Exodus 28:20 Kommentar

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 (Exo 28:1). 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 (Exo 28:2-5). 1. He appoints the garments of his head-servant, the high priest, which were very rich. (1.) An ephod and girdle, (Exo 28:6-14). (2.) A breast-plate of judgment (Exo 28:15-29), in which must be put the urim and thummim (Exo 28:30). (3.) The robe of the ephod (Exo 28:31-35). (4.) The mitre (Exo 28:36-39). 2. The garments of the inferior priests (Exo 28:40-43). And these also were shadows of good things to come.

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 28 This chapter informs us of the servants God would have to minister to him in the house, or tabernacle, he had ordered to be made, even Aaron and his sons, Exo 28:1 of the garments they were to wear in their service, Exo 28:2 and first of the garments of the high priest, and particularly of the ephod, with the girdle, on the shoulder pieces of which were to be two onyx stones, with the names of the children of Israel engraved on them, Exo 28:6, and that of the breastplate of judgment, with the Urim and Thummum in it, Exo 28:15 and of the robe of the ephod, Exo 28:31, and of the mitre, Exo 28:36 and then of the garments of the common priests, Exo 28:40.

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names,.... And just so many are reckoned up in the preceding verses, each of which had one or other of the names of the children of Israel engraved on them, according to the order of their names in their birth. Some have thought that Levi's name was omitted, but their reason for it seems not sufficient; for why might not he bear the name of his own tribe, and represent that as well as the rest, since the whole Israel of God is represented by his antitype? like the engravings of a net, everyone with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes; not like the impression of a seal on wax, then the letters indeed would have been protuberant, as some have thought; but these were like the engravings of a seal, in which the letters or figures are cut within it: these twelve stones, with the names on them, represent the twelve tribes of Israel, and they the whole spiritual Israel of God; and being precious stones, show the excellency of the people of God, of what value, and in what esteem they are with God and Christ, being their jewels and peculiar treasure; and their names being in them, denote the special and particular knowledge God has of them, their names being written in heaven in the book of life; and they are called by name by the Lord; and being engraved as a signet, is an emblem of their being set as a seal on the arm and heart of Christ, and of their being as dear and precious to him as a signet on a man's right hand; and being set in ouches and enclosures of gold, express both the dignity and excellency, and the careful preservation of them: these were set in rows, as members of churches are, everyone in his order, rank, and station, Co1 12:18.

Aaron and his sons are set apart for the priest's office, Exo 28:1. Garments to be provided for them, Exo 28:2, Exo 28:3. What these garments were, Exo 28:4, and of what made, Exo 28:5. The ephod, its shoulder-pieces, and girdle, Exo 28:6-8. The two onyx stones, on which the names of the twelve tribes were to be engraven, Exo 28:9-14. The breastplate of judgment; its twelve precious stones, engraving, rings, chains, and its use, Exo 28:15-29. The Urim and Thummim, Exo 28:30. The robe of the ephod, its border, bells, pomegranates, etc., and their use, Exo 28:31-35. The plate of pure gold and its motto, Exo 28:36, to be placed on Aaron's mitre, Exo 28:37, Exo 28:38. The embroidered coat for Aaron, Exo 28:39. Coats, girdles, and bonnets, Exo 28:40. Aaron and his sons to be anointed for the priest's office, Exo 28:41. Other articles of clothing and their use, Exo 28:42, Exo 28:43.

APPOINTMENT TO THE PRIESTHOOD. (Exo. 28:1-43) take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him--Moses had hitherto discharged the priestly functions (Psa 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.

(cf. Ex 39:1-31). Appointment and Clothing of the Priests. - Exo 28:1, Exo 28:5. "Let Aaron thy brother draw near to thee from among the children of Israel, and his sons with him, that he may be a priest to Me." Moses is distinguished from the people as the mediator of the covenant. Hence he was to cause Aaron and his sons to come to him, i.e., to separate them from the people, and install them as priests, or perpetual mediators between Jehovah and His people. The primary meaning of cohen, the priest, has been retained in the Arabic, where it signifies administrator alieni negotii, viz., to act as a mediator for a person, or as his plenipotentiary, from which it came to be employed chiefly in connection with priestly acts. Among the heathen Arabs it is used "maxime de hariolis vatibusque;" by the Hebrews it was mostly applied to the priests of Jehovah; and there are only a few placed in which it is used in connection with the higher officers of state, who stood next to the king, and acted as it were as mediators between the king and the nation (thus Sa2 8:18; Sa2 20:26; Kg1 4:5). For the duties of their office the priests were to receive "holy garments for glory and for honour." Before they could draw near to Jehovah the Holy One (Lev 11:45), it was necessary that their unholiness should be covered over with holy clothes, which were to be made by men endowed with wisdom, whom Jehovah had filled with the spirit of wisdom. "Wise-hearted," i.e., gifted with understanding and judgment; the heart being regarded as the birth-place of the thoughts. In the Old Testament wisdom is constantly used for practical intelligence in the affairs of life; here, for example, it is equivalent to artistic skill surpassing man's natural ability, which is therefore described as being filled with the divine spirit of wisdom. These clothes were to be used "to sanctify him (Aaron and his sons), that he might be a priest to Jehovah." Sanctification, as the indispensable condition of priestly service, was not merely the removal of the uncleanness which flowed from sin, but, as it were, the transformation of the natural into the glory of the image of God. In this sense the holy clothing served the priest for glory and ornament. The different portions of the priest's state-dress mentioned in Exo 28:4 are described more fully afterwards. For making them, the skilled artists were to take the gold, the hyacinth, etc. The definite article is sued before gold and the following words, because the particular materials, which would be presented by the people, are here referred to.

"Gold borders shall be on their settings" (see at Exo 28:11 and Exo 28:13). The golden capsules, in which the stones were "filled," i.e., set, were to be surrounded by golden ornaments, which not only surrounded and ornamented the stones, but in all probability helped to fix them more firmly and yet more easily upon the woven fabric.