FRONTISPIECE OF THE “VESTITUS SACERDOTUM HEBRÆORUM,” OF JOHANN BRAUN, AMSTERDAM, 1680.

The vignettes at the top illustrate the source of the materials of the vestments, etc.; as the nopal, source of the cochineal insect; gold-thread; linen; a sheep for wool; Tyre and the purple murex. The other vignettes show separate parts of the high-priest’s attires and in the centre appear two figures of the high-priest, each garbed in different sets of vestments.

VIII
On the High-Priest’s Breastplate

VERY early, and very naturally, the religious nature of man led to the use of precious stones in connection with worship—the most valuable and elegant objects being chosen for sacred purposes. Of this mode of thought, we have a striking instance in the accounts given, in the book of Exodus, of the breastplate of the High-priest, and the gems contributed for the tabernacle by the Israelites in the wilderness. Another religious association of such objects is their use to symbolize ideas of the Divine glory, as illustrated in the visions of the prophet Ezekiel and in the description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. Apart from such legitimate uses, however, gems have become associated with all manner of religious fancies and superstitions, traces of which appear in the Talmud, the Koran, and similar writings; they have also been dedicated to various heathen deities. Even in modern times, some trace of the same ideas remains in the ecclesiastical jewelry and its supposed symbolism.

In the vision of Ezekiel i, 26, and in a brief allusion to the similar appearance of the God of Israel in Exodus xxiv, the throne of Jehovah, or the pavement beneath his feet, is compared to a sapphire, and the Apostle John, in the Apocalypse, describes the Great White Throne as surrounded by a rainbow like an emerald.

The Rabbinical writings, instead of the simple grandeur of these biblical comparisons, give us many fanciful ideas. The stones of the breastplate are here represented as sacred to twelve mighty angels who guard the gates of Paradise, and wondrous tales are told of the luminous gems in the tent of Abraham and the ark of Noah. Mohammedan legend represents the different heavens as composed of different precious stones, and in the Middle Ages these religious ideas became interwoven with a host of astrological, alchemistic, and medical superstitions.

The following is the description of the breastplate given in Exodus (xxviii, 15-30):

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.

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

And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.

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 jasper; they shall be set in gold in their enclosings.

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 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.

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.