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

20and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.

21The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.

22You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold.

23You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

24You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.

25The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its forepart.

26You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward.

27You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

28They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod.

29Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually.

30You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahweh: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually.

31“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

32It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn.

33On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, around its hem; and bells of gold between and around them:

34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.

35It shall be on Aaron to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die.

36“You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’

37You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash; on the front of the sash it shall be.

38It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh.

39You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.

40“You shall make coats for Aaron’s sons, and you shall make sashes for them and you shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty.

41You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.

42You shall make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the waist even to the thighs they shall reach:

43They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don’t bear iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.

Commentary

CHAPTER 28Ex 28:1-43. Appointment to the Priesthood.1. take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him—Moses had hitherto discharged the priestly functions (Ps 99:6), and he evinced the piety as well as humility of his character, in readily complying with the command to invest his brother with the sacred office, though it involved the perpetual exclusion of his own family. The appointment was a special act of God's sovereignty, so that there could be no ground for popular umbrage by the selection of Aaron's family, with whom the office was inalienably established and continued in unbroken succession till the introduction of the Christian era.

28:1 Aaron and his sons - Hitherto every master of a family was priest to his own family. But now the families of Israel began to be incorporated into a nation, and a tabernacle of the congregation was to be erected, as a visible centre of their unity, it was requisite there should be a publick priesthood instituted. Moses, who had hitherto officiated, and is therefore reckoned among the priests of the Lord, Psa 99:6, had enough to do as their prophet, to consult the oracle for them, and as their prince, to judge among them. Nor was he desirous to ingross all the honours to himself, or to entail that of the priesthood, which alone was hereditary, upon his own family; but was very well pleased to see his brother Aaron invested with this office, and his sons after him; while (how great soever he was) his sons after him would be but common Levites. It is an instance of the humility of that great man, and an evidence of his sincere regard to the glory of God, that he had so little regard to the preferment of his own family. Aaron, that had humbly served as a prophet to his younger brother Moses, and did not decline the office, is now advanced to be a priest to God. God had said to Israel in general, that they should be to him a kingdom of priests; but because it was requisite that those who ministered at the altar should give themselves wholly to the service, God here chose from among them one to be a family of priests, the father and his four sons; and from Aaron's loins descended all the priests of the Jewish church, whom we read of both in the Old Testament and in the New.

28:1-5 Hitherto the heads of families were the priests, and offered sacrifices; but now this office was confined to the family of Aaron only; and so continued till the gospel dispensation. The holy garments not only distinguished the priests from the people, but were emblems of that holy conduct which should ever be the glory and beauty, the mark of the ministers of religion, without which their persons and ministrations will be had in contempt. They also typified the glory of the Divine majesty, and the beauty of complete holiness, which rendered Jesus Christ the great High Priest. But our adorning under the gospel, is not to be of gold and costly array, but the garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness.

Chapter 28 Orders being given for the fitting up of the place of worship, in this and the following chapter care is taken about the priests that were to minister in this holy place, as the menial servants of the God of Israel. He hired servants, as a token of his purpose to reside among them. In this chapter, I. He pitches upon the persons who should be his servants (v. 1). II. He appoints their livery; their work was holy, and so must their garments be, and unanswerable to the glory of the house which was now to be erected (v. 2-5). 1. He appoints the garments of his head-servant, the high priest, which were very rich. (1.) An ephod and girdle, (v. 6–14). (2.) A breast-plate of judgment (v. 15–29), in which must be put the urim and thummim (v. 30). (3.) The robe of the ephod (v. 31–35). (4.) The mitre (v. 36–39). 2. The garments of the inferior priests (v. 40–43). And these also were shadows of good things to come.Verses 1-5 We have here,I. The priests nominated: Aaron and his sons, v. 1. Hitherto every master of a family was priest to his own family, and offered, as he saw cause, upon altars of earth; but now that the families of Israel began to be incorporated into a nation, and a tabernacle of the congregation was to be erected, as a visible centre of their unity, it was requisite there should be a public priesthood instituted. Moses, who had hitherto officiated, and is therefore reckoned among the priests of the Lord (Ps. 99:6), had enough to do as their prophet to consult the oracle for them, and as their prince to judge among them; nor was he desirous to engross all the honours to himself, or to entail that of the priesthood, which alone was hereditary, upon his own family, but was very well pleased to see his brother Aaron invested in this office, and his sons after him, while (how great soever he was) his sons after him would be but common Levites. It is an instance of the humility of that great man, and an evidence of his sincere regard for the glory of God, that he had so little regard to the preferment of his own family. Aaron, who had humbly served as a prophet to his younger brother Moses, and did not decline the office (ch. 7:1), is now advanced to be a priest, a high priest to God; for he will exalt those that abase themselves. Nor could any man have taken this honour to himself, but he that was called of God to it, Heb. 5:4. God had said of Israel in general that they should be to him a kingdom of priests, ch. 19:6. But because it was requisite that those who ministered at the altar should give themselves wholly to the service, and because that which is every body’s work will soon come to be nobody’s work, God here chose from among them one to be a family of priests, the father and his four sons; and from Aaron’s loins descended all the priests of the Jewish church, of whom we read so often, both in the Old Testament and in the New. A blessed thing it is when real holiness goes, as the ceremonial holiness did, by succession in a family.II.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG “አንተም ወንድምህን አሮንን ከእርሱም ጋር ልጆቹን ከእስራኤል ልጆች መካከል ለይተህ ካህናት ይሆኑልኝ ዘንድ ወደ አንተ አቅርብ፤ አሮንን የአሮንንም ልጆች፥ ናዳብን አብዮድንም አልዓዛርንም ኢ… አማርኛ ENGNIV “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ith… English BCV “ንስኻ ኸዓ ንሓውካ ኣሮንን፥ ንደቁ ናዳብን ኣብዩድን ኣልኣዛርን ኢታምርን፥ ካህናት ኮይኖም ከገልግሉኒ፥ ካብ ደቂ እስራኤል ፈሊኻ ናባኻ ኣቕርቦም። ትግርኛ GAZBIB “Ati namoota Israa'el keessaa Aaron obbooleessa kee fi ilmaan isaa ofitti dhi'eessi! Aaronii fi ilmaan isaa, Naadaab, A… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወአቀርብ ኀቤከ አሮንሃ እኋከ ወውሉዶ እምውስተ ደቂቀ እስራኤል ከመ ይሡዑ ሊተ አሮን ወናደብ ወአብዩድ ወእልዓዛር ወይታማር። giz GAZGAZ “Ati namoota Israa'el keessaa Aaron obbooleessa kee fi ilmaan isaa ofitti dhi'eessi! Aaronii fi ilmaan isaa, Naadaab, A… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum “ንስኻ ኸዓ ንሓውካ ኣሮንን፥ ንደቁ ናዳብን ኣብዩድን ኣልኣዛርን ኢታምርን፥ ካህናት ኮይኖም ከገልግሉኒ፥ ካብ ደቂ እስራኤል ፈሊኻ ናባኻ ኣቕርቦም። ትግርኛ AMHNIV “ካህናት ሆነው ያገለግሉኝ ዘንድ ከእስራኤላውያን መካከል ወንድምህ አሮንን ከወንዶች ልጆቹ ከናዳብ፣ ከአብዩድ፣ ከአልዓዛርና ከኢታምር ጋር ወደ አንተ አቅርባቸው። አማርኛ