THE EPHOD GIRDLE. "It shall have the two shoulderpieces 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, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.Exod. xxviii. 7, 8. "They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together; by the two edges was it coupled together. "And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the Lord commanded Moses.Exod. xxxix. 4, 5. THE Ephod seems to have been made of two pieces, joined together at the shoulders, and bound to the person of the high priest by a girdle or belt. The word translated "curious girdle," is not that usually employed for "girdle;" indeed there is no idea of girding connected with it at all. It is solely used to express this part of the ephod, and is a Hebrew word expressing a curious device or embroidery. It seems to have been a belt, to bind the ephod to the high priest, rather than a girdle to strengthen the loins. In Exodus xxix. 5, (and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod,) and Lev. viii. 7, (and bound it unto him therewith,) the expression literally is "and ephodized him with it:" the object apparently being to convey the thought, that this curious belt so connected the ephod with the person who wore it, as to impart to him the virtues it contained. In Lev. viii. 7, the word "and he girded him with the curious belt " is the only occasion where the ordinary word gird is connected with this belt. THE ONYX-STONES, OUCHES, AND CHAINS. "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 memorial. "And they wrought onyxstones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel. "And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses."-Exod. xxxix. 6, 7. THE Onyx-stones are especially mentioned in the list of things commanded to be brought, Exod. xxv. 7. "Onyx-stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate." They were engraved with the names of the children of Israel, according to their birth; six on each stone. They were enclosed in ouches, or settings of gold-for the word translated ouches is derived from a Hebrew verb, "to set." Exod. xxviii. 30. They shall be set in gold." These onyx-stones in their settings were fastened upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, so as to rest upon the shoulders of the high priest. "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 memorial.” The Hebrew word, translated onyx, is derived by Robertson (Clav: Pent:) from an unused root, signifying Ito shine with the lustre of fire." It was evidently a very precious stone. (See Job xxviii. 16, "the precious onyx;") and not the onyx of modern times, which is neither precious nor brilliant. THE BREASTPLATE. "And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. "And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. "And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jaspar: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. "And the stones shall 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 shall they be according to the twelve tribes. "And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold. "And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. "And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. "And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou "And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. "It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled. "And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle : this was the first row. "And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. "And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were enclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings. "And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes. "And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathen work of pure gold. "And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings; and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate. "And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. "And the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod, before it. shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder. pieces of the ephod before it. "And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward. "And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. "And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually." -Exod. xxviii. 15—29. "And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward. "And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. "And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod: as the Lord commanded Moses."-Exod. xxxix. 8-21. THE word translated " breastplate" is supposed by Gesenius to mean "ornament.' It is solely used to express this part of the high priest's dress, and occurs nowhere else in Scripture. The Septuagint translates it by the Greek word logeion, or oracle. It was made of the same materials as the ephod; was doubled, so as to form a kind of bag, and had four rows of precious stones set in it, three in each row; each stone engraved with the name of one of the children of Israel. Into this breastplate, so doubled, were put "the urim and the thummim." Two rings of gold were placed inwards, at the bottom of the breastplate: and two golden rings were attached to the ephod, just above the curious belt so that the breastplate was bound to the : |