Exoduschapter 28
43 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th or 13th century BC · The Law
“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Exodus Overview.
This chapter turns from the building to the man who will serve in it. Aaron and his sons are appointed priests, and most of the chapter describes what the high priest wears. The garments are made of the same cloth as the inner curtains, and the gems are cut like the seals every official of that world carried. Listen for the names he carries on his shoulders and over his heart, and for the reason the text gives twice. Listen also for the sound he makes as he walks.
Context
- Who
- Israel in the wilderness, whose names were to be worn into God's presence
- What
- The appointment of Aaron and his sons as priests and the design of the high priest's garments.
- Where
- The summit of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the pattern while the camp waited at the foot of the mountain.
- When
- The forty days Moses spent on Sinai after the covenant was sealed, about 1446 BC on the early date this site follows.
- Why
- So that the high priest would carry the names of Israel into the LORD's presence and serve there with honour.
Historical context
The chapter belongs to the law Exodus says Moses wrote at God's command, recorded at 17:14, at 24:4 and at 34:27, while he was going up and down the mountain between God and the people. The critical reading takes the legal sections for a later compilation from several sources, a position argued by Julius Wellhausen and the tradition following him, and the site states no verdict on it.
Show the rest of the historical context, 8 more paragraphs
The chapter appoints Aaron and his four sons to the priesthood and describes six garments, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the appointment as an act of sovereignty.
A first hearer knew what an engraved seal-stone was, since a cut stone was the ordinary signature of that world and the cutting was highly skilled work.
He knew the cloth, which is the gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen of the veil and the inner curtains, so the priest wore the fabric of the building.
Two onyx stones on the shoulders carry the twelve tribal names, and the breastpiece carries them again in twelve engraved gemstones set in gold.
The text gives the reason twice, at verse 12 and at verse 29, that Aaron bears them before the LORD.
In the breastpiece go the Urim and Thummim, which the chapter never describes, and which were used later by Joshua, by the judges and by Saul.
Adam Clarke writes that they were placed between the doublings of the breastpiece, and marks the statement as a supposition.
The shapes the text leaves unsaid were filled in from Josephus, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the conical turban from him while noting that Scripture gives no form for it.
Significance
No ordinary Israelite ever entered the Most Holy Place, and every Israelite's name did. That was the office in one sentence.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The bells around the hem were mercy in metal. The people outside could hear that their representative was still alive in there.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
How it is read
The chapter clothes the priest, and Rashi reads the garments as the thing that makes him one. They sanctify Aaron and install him in the priesthood, and the word for priesthood he glosses as service (Rashi on Exodus 28:3:1). The breastplate is "an ornament borne in front of the heart" (Rashi on Exodus 28:4:1). Before he takes the ephod verse by verse he stops to describe the whole garment first, so that a reader can hold it together (Rashi on Exodus 28:6:1). He compares its shape to the riding apron of a woman on horseback, with two wide straps joined to the belt at the back and carried over the shoulders (Rashi on Exodus 28:7:1). On the two onyx stones he gives the order of the names and their count. They stand in the order the sons were born, and the spelling of Benjamin in full makes twenty five letters on each stone (Rashi on Exodus 28:10:1, citing Sotah 36a). The purpose of that engraving is memory before God. God "will see the names of the tribes written before Him and He will remember their righteousness" (Rashi on Exodus 28:12:1, citing Exodus Rabbah 38:8). The twelve stones of the breastplate keep the same order, a sardius for Reuben and a topaz for Simeon and so through the list (Rashi on Exodus 28:21:1). The name breastplate of judgment he explains twice over. It atoned for error in judgment, and it made its statements clear and its promise true (Rashi on Exodus 28:15:1, citing Zevachim 88b and Jerusalem Talmud Yoma 7:5). Rashi is quoted from the Rosenbaum and Silbermann edition of 1929 to 1934, public domain. Ibn Ezra comments at Exodus 28:2:1 and 28:9:1 under a licence that keeps his text off this page.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty places where the Midrash and the Talmud draw on this chapter, cited here by reference. The garments and the stones are read in Arakhin at 3b:14, 16a:13, 16a:14 and 16a:15. They stand in Chullin at 7a:3, 63a:3 and 138a:6, and in Menachot at 11a:5. Bamidbar Rabbah carries the chapter at 1:3, 4:13, 10:9, 12:13 and 18:4. The Ein Yaakov collections read it at Shabbat 2:13, Sotah 7:19, Sotah 9:17 and Megillah 1:28. Midrash Aggadah reads the stones at Exodus 28:3:1, 28:18:1 and 28:19:1, and at Leviticus 16:1:3. Midrash Lekach Tov reads the garments at Exodus 28:3:1, 28:7:1, 28:33:1 and 28:39:1, and at Leviticus 16:4:1. The Jerusalem Talmud takes up the priesthood at Yoma 7:3:8, Maasrot 5:2:2 and Moed Katan 3:8:3. It reads the robe and the anointing at Chagigah 1:1:6, Sheviit 1:1:4 and Pesachim 7:7:8. Sifra reads the memorial at Acharei Mot, Chapter 1 7, and Midrash Tanchuma Buber at Achrei Mot 7:3.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Exodus 28:1 to 28:26, the Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, 1929 to 1934, public domain, 1040 to 1105; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Exodus 28:2:1 and 28:9:1, cited by reference, CC-BY-NC, 1089 to 1164; Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 36a and Zevachim 88b, as Rashi cites them, and Arakhin 16a:15 and Menachot 11a:5, cited by reference; Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 7:3:8 and 7:5, Maasrot 5:2:2 and Chagigah 1:1:6, cited by reference; Exodus Rabbah, 38:8, as Rashi cites it; Bamidbar Rabbah, 1:3, 4:13, 10:9, 12:13 and 18:4, cited by reference; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/exodus/28.json, fetched 2026-09-19, 2026; MannaFest, the commentators and their dates, src/app/featured/the-jewish-writings/page.tsx, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Garments for Glory and Beauty
Aaron and his four sons are called out of the nation by name to minister in the priest's office, so the priesthood begins as one household. Nadab and Abihu stand in the founding list, and Leviticus 10:1-2 records what became of them. The garments are ordered for glory and for beauty, a phrase that occurs twice in Scripture and both times in this chapter, here of Aaron and at verse 40 of his sons.
Exodus 28:1
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Exodus 28:2
“For glory and for beauty - Four articles of dress were prescribed for the priests in ordinary, and four more for the high-priest. Those for the priests in general were a coat, drawers, a girdle, and a bonnet. Besides these the high-priest had a robe, an ephod, a breastplate, and a plate or diadem of gold on his forehead. The garments, says the sacred historian, were for honor and for beauty. They were emblematical of the office in which they ministered. 1. It was honorable.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Exodus 28:2
“But we must chiefly recollect what I have said, viz., that in these garments the supreme purity and wondrous glory of Christ were represented; as if God should promise that the Mediator would be far more august than the condition of man could produce.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
ConnectionsHebrews 4:14
The word wisdom occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and it is given to weavers and engravers rather than to a king or a judge. The men who receive it are called wise hearted, a phrase that also begins here and then runs through the building chapters at 31:6, 35:10 and 36:1. Six garments are named and the materials repeat the four of the tabernacle curtains with gold added.
Exodus 28:3
“Whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom - So we find that ingenuity in arts and sciences, even those of the ornamental kind, comes from God. It is not intimated here that these persons were filled with the spirit of wisdom for this purpose only; for the direction to Moses is, to select those whom he found to be expert artists, and those who were such, God shows by these words, had derived their knowledge from himself.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:4
“Breastplate - חשן choshen. See Clarke on Exo 25:7 (note). Ephod - אפד. See Clarke’s note on Exo 25:7. Robe - מעיל meil, from עלה alah, to go up, go upon; hence the meil may be considered as an upper coat, a surtout. It is described by Josephus as a garment that reaches down to the feet, not made of two distinct pieces, but was one entire long garment, woven throughout. This was immediately under the ephod.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Ephod and Its Shoulder Stones
The ephod is woven of the same materials as the innermost curtain of 26:1 and the vail, with gold worked in among them. Exodus 39:3 says how the metal got into the cloth, beaten into thin plates and cut into wires so it could be worked with the thread. The man who serves in the tent is dressed in the fabric of the tent.
Exodus 28:6
“The ephod was fastened by a girdle of the same costly materials, that is, dyed, embroidered, and wrought with threads of gold. It was about a handbreadth wide and wound twice round the upper part of the waist; it fastened in front, the ends hanging down at great length (Re 1:13).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Exodus 28:8
“Which ephod is also rightly ordered to be made of gold, blue, purple, twice dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen, that it may be shewn by how great diversity of virtues the priest ought to be distinguished. Thus in the priest's robe before all things gold glitters, to shew that he should shine forth principally in the understanding of wisdom.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 2, Chapter 3patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Exodus 28:8
“The curious girdle of the ephod - The word חשב chesheb, rendered here curious girdle, signifies merely a kind of diaper, or embroidered work; (see Clarke’s note on Exo 26:1); and it is widely different from אבנט abnet, which is properly translated girdle Exo 28:4. The meaning therefore of the text, according to some, is this, that the two pieces, Exo 28:7, which connected the parts of the ephod at the shoulders where the onyx stones were set, should be of the same texture with the ephod itself, i.e., of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, embroidered together.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Two onyx stones carry the twelve names, six to a stone, ordered according to their birth. Aaron wears them on his shoulders, which is where a load is carried, and the text calls them stones of memorial. Matthew Henry and Sir Robert Anderson read the shoulders here and the heart at verse 29 together as a figure of Christ carrying his people, and Hebrews 9:11-12 speaks of the high priest entering the holy place once for all.
Exodus 28:9
“And thou shall take two onyx stones,.... called from the colour of a man's nail, which they to resemble: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call them stones of beryl, and so the Syriac version; the Septuagint, stones of emerald, and the Arabic version, crystal stones: but, according to Josephus (x), they were sardonyx stones, and in which Brannius (y) thinks he was right: and grave on them the names of the children of Israel; the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, six on one stone and six on the other, as often mentioned, for which onyx stones are…”
Exodus 28:10
“Though the people were forbidden to come near, and obliged to keep their distance, yet by the high priest, who had their names on his breast-plate, they entered into the holiest; so believers, even while they are here on this earth, not only enter into the holiest, but by faith are made to sit with Christ in heavenly places, Eph. ii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Exodus 28:11
“Like the engravings of a signet - So signets or seals were in use at this time, and engraving on precious stones was then an art, and this art, which was one of the most elegant and ornamental, was carried in ancient times to a very high pitch of perfection, and particularly among the ancient Greeks; such a pitch of perfection as has never been rivaled, and cannot now be even well imitated.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:12
“Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord - He was to consider that he was the representative of the children of Israel; and the stones on the ephod and the stones on the breastplate were for a memorial to put Aaron in remembrance that he was the priest and mediator of the twelve tribes; and, speaking after the manner of men, God was to be put in mind of the children of Israel, their wants, etc., as frequently as the high priest appeared before him with the breastplate and the ephod. See Exo 28:29.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:13-16
Gold settings and chains of wreathen work hold the breastplate, and every fitting that touches it is pure gold. The piece is foursquare and doubled, which makes it a pouch rather than a flat plate, and the doubling is what verse 30 depends on. A span is half a cubit, so the whole thing sits inside the width of a man's chest.
Exodus 28:13
“Ouches of gold - משבצת mishbetsoth, strait places, sockets to insert the stones in, from שבץ shabats, to close, enclose, straiten. Socket, in this place, would be a more proper translation, as ouch cannot be traced up to any legitimate authority. It appears sometimes to signify a hook, or some mode of attaching things together.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Breastplate, Urim and Thummim
Exodus 28:15
“The breastplate of judgment - חשן משפט choshen mishpat, the same as the חשן choshen, see Exo 25:7, but here called the breastplate of judgment, because the high priest wore it upon his breast when he went to ask counsel of the Lord, to give judgment in any particular case; as also when he sat as judge to teach the law, and to determine controversies. See Lev 10:11; Deu 17:8, Deu 17:9.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:16
“Four-square it shall be - Here we have the exact dimensions of this breastplate, or more properly breast-piece or stomacher. It was a span in length and breadth when doubled, and consequently two spans long one way before it was doubled. Between these doublings, it is supposed, the Urim and Thummim were placed. See Clarke on Exo 28:30 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Twelve stones in four rows carry the twelve names, one name to a stone, each cut like the engraving of a signet. The shoulder stones grouped the names six and six by birth order, while here every tribe has its own stone and its own place in the setting. Revelation 21:14 and 21:19-20 set twelve foundation stones in the wall of the city with the names of the twelve apostles upon them.
Exodus 28:17
“Four rows of stones - With a name on each stone, making in all the twelve names of the twelve tribes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:18
“And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.”
Exodus 28:19
“And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. The first of these stones, the ligure or lyncurius, is said to be so called from the congealed urine of the lynx (n), but rather from the spots of that creature; for, according to Danaeus (o), it is the same stone with that called "stellina", from having many specks like stars spread about in it.”
Exodus 28:20
“And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper,.... Whatever stone is meant by the first in this row, it must be of a sea green colour; for "tarshish", the word used, signifies the sea; and so the beryl, as Pliny (r) says, imitates the greenness of the pure sea.”
Exodus 28:21
“Of these twelve, as of twelve precious stones, is the pillar of our faith built up. For these are the precious stones—sardius, jasper, smaragd, chrysolite, and the rest—woven into the robe of holy Aaron, even of him who bears the likeness of Christ, that is, of the true Priest. [These] stones [are] set in gold and inscribed with the names of the sons of Israel, twelve stones close joined and fitting one into another, for if any should sunder or separate them, the whole fabric of the faith falls in ruins.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Christian Faith 2, INTRODUCTION 4patristic
Seven verses go on fastening, and the reason arrives at the end of them, that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. Rings at the top, chains up to the shoulder ouches, rings at the bottom and a lace of blue underneath hold it at four points. The chapter spends more words securing the piece than describing it.
Exodus 28:23
“And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold,.... On the upper part of it, above, toward the two shoulder pieces of the ephod; these were to put one end of the chains into before mentioned: and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate; the two upper ends or corners of it, the right and left.”
Exodus 28:24
“And thou shalt put two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings,.... This expresses both how many chains were to be made, which is not before said, and the use of them, or where they were to be put, as well as the use of the rings: which are on the ends of the breastplate; the two uppermost ends or corners of it.”
Exodus 28:26
“And thou shall make two rings of gold,.... Two other rings besides those before mentioned: and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate; on the other two ends or corners of it: in the border thereof which is in the side of the ephod inward: these were at the two lower ends of the breastplate, towards the ephod on the inside.”
Exodus 28:28
“The ephod was the garment of service; the breast-plate of judgment was an emblem of honour: these two must by no means be separated. If any man will minister unto the Lord, and do his will, he shall know his doctrine.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Aaron carries the names on his shoulders at verse 12 and on his heart here, and the verb both times is bear. Into the doubled pouch go the Urim and the Thummim, and the text never says what they were or how they worked. Josephus reports a shining in the stones, an old rabbinic reading has the engraved letters standing out to be read, and other writers take them as lots. Numbers 27:21 and 1 Samuel 28:6 show them in use, and Ezra 2:63 records a time when no priest had them.
Exodus 28:29
“How near should Christ's name be to our hearts, since he is pleased to lay our names so near his! and what a comfort it is to us, in all our addresses to God, that the great high priest of our profession has the names of all his Israel upon his breast before the Lord for a memorial, presenting them to God as the people of his choice, who were to be made accepted in the beloved!”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Exodus 28:29
“On this breastplate it is further carefully prescribed that the names of the twelve patriarchs should be engraved. For to carry always the fathers registered on the breast is to think without intermission on the lives of the ancients. For the priest then walks blamelessly when he pores continually on the examples of the fathers that went before him, when he considers without cease the footsteps of the Saints, and keeps down unlawful thoughts, lest he advance the foot of his conduct beyond the limit of order.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 2, Chapter 2patristic
ConnectionsJohn 17:9
Exodus 28:30
“Thou shalt put in the breastplate - the Urim and the Thummim - What these were has, I believe, never yet been discovered. 1. They are nowhere described. 2. There is no direction given to Moses or any other how to make them. 3. Whatever they were, they do not appear to have been made on this occasion. 4. If they were the work of man at all, they must have been the articles in the ancient tabernacle, matters used by the patriarchs, and not here particularly described, because well known. 5. It is probable that nothing material is designed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Exodus 28:30
“But it was a shadow of good things to come, and the substance is Christ. He is our oracle; by him God in these last days makes known himself and his mind to us, Heb. i. Divine revelation centres in him, and comes to us through him; he is the light, the true light, the faithful witness, the truth itself, and from him we receive the Spirit of truth, who leads into all truth.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Robe, Golden Plate, and Tunics
The robe worn under the ephod is all blue, and its neck opening gets a woven binding so that it be not rent. Bells of gold and pomegranates alternate around the hem, and the reason given for the bells is sound, that his sound shall be heard when he goes in and when he comes out. The people outside cannot see the priest at his work and can hear him, and the alternative the verse names is that he die not.
Exodus 28:31
“The robe of the ephod - This was next under the ephod, and reached down to the knees, without sleeves, and was put on over their head, having holes on the sides to put the arms through, or, as Maimonides describes it, was not sewn together on the sides at all.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Exodus 28:32
“The robe of the ephod - See Clarke on Exo 28:4 (note). From this description, and from what Josephus says, who must have been well acquainted with its form, we find that this meil, or robe, was one long straight piece of blue cloth, with a hole or opening in the center for the head to pass through; which hole or opening was bound about, that it might not be rent in putting it on or taking it off, Exo 28:32.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:33
“Some make the bells of the holy robe to typify the sound of the gospel of Christ in the world, giving notice of his entrance within the veil for us. Blessed are those that hear this joyful sound, Ps. lxxxix. The adding of the pomegranates, which are a fragrant fruit, denotes the sweet savour of the gospel, as well as the joyful sound of it, for it is a savour of life unto life.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Exodus 28:34
“A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate,.... First a golden bell and then a pomegranate, then a bell and then a pomegranate again, and so on: upon the hem of the robe round about; all round the hem or skirts of the robe were they placed in this manner: the Targum of Jonathan says, the sum or number of them were seventy one; but Maimonides (c) says there were seventy two, thirty six in each skirt; and so says R.”
1 more voice on this verse
Exodus 28:34
“Hence in person proclaims to His disciples this which we have already cited, Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. It is as though He should say in a figure through the dress of the priest: Join ye pomegranates to bells, that in all ye say ye may with cautious watchfulness keep the unity of the faith. ... According to Divine precept, to bells are added pomegranates. For what is signified by pomegranates but the unity of the faith?”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 2, Chapter 4patristic
Exodus 28:35
“His sound shall be heard - The bells were doubtless intended to keep up the people’s attention to the very solemn and important office which the priest was then performing, that they might all have their hearts engaged in the work; and at the same time to keep Aaron himself in remembrance that he ministered before Jehovah, and should not come into his presence without due reverence. That he die not - This seems an allusion to certain ceremonies which still prevail in the eastern countries.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
make a plate of pure gold: A plate of pure gold on the front of the mitre carries an engraving cut like a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. It rides on the forehead so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which grants that even Israel's gifts need covering before they are accepted. Zechariah 14:20 puts that same inscription on the bells of the horses in the day it describes, so what was written on one man's forehead ends up on common harness.
Exodus 28:36
“Holiness becomes his house and household. The high priest must be sequestered from all pollution, and consecrated to God and to his service and honour, and so must all his ministrations be. All that attend in God's house must have Holiness to the Lord engraven upon their foreheads, that is, they must be holy, devoted to the Lord, and designing his glory in all they do.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Exodus 28:37
“The Scripture has not described its form, but from JOSEPHUS we may gather that it was conical in shape, as he distinguishes the mitres of the common priests by saying that they were not conical--that it was encircled with swathes of blue embroidered, and that it was covered by one piece of fine linen to hide the seams.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Exodus 28:38
“May bear the iniquity of the holy things - ונשא אהרן את עון הקדשים venasa Aharon eth avon hakkodashim. And Aaron shall bear (in a vicarious and typical manner) the sin of the holy or separated things - offerings or sacrifices.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Exodus 28:38
“Thro' him what is amiss in our services is pardoned: even this would be our ruin, if God should enter into judgment with us: but Christ our high priest bears this iniquity; bears it for us, so as to bear it from us. Thro' him likewise what is good is accepted; our persons, our performances are pleasing to God upon the account of Christ's intercession, and not otherwise.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Exodus 28:38
“DEAR Friends, I must begin by reminding you that we are not in this place dealing with unconverted men in their sins but with God's people Israel in their holy things. I say this because we must never forget that "without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin." And when we are dealing with certain types it must be understood that the blood has done its essential work. Even a high priest, with all his "glory and beauty," could not put away sin as before God without reference to the shedding of blood.”
The coat, the mitre and the girdle finish Aaron's dress, and the sons receive coats, girdles and bonnets for glory and for beauty, the phrase from verse 2 returning to close the list. Verse 41 puts three acts in order, anoint them, consecrate them, sanctify them, and the anointing comes first. The word anoint occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and the first man anointed in the Bible is a priest rather than a king.
Exodus 28:39
“It is said to have been very long, and being many times wound round the body, it was fastened in front and the ends hung down, which, being an impediment to a priest in active duty, were usually thrown across the shoulders. This was the outer garment of the common priests.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Exodus 28:40
“2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. 3 And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Exodus 28:40
“For glory and for beauty - See Clarke’s note on Exo 28:2.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Linen breeches are ordered to cover their nakedness from the loins to the thighs, which is the same concern Exodus 20:26 raised about going up by steps to an altar. Genesis 3:7 and 3:21 began the covering of nakedness and the priesthood inherits it. The chapter closes on a penalty, that they bear not iniquity and die, made a statute for ever to Aaron and his seed after him.
Exodus 28:42
“Linen breeches - This command had in view the necessity of purity and decency in every part of the Divine worship, in opposition to the shocking indecency of the pagan worship in general, in which the priests often ministered naked, as in the sacrifices to Bacchus, etc.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Exodus 28:43
“It shall be a statute forever - That is, It is to continue as long as the priesthood continues. And it is to have its perpetuity in the substance, of which these things were the shadows.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Building instruction for the priestly garments, a list of six pieces made for glory and splendour, as Clarke classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| For glory and splendour, said of the father and of the sons | Verse 2 says the holy garments are made for Aaron to give him glory and splendour. Verse 40 says the same of the tunics, sashes and headbands for his sons. Counted in the Berean text of the chapter, the phrase stands twice, at the head of the high priest's clothing and at the head of his sons'. | Exodus 28:2, Exodus 28:40 |
| The names carried twice, on the shoulders and on the heart | Verses 9 to 12 put the twelve names on two onyx stones on the shoulder pieces, as memorial stones. Verses 17 to 29 put the twelve names on twelve separate gemstones on the breastpiece, over the heart. Verse 12 and verse 29 give the same reason in the same words, that Aaron bears them as a memorial and a continual reminder before the LORD.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on Exodus 28:29. | Exodus 28:9, Exodus 28:12, Exodus 28:21, Exodus 28:29 |
| Four rows of three stones | Verses 17 to 20 name twelve stones in four rows of three, each mounted in gold filigree. Adam Clarke notes at verse 17 that each stone carried a name, making in all the twelve names of the twelve tribes. At verse 11 he notes that engraving on precious stones was already an art at this time.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Exodus 28:17. | Exodus 28:17, Exodus 28:18, Exodus 28:19, Exodus 28:20, Exodus 28:21 |
| So that he will not die, said at the robe and at the undergarments | Verse 35 says the sound of the robe's bells will be heard when Aaron enters or exits, so that he will not die. Verse 43 says the linen undergarments must be worn whenever the priests enter or approach the altar, so that they will not incur guilt and die. The clothing section opens and closes on the same consequence. | Exodus 28:35, Exodus 28:43 |
The chapter stands between the building of the sanctuary in chapters 25 to 27 and the ordination of the men who will serve in it in chapter 29. The order is the tent, then the clothes, then the men, and the daily service comes last.
15 more paragraphs on the patterns
The garments are made in chapter 39, and the Jewish reading cycle keeps the two spans in separate weeks, Tetzaveh here and Pekudei for the making.
The historical value
Josephus is the outside witness the commentators use for this chapter, and they use him for the shapes the text leaves unsaid. Adam Clarke takes from him the description of the robe as one long woven garment. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take from him that the turban was conical in shape, encircled with embroidered swathes of blue and covered with one piece of fine linen to hide the seams. They note that the Scripture itself gives no form for it. They also describe the common priests' sash as long, wound many times round the body and thrown over the shoulders when it got in the way of active duty.
Adam Clarke adds one general observation about the craft. Engraving on precious stones was an art at this time, and it was carried in antiquity to a pitch of perfection he holds was never rivalled. That is his claim and is given here as his.
The New Testament's use
This chapter has no direct quotation in the New Testament that the store's notes record. Two lines of use run from it.
The first is the high priest himself. Hebrews 7:26 says that such a high priest truly befits us, one who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. John Calvin cites that verse on the unblemished animals of Exodus 29:1 and reads the typical purity of the law as found in Christ alone.
The second is the priesthood of all believers. At 1 Peter 2:9 the church is called a chosen people and a royal priesthood, which takes up the words spoken to Israel at Exodus 19:6.
The debated reading
What the Urim and Thummim were is the chapter's open question, and the text does not answer it. Verse 30 says to place them in the breastpiece of judgment. It gives no material, no shape and no method.
Adam Clarke states the position honestly at verse 16. Between the doublings of the breastpiece, it is supposed, the Urim and Thummim were placed. The words it is supposed are his own marker that this is inference rather than statement. John Wesley reads verse 30 for the function without describing the objects, and says the breastplate declared the judgment or mind of God to the Israelites.
The commentators the store carries for this chapter state no competing reconstructions in words this lane could cite, so no position is named here. The question is listed as an owed feature page.
The typological reading of the garments follows the pattern set out in the study of chapter 25. Matthew Henry and John Wesley both read the names over the heart as the high priest of the Christian profession bearing His people before God. Matthew Henry reads the bells as the sound of the gospel. Those readings are theirs.
Where to go deeper
The office stands at the priest and its extension to the church at royal priesthood. The clothing stands at the garment and the stones at precious stones. The anointing of verse 41 stands at the anointing. The dyed yarns stand at blue, purple and scarlet. Aaron himself has no page yet and is owed, and so are the Urim and Thummim.
Keep studying
Studies7
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Adam Clarke and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on Exodus 28:1.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Chuck Missler, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.