Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Exodus · About this commentary
Holy to Yahweh
Exodus 28:31-43
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. · WEB
Bells announce the priest's movements so he does not die, and a gold plate on his forehead makes the nation's gifts acceptable.
You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue Exodus 28:31.
A single-color robe under the ephod, with a reinforced opening for the head that it not be torn Exodus 28:32. The instruction is practical, and it acquires a second life at a trial where a high priest tears his own robe in the presence of the man he is condemning Mark 14:63.
On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them Exodus 28:33.
Fruit and bells alternating around the bottom edge — one of the few purely ornamental elements in the sanctuary, and it is not ornamental. Its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die Exodus 28:35.
The bells are audible outside. A nation standing in the court could hear the priest moving in a room they could not see into, and the sound meant he was alive. The clause that he not die is attached without softening: the man representing them was working somewhere lethal, and the sound of movement was the only evidence anyone outside had that the representation was still going on.
You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, "HOLY TO YAHWEH" Exodus 28:36.
Worn on the forehead, tied over the turban, the only inscription in the sanctuary meant to be read by other people. And the reason given for it is the most searching sentence in the chapter.
Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh Exodus 28:38.
The iniquity of the holy things. Not of their crimes — of their offerings. The assumption is that even what Israel brings as worship is defective, and requires covering before it can be received. There is nothing a person can present, however sincerely, that arrives clean; and the remedy is a holiness worn by someone else on their behalf, always in place, so that the gifts are accepted on his forehead rather than on their merit.
You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh Exodus 28:42.
The chapter of glory and beauty ends with underwear, and with the same warning as the bells: that they don't bear iniquity, and die Exodus 28:43. The exposure forbidden on the altar steps Exodus 20:26 is forbidden again here, at the level of a garment nobody would see. Approach to God is regulated to the last detail, and the details do not become optional because they are hidden.
settled What this mark means