The altar of burnt offering,

CHRIST 1491.

2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.

4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.

5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:

10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

12¶ And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

14 The hangings of one side of

oil olive beaten] That is, oil not squeezed out by a press or mill, but such as ran freely from the olives when bruised. Bp. Patrick.

21. the vail, which is before the testimony,] The vail, which was before the ark of the testimony,"

15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

Before CHRIST 1491.

20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn + Heb. to always.

21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

CHAP. XXVIII.

1 Aaron and his sons are set apart for the priest's office. 2 Holy garments are appointed. 6 The ephod. 15 The breastplate with twelve precious stones. 30 The Urim and Thummim. 31 The robe of the ephod, with pomegranates and bells. 36 The plate of the mitre. 39 The embroidered coat. 40 The garments for Aaron's sons.

AND take thou unto thee Aaron

thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

ascend up.

and which separated the Holy place from the Holy of Holies. Bp. Patrick.

Chap. XXVIII. ver. 1. And take thou unto thee &c.] Here is the first appointment of a regular priesthood;

Holy garments are appointed

Before CHRIST 1491.

Il Or, embroidered.

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.

4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he minister unto me in the priest's office.

may

5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and

fine linen.

Aaron and his sons are here selected for that office, and afterwards, chap. xxxii. 29, the whole tribe of Levi are consecrated to the Lord. Bp. Patrick.

2.-holy garments] Called holy because worn by none but priests, and by them only when they ministered they were intended for glory and for beauty," that is, to make their office more respected, and to strike beholders with an awful sense of the Divine Majesty, whose ministers they saw appear in such grandeur. Bp. Patrick. Not holy in their own nature, but so called by reason of their distinction and separation from other things of the like nature to higher and more excellent uses. Bp. Beveridge.

3.- all that are wise hearted,] So the Hebrews call those that are endowed with extraordinary skill in any art: these persons were filled by God with the spirit of wisdom, that is, endowed in an extraordinary manner with skill for these requisite works. Bp. Patrick.

6.- the ephod] This name is derived from a Hebrew word, signifying to tie or gird. The ephod was a kind of girdle, which was brought from behind the back, over the two shoulders; was then put across the stomach, and carried round the waist, so as to form a girdle to the broidered coat, the ends of it hanging

for Aaron and his sons

and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their

birth.

Before CHRIST 1491.

a Wisd. 18.

11 a With the work of an engraver 21. 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.

12 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.

13 And thou shalt make ouches of gold;

14 And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.

16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

17 And thou shalt + set in it set- Heb. fill in it fillings of tings of stones, even four rows of stone. stones: the first row shall be a || sar- | Or, ruby. dius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.

18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

down before. The "shoulderpieces," ver. 7, were the parts covering the shoulders, and "the girdle," ver. 8, that part which tied round the body, below the heart. Calmet.

12. -for stones of memorial] For a sign whereby the children of Israel may know that their memory is presented to God, and that they are had in remembrance of God. Bp. Hall. A memorial both with reference to God, ver. 29, and also to the priest, who was thereby put in mind of the concerns of the people. Bp. Kidder.

15. — breastplate of judgment] It was so called, because the high priest wore it, when he went to consult the Divine Majesty about the great concerns of their religion and government: it was to be made of the same materials and workmanship with the ephod: it was also to be "foursquare" when doubled, ver. 16, that is, the whole piece was to be twice as long as it was broad, so that when doubled it was to form a square of a span on every side. The span was half a cubit, or about ten inches. Bp. Patrick.

17.a sardius, &c.] There is very little certainty as to the particular kinds of stone mentioned in these verses, the true meaning of the Hebrew words being ill understood. Pyle.

Holy garments for

Before CHRIST 1491.

+ Heb. fillings.

20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.

21 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.

22 ¶ And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.

and

23 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, shalt put the two rings on the ends of the breastplate.

two

24 And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

25 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it.

26¶ 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.

27 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,

30.- The Urim and the Thummim;] The words Urim and Thummim signify light and perfection. There is not the least intimation any where what these were, nor is there any direction given to Moses for the making of them, as there is for the rest of the priestly attire. The opinions respecting their meaning have been very various some have thought that the words merely referred to the twelve stones, which have been described, ver. 17, on the breastplate of the high priest; others, that they were small oracular figures placed in the doubling of the breastplate, which gave articulate answers; others, that they referred to a plate of gold, inscribed with the sacred name of Jehovah; others again, that they only imply the Divine virtue and power given to the breastplate in its consecration, of obtaining an oracular answer from God; and that the names Urim and Thummim were applied only to denote the clearness and perfection, which those oracular answers always carried with them. Whatever the ornament was, it enabled the high priest to collect divine instruction on occasions of national importance, or even of private concern. It is wholly unknown how the Lord answered by the Urim and Thummim. The Jews generally think it was done by the shining of the stones on the breastplate, or of some letters inscribed upon it. Others with more reason suppose that the Urim and Thummim only qualified the high priest to present himself in the holy

28 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.

29 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.

30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

31 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

32 And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.

Before CHRIST 1491.

33 ¶ And beneath upon the || hem || Or, skirts. of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:

place to receive answers from the mercy seat in the tabernacle. Dr. Gray, Dean Prideaux, Bp. Patrick. 32. habergeon,] Armour to cover the neck and breast, a neckpiece. Dr. Johnson.

33.- pomegranates] Bells of embroidery, in size and shape like pomegranates. The pomegranate is a sort of apple very common in the East; as the fruit is very beautiful, the Scriptures often make use of similitudes taken from it. Calmet.

bells] The bell seems to have been a sacred utensil of very ancient use in Asia. The use and intent of these bells in the pontifical robe of the Jewish high priest is evident from the following words: his sound shall be heard when he goeth in, &c." The sound of the numerous bells that covered the hem of his garment gave notice to the assembled people that the most awful ceremony of their religion had commenced. When arrayed in this garb, he bore into the sanctuary the vessel of incense; it was the signal to prostrate themselves before the Deity, and to commence those fervent ejacu lations which were to ascend with the column of that incense to the throne of heaven. The ancient kings of Persia, who, in fact, united in their own persons the regal and sacerdotal office, were accustomed to have the fringes of their robes adorned with pomegranates and golden bells. Calmet.

One indispensable ceremony in the Indian Pooja is