The Priestly Garments Constructed

Exodus 39:1-21

The Priestly Garments Constructed

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman.

They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together; at the two ends was it joined together.

And the skilfully woven band, that was upon it, wherewith to gird it on, was of the same piece and like the work thereof; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

And they wrought the onyx stones, inclosed in settings of gold, graven with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel.

And he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

And he made the breastplate, the work of the skilful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being double.

And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row;

and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in inclosings of gold in their settings.

And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, for the twelve tribes.

And they made upon the breastplate chains like cords, of wreathen work of pure gold.

And they made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.

And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, in the forepart thereof.

And they made two rings of gold, and put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the edge thereof, which was toward the side of the ephod inward.

And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the forepart thereof, close by the coupling thereof, above the skilfully woven band of the ephod.

And they did bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be upon the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

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Commentary written on this passage, not on a single verse.

Where else Scripture says this.

Exodus 31:10
and the finely wrought garments, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office,
from verse 1
Exodus 35:19
the finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
from verse 1
Exodus 35:23
And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them.
from verse 1
Exodus 28:6
And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skilful workman.
from verse 2
Exodus 28:12
And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
from verse 2
Revelation 21:12
having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
from verse 14
Joshua 4:7
then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
from verse 7
Exodus 28:4
And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
from verse 1
Hebrews 9:12
nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.
from verse 1
Hebrews 9:25
nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own;
from verse 1
Leviticus 8:7
And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.
from verse 2
Exodus 28:2
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.
from verse 1

Henry comments on Exodus 39:1-31 — read the whole passage

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Exodus 39:1–31.

1662–1714

In this account of the making of the priests' garments, according to the instructions given (ch. 28), we may observe, 1. That the priests' garments are called here clothes of service, Exo 39:1. Note, Those that wear robes of honour must look upon them as clothes of service; for from those upon whom honour is put service is expected. It is said of those that are arrayed in white robes that they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, Rev 7:13, Rev 7:15. Holy garments were not made for men to sleep in, or to strut in, but to do service in; and then they are indeed for glory and beauty. The Son of man himself came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. 2. That all the six paragraphs here, which give a distinct account of the making of these holy garments, conclude with those words, as the Lord commanded Moses, Exo 39:5, Exo 39:7, Exo 39:21, Exo 39:26, Exo 39:29, Exo 39:31. The like is not in any of the foregoing accounts, as if in these, more than any other of the appurtenances of the tabernacle, they had a particular regard to the divine appointment, both for warrant and for direction. It is an intimation to all the Lord's ministers to make the word of God their rule in all their ministrations, and to act in observance of and obedience to the command of God. 3. That these garments, in conformity to the rest of the furniture of the tabernacle, were very rich and splendid; the church in its infancy was thus taught, thus pleased, with the rudiments of this world; but now under the gospel, which is the ministration of the Spirit, to affect and impose such pompous habits as the church of Rome does, under pretence of decency and instruction, is to betray the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and to entangle the church again in the bondage of those carnal ordinances which were imposed only till the time of reformation. 4. That they were all shadows of good things to come, but the substance is Christ, and the grace of the gospel; when therefore the substance has come, it is a jest to be fond of the shadow. (1.) Christ is our great high-priest; when he undertook the work of our redemption, he put on the clothes of service - he arrayed himself with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which he received not by measure - girded himself with the curious girdle of resolution, to go through with his undertaking - charged himself with the curious girdle of resolution, to go through with his undertaking - charged himself with all God's spiritual Israel, bore them on his shoulders, carried them in his bosom, laid them near his heart, engraved them on the palms of his hands, and presented them in the breast-plate of judgment unto his Father. And (lastly) he crowned himself with holiness to the Lord, consecrating his whole undertaking to the honour of his Father's holiness: now consider how great this man is. (2.) True believers are spiritual priests. The clean linen with which all their clothes of service must be made is the righteousness of saints (Rev 19:8), and Holiness to the Lord must be so written upon their foreheads that all who converse with them may see, and say, that they bear the image of God's holiness, and are devoted to the praise of it.

Historical interpretation

Historical Reception

One surviving comment on this passage from the historical church.

1 quote · AD 735

AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceOn the Tabernacle 3.4, AT EXODUS 28:7

From this it appears to have been the case that the borders of two pieces were joined together from top to bottom on both sides into a doubled garment. In [this] way … half of the garment would be visible to the eyes of those looking at it from the outside while the other half would be concealed on the inside, but the joined borders of the two would come all the way down to the lowest point below. What else are we to understand by means of this type, except that while we are displaying good works on the outside before our neighbors, we must keep them unblemished on the inside before the Lord?

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The Priestly Garments Constructed