The garment of the High Priest in the Old Testament was a symbol of his role as mediator between God and man. Not only did he wear it when ministering before the Lord within the Holy of Holies, but he also had to wear this sacred garb when performing sacrifices on behalf of Israel. The High Priest served as both mediator and substitute for all true believers. This suit also depicting his honor and dignity that came from being called as God’s representative and earthly judge for Israel.In the Old Testament, God commanded the high priest to wear a unique garment that represented His presence. Jesus Christ is our High Priest and He also wore a unique garment. His garment of righteousness was given to us as believers in Him through faith.
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Garments Of Priests In Old Testament
In addition to the four white linen priestly garments, the High Priest wore four additional garments featuring golden ornamentation. The first was a blue robe with golden bells and pomegranates on the hem.
The priestly garments, or “mitre-like” garments (Exod. 28:4; 39:27; Lev. 8:7), were of linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, woven in a certain manner (5 fabrics). The head-dress had a band of gold which was fastened behind with golden clasps. The ephod was a long coat reaching almost to the ankles. Its lower hem was double, so as to form folds which hung down on each side (Exod. 28:4-6). It was also made of gold plates and blue, purple, and scarlet yarns woven in artistic fashion into beautiful ornamental figures. These were attached by two onyx stones set in gold pomegranates fastened on each shoulder (Exod. 28:7-8). Round its upper edge were two onyx stones set in gold settings fastened with gold chains which encircled both ends of it, passing over the right shoulder under the left arm and ending at a clasp formed by two rows of exquisite workmanship fastened to a girdle fitting tightly round the waist. The girdle was made of fine gold chain links intertwined with violet blue, purple and
The elaborate garments worn by the priests figure prominently in the Torah portion Tetzaveh, filling the entirety of Exodus 28. They are described again in detail in Pekudei (Exodus 39:1–31), where they conclude the account of the actual manufacture of the components of the miškān (“Tabernacle”) that is said to have accompanied the Israelites through the wilderness.
Four of these garments are worn exclusively by the High Priest. They alone are called בִּגְדֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ, the holy garments. Moses first places them upon Aaron at the consecration of the priests (Leviticus 8:7–9). Aaron wears them until his death, transferring them to his son and successor Eleazar immediately before he dies (Numbers 20:25–28). All successive High Priests are commanded to wear them as well (Exodus 29:30; see Leviticus 21:10).
Together with the entire account of the miškān, all of the references to the priests’ garments belong to the narrative contained in the Priestly document, or P. They are not mentioned in the other Torah sources, although one feature, the enigmatic Urim and Thummim, is mentioned in Moses’ blessing of the tribe of Levi (Deut 33:8) – probably a part of the J source. Outside of the Torah, non-priestly texts occasionally mention an ephod (1 Samuel 2:28; 14:3; 21:10; 23:6,9: Judges 8:27; 17:5 18:14–20 etc.), as well as the Urim (1 Sam 28:6) and Thumim (Septuagint to 1 Samuel 14:41), but the full list is peculiar to P, and so is the insistence that certain ones are worn by the High Priest alone.
The fact that the garments are included in the instructions for the building of the miškān and its furnishings and in the account of their manufacture indicates that they were not thought of as items belonging to the priest but rather as sacred equipment, appertaining to the miškān and only used there. Indeed, they are explicitly designated for use לְשָׁרֵת בַּקֹּדֶש “when serving in the sanctuary” (Exodus 28:48; 29:30 etc.). The list of materials needed for the sanctuary (Exodus 25:1–7) includes the precious stones required for the ephod and breastplate. Further, the fabric portions of the garments were made of the same materials, and fashioned in the same manner, as the fabrics in the miškān itself, with those used to make the High Priest’s garments identical to those used in the most sacred sections of the miškān.
The four garments peculiar to the High Priest are unlike any normal articles of clothing. Their shape and design show that they are not intended to provide protection from the elements or to fulfill the requirements of modesty. In addition to fabrics, they contain gold and precious stones. On three of them, words are inscribed. Their weight and the manner in which they are placed on the High Priest’s body render them neither practical nor comfortable. The High Priest is said to “wear” them only when he enters the sanctuary interior, which he is commanded to do twice daily, morning and evening. Most important, each one of the High Priest’s “garments” is said to function in a specific way whenever the High Priest enters the sanctuary “wearing” it.
The Functions of the High Priest’s Garments
Ephod
The ephod’s precious stones, inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes, are said to serve as אַבְנֵי זִכָּרוֹן “stones of reminder” to remind God of Israel, and the same is true of the twelve stones on the breastplate. Thus by his very person, which we might call the “body politic,” the High Priest personifies the whole of the Israelite people ‘לִפְנֵי ה “before YHWH,” i.e. when standing in God’s presence (Exodus 28:12, 29; 39:7).
Breastplate
The Urim and Thummim, connected with the breastplate, enable Aaron, each time he enters the sanctuary, to inquire of God for judgment (Exodus 28:30), which probably means in order to ascertain the correct decision in legal proceedings.
Robe
The robe is “worn” for its bells, their sound alerting the divine presence to Aaron’s approach as he enters the sanctuary “so that he not die” (Exodus 28:35) – which might happen if he were to disturb the divine repose too abruptly.
Diadem
Finally the diadem on Aaron’s head is said to remove from God’s abode any wrongdoing connected with Israel’s offerings and to ensure, by means of the inscription proclaiming that Israel’s worship is ‘קֹדֶשׁ לַה “Holy to Yhwh,” that God graciously accept (that is the meaning of רָצוֹן in P) their sacrifices (Exodus 28:38).
When one considers the daily ritual acts involving these “garments,” it becomes clear that in P they are not viewed as apparel at all. They are called בְּגָדִים, “garments,” and technically they are – but only because the High Priest bears them on his person. Essentially, they are ceremonial, ritual objects. They transform the High Priest who “wears” them into a walking embodiment of the whole nation of Israel, and they play indispensable roles in the regular (note the repeated use of the word “tāmîd”) pageant of worship that he enacts on Israel’s behalf.
Maintaining God’s Terrestrial Abode
Consider these actions along with the other tasks the High Priest is instructed to execute each morning and evening in the sanctuary – attending to the lampstand to ensure that the sanctuary’s interior is illuminated all night long, and offering incense to provide a fragrant aroma – and his weekly presentation and removal of twelve loaves. All of these rituals are predicated on the sanctuary being God’s dwelling place (which is the meaning of the word miškān): the precisely delineated, extravagantly outfitted earthy location where His terrestrial manisfestation, His kābôd, resides.
Taken as a whole, this complex of ritual acts is none other than a highly formalized way of perpetually attending to the abode, providing light, fragrance and refreshment and, in the course of doing so, directing the resident deity’s attention to His people’s needs and evoking His acceptance of their tribute – all the while taking care to respect His splendid isolation, never intruding unannounced.
The High Priest’s role in the daily worship of God as ordained by P, then, consists of the royal treatment of, and appeal to, the divine King in His earthly palace. The High Priest is the palace servant, and the garments that he wears are intended not merely to clothe him in “dignity and adornment” (Exodus 28:2) but to accomplish one of the essential aims of worship: to call the King’s attention to His subjects and their needs.[1]
Anthropomorphism in Worship: Then and Now
These ritually efficacious garments of the High Priest are just one aspect of P’s unique anthropomorphism, its depiction of God’s essence and behavior in strikingly human terms. Some readers of P, embarrassed by this frank and explicit “humanization” of God and viewing it as somehow pagan, have maintained that Israelite religion merely took over some of the conventional forms of worship practiced in the ancient world, and only as fossilized vestiges of a belief system that it no longer accepted. Others have pointed out that P has toned down anthropomorphism in many ways, by denying that the royal resident actually partook of the sacrifices and by insisting that it was God’s kābôd, but not God Himself, that was thought to reside in the Tabernacle.
Nevertheless, I think that the priestly author intended all of this all quite seriously, not figuratively or symbolically. He may even have believed that the visible Presence of God really swooped down from Mt. Sinai and entered the miškān (Exodus 24:16–18a; Exodus 40:34–38); after all, miraculous appearances of God in clear view of human onlookers seem not to have troubled biblical authors as long as they are said to have occurred in the distant past. Even if he did not, he certainly recognized that the only way to worship a transcendent, supernatural deity is to “reduce” Him to earthly proportions and provide Him with recognizable human contours; otherwise no meaningful acts of worship can be devised.
Many modern Jews seem inclined to view the statutory prayer that eventually replaced the “royal treatment of God in His earthly abode” as a step away from what they see as the crude anthroporphism of early times, and a step in the direction of more spiritualized worship. And yet, the notion of serving God by speaking to Him, in sounds forming human language, calling Him our “father” and “king,” addressing to Him words of praise and petition, words that He is imagined to “hear” as if by some auditory means, by which He is thought somehow to be moved or affected and to which it is hoped that He may react favorably – is this any less anthropomorphic than the silent tribute and supplication offered by means of the High Priest’s garments?
Whether verbally or dramatically, to worship God apparently involves making Him (!) accessible, imaginable, familiar – in ancient times as in our own.
Bible Verses about Priests Garments
the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood;
Leviticus 21:10
‘The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
Mark 14:63
Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?
Exodus 28:2
You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
Exodus 28:40
“For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty.
Exodus 35:21
Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.
Exodus 35:19
the woven garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’”
Exodus 39:1
Moreover, from the blue and purple and scarlet material, they made finely woven garments for ministering in the holy place as well as the holy garments which were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Exodus 39:41
the woven garments for ministering in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.
Leviticus 8:2
“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread,
Leviticus 8:7-9
He put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash, and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the artistic band of the ephod, with which he tied it to him. He then placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:4
He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
Leviticus 16:32
So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments,
Exodus 40:13
You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me.
Exodus 29:21
Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
Leviticus 8:30
So Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.
Psalm 133:2
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
Exodus 29:30
For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
Exodus 29:29
“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained.
Numbers 20:26
and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.”
Numbers 20:28
After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
Leviticus 8:13
Next Moses had Aaron’s sons come near and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes and bound caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Ezra 2:69
According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work 61,000 gold drachmas and 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.
Nehemiah 7:70
Some from among the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, 50 basins, 530 priests’ garments.
Nehemiah 7:72
That which the rest of the people gave was 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,000 silver minas and 67 priests’ garments.
Ezekiel 42:14
When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”
Ezekiel 44:19
When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
Ezekiel 44:17
It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house.