Exodus 28:15
WEB
“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it.
BSB
You are also to make a breastpiece of judgment with the same workmanship as the ephod. Construct it with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.
KJV
¶ 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.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H6213
v — do, make
Derivation: a primitive root;
to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
KJV: accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, × sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.
vb — do
עָשָׂה 2622 vb. do, make
Qal 2524
I.
1. do (1560 t.)
2. deal with
3. oft. in phr. do kindness with
4. abs. act, act with effect
II.
1. make (670 t.)
2. produce, yield
3. prepare, esp. of dressing and cooking food
4. make offering
5. attend to, put in order
6. observe, celebrate, religious festival
7. acquire property of various kinds
8. appoint priests
9. bring about of י׳’s effecting a deliverance
10. use
11. spend, pass, days of life
Niph. 97
1. be done
2.
a. be made, of concr. things
b. be produced from vine
c. be prepared, of food
d. be offered
e. be observed, passover
f. be used
Pu. I was made
vb — press
[עָשָׂה] vb. Pi. press, squeeze
H2833
n-m — pocket, rich, gorget
Derivation: from an unused root probably meaning to contain or sparkle;
perhaps a pocket (as holding the Urim and Thummim), or rich (as containing gems), used only of the gorget of the highpriest
KJV: breastplate.
n.m — breast-piece
חֹ֫שֶׁן n.m. the breast-piece or sacred pouch
H4941
n-m — verdict, sentence, law, justice, right, privilege, style
Derivation: from 8199;
properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
KJV: adversary, ceremony, charge, × crime, custom, desert, determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged, judgment, just(-ice, -ly), (manner of) law(-ful), manner, measure, (due) order, ordinance, right, sentence, usest, × worthy, wrong.
n.m — judgment
מִשְׁפָּט 422 n.m. judgment
1. judgment
2. justice, right, rectitude
3. ordinance
4. decision
5. one's (legal) right, privilege, due
6.
a. proper, fitting, measure
b. custom, manner
c. what manner of
d. plan
H4639
n-m — action, transaction, activity, product, poem, property
Derivation: from 6213;
an action (good or bad); generally, a transaction; abstractly, activity; by implication, a product (specifically, a poem) or (generally) property
KJV: act, art, bakemeat, business, deed, do(-ing), labor, thing made, ware of making, occupation, thing offered, operation, possession, × well, (handy-, needle-, net-) work(ing, -manship), wrought.
n.m — deed
מַעֲשֶׂה 233 n.m. deed, work
H2803
v — plait, interpenetrate, weave, fabricate, plot, contrive, think, regard, value, compute
Derivation: a primitive root;
properly, to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (generally) to fabricate; figuratively, to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think, regard, value, compute
KJV: (make) account (of), conceive, consider, count, cunning (man, work, workman), devise, esteem, find out, forecast, hold, imagine, impute, invent, be like, mean, purpose, reckon(-ing be made), regard, think.
vb — think
חָשַׁב vb. think, account
Qal
I. of man:
1. think, account
2. devise, plan, mean
3. charge, impute
4. esteem, value, regard
5. invent ingenious and artistic things
II. of God:
1. think
2. devise, plan, mean
3. inpute, reckon
4. esteem, value, regard
5. invent ingenious and artistic things
Niph.
1. be accounted, thought, esteemed
2. be computed, reckoned
3. be imputed to any one
Pi.
1. think upon, consider, be mindful of
2. think to do, devise, plan
3. count, reckon, the years since a sale of land
Hithp. among the nations it shall not reckon itself
H646
n-m — girdle, ephod, image
Derivation: rarely אֵפֹד; probably of foreign derivation
a girdle; specifically the ephod or highpriest's shoulder-piece; also generally, an image
KJV: ephod.
n.m — ephod
אֵפוֹד (28 t.) & אֵפֹד (20 t.) n.m. ephod
1. ephod, priestly garment, shoulder-cape or mantle
2. ephod used in consulting י׳
3.
a. ephod of gold made by Gideon
b. made (material not given) for a private, local sanctuary
H2091
n-m — gold, something gold-colored, oil, clear sky
Derivation: from an unused root meaning to shimmer;
gold, figuratively, something gold-colored (i.e. yellow), as oil, a clear sky
KJV: gold(-en), fair weather.
n.m — gold
זָהָב 385 n.m. gold
1. = gold-ore, gold in raw state
2. gold as wealth
3. gold as spoil of war
4. gold as merchandise
5. gold as costly gift
6. gold as material
7. gold described by its source
8. gold defined by var. adj. and pts.
9. as measure of weight and value
10. = golden oil, from colour
11. often named with
12. the chief vbs. used
H8504
n-f — mussel, violet
Derivation: probably for 7827;
the cerulean mussel, i.e. the color (violet) obtained therefrom or stuff dyed therewith
KJV: blue.
n.f — violet
תְּכֵ֫לֶת 48 n.f. violet, i.e. violet thread and stuff
H713
n-m — purple
Derivation: of foreign origin;
purple (the color or the dyed stuff)
KJV: purple.
n.[m.] — purple
אַרְגָּמָן n.[m.] purple, red-purple, i.e. purple thread & cloth
H8438
n-m n-f — maggot, voracious, grub
Derivation: and (feminine) תּוֹלֵעָה; or תּוֹלַעַת; or תֹּלַעַת; from 3216;
a maggot (as voracious); specifically (often with ellipsis of 8144) the crimson-grub, but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith
KJV: crimson, scarlet, worm.
n.[m.] — worm
תּוֹלָע n.[m.] worm, scarlet stuff
n.f — worm
תּוֹלֵעָה, תּוֹלַ֫עַת 40 n.f. worm
H8144
n-m — crimson
Derivation: of uncertain derivation;
crimson, properly, the insect or its color, also stuff dyed with it
KJV: crimson, scarlet (thread).
n.[m.] — scarlet
שָׁנִי 42 n.[m.] scarlet (prop. coccus ilicis, which attaches itself to leaves and twigs of quercus coccifera; the dried body of female yields colouring matter)
H8336
n-m — bleached, white
Derivation: or (for alliteration with 4897) שְׁשִׁי; for 7893;
bleached stuff, i.e. white linen or (by analogy) marble
KJV: × blue, fine (twined) linen, marble, silk.
n.m — alabaster
שֵׁשׁ n.m. id. [שַׁ֫יִשׁ]; material of pavement
n.m — byssus
שֵׁשׁ n.m. byssus, fine Egyptian linen
H7806
v — twist
Derivation: a primitive root;
to twist (a thread of straw)
KJV: twine.
vb — be twisted
[שָׁזַר] 21 vb. Hoph. be twisted
H853
prt — self, even, namely
Derivation: apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity;
properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)
KJV: [as such unrepresented in English].
mark of the accusative
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
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Verses 15–30
Exodus 28:15–30
The most considerable of the ornaments of the high priest was this breast-plate, a rich piece of cloth, curiously wrought with gold and purple, etc., two spans long and a span broad, so that, being doubled, it was a span square, Exo 28:16. This was fastened to the ephod with wreathen chains of gold (Exo 28:13, Exo 28:14, Exo 28:22, etc.) both at top and bottom, so that the breast-plate might not be loosed from the ephod, Exo 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. In this breast-plate,
I. The tribes of Israel were recommended to God's favour in twelve precious stones, Exo 28:17-21, Exo 28:19. Some question whether Levi had a precious stone with his name or no. If not, Ephraim and Manasseh were reckoned distinct, as Jacob had said they should be, and the high priest himself, being head of the tribe of Levi, sufficiently represented that tribe. If there was a stone for Levi, as is intimated by this, that they were engraven according to their birth (Exo 28:10), Ephraim and Manasseh were one in Joseph. Aaron was to bear their names for a memorial before the Lord continually, being ordained for men, to represent them in things pertaining to God, herein typifying our great high priest, who always appears in the presence of God for us. 1. 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 2:6. 2. The name of each tribe was engraven in a precious stone, to signify how precious, in God's sight, believers are, and how honourable, Isa 43:4. They shall be his in the day he makes up his jewels, Mal 3:17. How small and poor soever the tribe was, it was a precious stone in the breast-plate of the high priest; thus are all the saints dear to Christ, and his delight is in them as the excellent ones of the earth, however men may esteem them as earthen pitchers, Lam 4:2. 3. The high priest had the names of the tribes both on his shoulders and on his breast, intimating both the power and the love with which our Lord Jesus intercedes for those that are his. He not only bears them up upon his heart, as the expression here is (Exo 28:29), carries them in his bosom (Isa 40:11), with the most tender affection. 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! Let not any good Christians fear that God has forgotten them, nor question his being mindful of them upon all occasions, when they are not only engraven upon the palms of his hands (Isa 49:16), but engraven upon the heart of the great intercessor. See Sol 8:6.
II. The urim and thummim, by which the will of God was made known in doubtful cases, were put in this breast-plate, which is therefore called the breast-plate of judgment, Exo 28:30. Urim and thummim signify light and integrity; many conjectures there are among the learned what they were; we have no reason to think they were any thing that Moses was to make more than what was before ordered, so that either God made them himself, and gave them to Moses, for him to put into the breast-plate, when other things were prepared (Lev 8:8), or no more is meant than a declaration of the further use of what was already ordered to be made. I think the words may be read thus, And thou shalt give, or add, or deliver, to the breast-plate of judgment, the illuminations and perfections, and they shall be upon the heart of Aaron; that is, "He shall be endued with a power of knowing and making known the mind of God in all difficult doubtful cases, relating either to the civil or ecclesiastical state of the nation." Their government was a theocracy: God was their King, the high priest was, under God, their ruler, the urim and thummim were his cabinet-council; probably Moses wrote upon the breast-plate, or wove into it, these words, Urim and Thummim, to signify that the high priest, having on him this breast-plate, and asking counsel of God in any emergency relating to the public, should be directed to take those measures, and give that advice, which God would own. If he was standing before the ark (but without the veil) probably he received instructions from off the mercy-seat, as Moses did (Exo 25:22); thus, it should seem, Phinehas did, Jdg 20:27, Jdg 20:28. If he was at a distance from the ark, as Abiathar was when he enquired of the Lord for David (Sa1 23:6, etc.), then the answer was given either by a voice from heaven or rather by an impulse upon the mind of the high priest, which last is perhaps intimated in that expression, He shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart. This oracle was of great use to Israel; Joshua consulted it (Num 27:21), and, it is likely, the judges after him. It was lost in the captivity, and never regained after, though, it should seem, it was expected, Ezr 2:63. 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 1:2; Joh 1:18. 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. The joining of the breast-plate to the ephod denotes that his prophetical office was founded in his priesthood; and it was by the merit of his death that he purchased this honour for himself and this favour for us. It was the Lamb that had been slain that was worthy to take the book and to open the seals, Rev 5:9.
Cross-references: Exod 28:16 · Exod 28:13 · Exod 28:14 · Exod 28:22 · Exod 28:28 · Exod 28:17 · Exod 28:19 · Exod 28:10 · Eph 2:6 · Isa 43:4 · Mal 3:17 · Lam 4:2 · Exod 28:29 · Isa 40:11 · Isa 49:16 · Song 8:6 · Exod 28:30 · Lev 8:8 · Exod 25:22 · Judg 20:27 · Judg 20:28 · 1Sam 23:6 · Num 27:21 · Ezra 2:63 · Heb 1:2 · John 1:18 · Rev 5:9