1 Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.
3 They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman.
4 They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together. At the two ends it was joined together.
5 The skillfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
6 They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel.
7 He put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
8 He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.
9 It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its breadth a span, being double.
10 They set in it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row;
11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire{or, lapis lazuli}, and an emerald;
12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings.
14 The stones were 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, for the twelve tribes.
15 They made on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold.
16 They made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
17 They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.
18 The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, in the front of it.
19 They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which was toward the side of the ephod inward.
20 They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the front of it, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.
21 They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
22 He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
23 The opening of the robe in the midst of it was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its opening, that it should not be torn.
24 They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen.
25 They made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe, between the pomegranates;
26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the skirts of the robe, to minister in, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
27 They made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
28 and the turban of fine linen, and the linen headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen,
29 and the sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
30 They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: "HOLY TO YAHWEH."
31 They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 39
Commentary on Exodus 39 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Preparation of the priests' clothes . - Previous to the description of the dress itself, we have a statement in Exodus 39:1 of the materials employed, and the purpose to which they were devoted (“cloths of service,” see at Exodus 31:10). The robes consisted of the ephod (Exodus 39:2-7, as in Exodus 28:6-12), the choshen or breastplate (Exodus 39:8-21, as in Exodus 28:15-29), the meïl or over-coat (Exodus 39:22-26, as in Exodus 28:31-34); the body-coats, turbans, drawers, and girdles, for Aaron and his sons (Exodus 39:27-29, as in Exodus 28:39-40, and Exodus 28:42). The Urim and Thummim are not mentioned (cf. Exodus 28:30). The head-dresses of the ordinary priests, which are simply called “bonnets” in Exodus 28:40, are called “goodly bonnets” or “ornamental caps” in Exodus 39:28 of this chapter ( מגבּעת פּארי , from פּאר an ornament, cf. פּאר ornatus fuit ). The singular, “ girdle ,” in Exodus 39:29, with the definite article, “ the girdle, ” might appear to refer simply to Aaron's girdle, i.e., the girdle of the high priest; but as there is no special description of the girdles of Aaron's sons (the ordinary priests) in Exodus 29:40, where they are distinctly mentioned and called by the same name ( abnet ) as the girdle of Aaron himself, we can only conclude that they were of the same materials and the same form and make as the latter, and that the singular, האבנט , is used here either in the most general manner, or as a generic noun in a collective sense (see Ges. §109, 1). The last thing mentioned is the diadem upon Aaron's turban (Exodus 39:30, Exodus 39:31, as in Exodus 28:36-38), so that the order in which the priests' robes are given here is analogous to the position in which the ark of the covenant and the golden altar stand to one another in the directions concerning the sacred things in ch. 25-30. “For just as all the other things are there placed between the holy ark and the golden altar as the two poles, so here all the rest of the priests' robes are included between the shoulder-dress, the principal part of the official robes of the high priest, and the golden frontlet, the inscription upon which rendered it the most striking sign of the dignity of his office” ( Baumgarten ).
Delivery of the work to Moses . - The different things are again mentioned one by one. By “the tent,” in Exodus 39:33, we are to understand the two tent-cloths, the one of purple and the other of goats' hair, by which the dwelling ( משׁכּן , generally rendered tabernacle) was made into a tent ( אלה ). From this it is perfectly obvious, that the variegated cloth formed the inner walls of the dwelling, or covered the boards on the inner side, and that the goats' hair-cloth formed the other covering. Moreover it is also obvious, that this is the way in which האהל is to be understood, from the fact, that in the list of the things belonging to the ohel the first to be mentioned are the gold and copper hooks (Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:11) with which the two halves of the drapery that formed the tent were joined together, and then after that the boards, bolts, pillars, and sockets, as though subordinate to the tent-cloths, and only intended to answer the purpose of spreading them out into a tent of dwelling.
“ The lamps of the order, ” i.e., the lamps set in order upon the candlestick. In addition to all the vessels of the sanctuary, shew-bread (Exodus 39:36), holy oil for the candlestick and for anointing, and fragrant incense (Exodus 39:38), were also prepared and delivered to Moses, - everything, therefore, that was required for the institution of the daily worship, as soon as the tabernacle was set up.
“ Vessels of service: ” see Exodus 27:19.
When Moses had received and examined all the different articles, and found that everything was made according to the directions of Jehovah, he blessed the children of Israel. The readiness and liberality with which the people had presented the gifts required for this work, and the zeal which they had shown in executing the whole of the work in rather less than half a year (see at Exodus 40:17), were most cheering signs of the willingness of the Israelites to serve the Lord, for which they could not fail to receive the blessing of God.