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ToES Diary May 2017
By Admin | ToESWriting
Printed chapter 15 since things always look a little different in print.
Added a reference to Shobai’s unhappiness when Jeremiah is speaking to him. Still a little too fleeting for such a major sorrow.
Added a reference to the dust of the vessels removed from the temple in Jerusalem which was taken to Samaria (2 Kings 23:4). What did he do with them there? No detail is given. Decided that the most likely thing was to sprinkle the dust around Jeroboam’s altar during the process of its destruction. Minor corrections also finished in time for sending it out at 9am. Much too hurried. Not satisfied with that.
ToESVol2Ch7 audio and ToESVol2Ch15 eBook sent out at 9.
Continued work on Chapter 16 which has very little in it so far. Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month when the latter rains will be winding down. Winter has passed with its cold and rain. Spring is beginning and since the previous year ended with an extra (leap) month.
Throughout the series, I am working roughly on the assumption that Josiah’s reign is counted from somewhere around August/September – a “civil year” idea. However, I also assume that leap months are added to the end of the religious year. Roughly, I have used Hillel’s calendar with its 19 year cycle and assuming we are in the 3rd year of the cycle). As a result, an extra month is added in the winter between the end of Chapter 15 and the start of Chapter 16 when the religious year starts. The aim of these extra months is to make sure that the religious year continues to start in spring rather than moving further back into winter each year. The connection of the feasts with certain seasons demands this. In the year of Josiah’s first Passover, the month begins very early in spring.
Lambs (or goats) for the passover were to be one year old without blemish (Exodus 12:3-6). A little bit of web research shows that nowadays, lambs 9-12 months old would be 40-70kg which would produce about 15-25kg of meat. The suggested amount of meat per person for a banquet is about 150-250 grams. Putting these details together, I conclude that a modern lamb would feed about 100 people. However, lambs in western countries are bred for meat and sheep in other places are significantly smaller with adult weights in the order of 30-35kg. Lambs are not fully grown and seem to weigh about one half to two thirds of the adult weight. If so, a lamb might weigh 15-25kg which would yield 6-10kg of meat – enough to feed about 40 people. Those are the quick sums, but the description in Exodus suggests that the meat of a lamb could be expected to feed a family and possibly their neighbours if they were not a big family (Exodus 12:4). I would probably conclude that sheep were even smaller than our smaller breeds now. These animals could be sheep or goats, and I know that in India, there is a huge variation in the size of different types of goats. Some are smaller than a medium sized dog even when fully grown. It seems reasonable to conclude that the number of people fed by each Passover animal would have been something like 10-15 people.
The number of Passover lambs provided by Josiah was 30,000 which means he was providing food for a crowd of around 300,000 to 350,000 people. These people were all coming to Jerusalem and would need somewhere to stay for the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread.
Estimates suggest that maybe 3,000,000 people visited Jerusalem for Passover in the time of Jesus
http://www.bible-history.com/backd2/jerusalem.html
When Israel entered the land, there were 600,000 men plus women and children. At times, the combined armies of Israel and Judah were over 1,000,000 men, which suggests an increased population. Many people were probably killed by the invading Assyrians and many were taken into captivity about 100 years before Jeremiah. Others were brought in to replace them, but probably fewer of these would be interested in attending the Passover as they would have needed to be circumcised to do so. Overall, they may have been 2-3 million people who could have come. 37,600 lambs/goats were provided, which would feed about 400,00 to 550,000 people. They also show how extremely rich some people were, including Hilkiah and other offices of the temple. How come? Anyway, it is good that they were generous with what they had.
What about Jeremiah helping at the Passover? Over twenty as specified by David. Would a priest be able to do the Levites’ work while waiting to reach the age of 25 or 30? It seems to me that it would help him to learn how the law was applied, etc. Seems a good idea.
Wrote about 900 words for Volume 2. Made a few corrections sent in by Dad M and Mum Q and found a couple myself too.
Reviewed/edited writing from yesterday (normal process: accept all existing revisions and then edit where necessary).
Cisterns in the temple and under it? Many still exist now, but what was there then? With so many animals being killed, the blood would need removing and a lot of water be available for cleaning. Come back to this later.
No new text to review. Busy day coming but little time. The ark of the covenant was put into the temple by Solomon (2 Chronicle 5:7; 6:11, 41), but 2 Chronicles 35:3 indicates that the ark was being carried around. Why would this be the case? Possibly, the ark was removed for its safety at some time and moved around the country. If so, Manasseh’s reign would be a good candidate for when that might have happened, although it would be interesting that when he repented, the ark did not come back. Amon could be another candidate.
Where would it be being stored or taken? Somewhere out of Jerusalem seems most likely and the comment about Levites carrying it might suggest it was in a city of the Levites, possibly one where there were more priests, since they were the Levites who were meant to carry it (Deuteronomy 31:9, 25; Joshua 3:3).
Wrote only 300 words.
Review text from yesterday.
In Exodus, the people were told to bring a lamb into their home on the 10th day of the month (Exodus 12:3) before killing it on the 14th “between the evenings” (Exodus ). There is no mention of this requirement when the Passover is defined as a feast in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Was it a one-off requirement as part of building up for the first Passover? If people were having to travel to Jerusalem from all over Israel, they would need to bring the lamb with them or arrive in Jerusalem early enough to get a lamb by that date. There is no mention of this happening when the people entered the land with Joshua (Joshua 4:19) on the tenth day of the first month. All that is mentioned is that the Passover was kept on the 14th day (Joshua 5:10) after the people were circumcised (as was required for any to take the Passover (Exodus 12:48)). I conclude that the selection of the lamb on the tenth day is not being observed in the Passover in the time of Hezekiah and likewise in the time of Josiah. I also conclude that that seems likely to be alright, but I can’t be sure. I will have people living nearby selecting the lamb, but people from a long way away relying on them having been selected by Josiah’s men.
The initial Passover seems to have been very family-based. Families chose the lamb, kept it in their house, killed it, cooked it and ate it. Later indications are that the killing was done by priests, possibly after checking that the lamb was flawless. Josiah’s orders seem to specify that Levites would kill the lambs in the temple and give the blood to the priests (2 Chronicles 35:11) before skinning them. Burnt offerings were also provided in large numbers and it seems as if they were being offered at the same time, possibly reflecting a wish to give sin offerings to cover a multitude of sins over many years. The Passover lamb would then be roasted entire. No bones broken or any parts removed.
Review yesterday’s writing. When would visitors to Jerusalem arrive for the Passover? Coming in the spring when roads could be difficult and rain may come in the latter rains, the travel time may be difficult to estimate and the first day is the most important, probably.
Shobai and the others from Bethel would not have to worry too much about this as theirs was not a very long trip. Men had to make the trip, but Miriam and Maacah would not have been bound to attend. However, Joseph and Mary attended every year (Luke 2) so it seems likely that eager servants of God would have done so – male and female.
The copying of the scrolls of the Book of the Law was delayed a little and only started again a few days before the reading of the Book of the Law to the people on the eleventh day of the eighth month. It was expected to take about 73-75 days (under 3 months) to make all the 30 copies so it should have been finished by the end of the tenth month. Josiah would have had got his copy before the end of the ninth month when the first batch of 16 were complete (taking about 44 days) and had three and a half months to read his copy if he wanted to. I assume he did. Who would the 30 copies be made for? Josiah and his leaders, maybe. Shaphan and other nobles? Hilkiah and other priest/leaders? Leaders of the army? Anyone in Israel? Lots of choices. Thinking of the way in which the important people in a kingdom are listed, it is often the king, the secretary, high priest, leader of the army and special advisors.
Introduce two people: Zaccai and Abigail, a young couple from the tribe of Judah. Noble birth. These will later be Daniel’s parents. He will be born in a year or two. Shobai et al stay there.
Finish chapter 16. Jeremiah forbidden to marry. Had to change the idea of Josiah giving all the offerings for people from further away because of Deuteronomy 16:16: “No man shall appear before me empty handed.”
Begin Volume 3 “Darkness Falling”.
Volume 3 starts in the twentieth year of King Josiah, two years after the great Passover at the end of Volume 2. Volume 3 will cover the end of Josiah’s reign and continue through the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim.
There are three important details to consider with in concluding the reign of Josiah:
1. What happened after the great Passover of the eighteenth year of Josiah? The only event mentioned in the last 13 years of Josiah’s reign is his challenge to Pharaoh Necho which brought about his death. All we have are the summaries of his life as righteous (2 Kings 22:2; 23:25; 2 Chronicles 34:2; 36:26). In Jeremiah 22:15-16, God describes Josiah doing justice and righteousness and judging the cause of the poor and needy. Conclusion: that Josiah continued to serve God faithfully, but did not see the need to force reformation on people as much, so they slipped back to their old ways, but probably in secret. No evidence of any continued cleansing work after the time of the Passover, either in Judah or Israel.
2. What interaction did Jeremiah have with God in the last 13 years of Josiah’s reign. There are several passages talking about broken covenants and false repentance that would seem most likely to come from this time. For example, Jeremiah 8 talks about the bones of the kings being scattered and this may refer back to Josiah’s covenant and his spreading of bones around in the lead up to the Passover.
3. When did the High Priest change? We know that Seraiah the son of Azariah the son of Hilkiah was killed by Nebuchadnezzar after the conquest of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:24-27) and that Seraiah’s son Jehozadak went into exile (Ezra is also listed as a son/descendant of Seraiah). Hilkiah was High Priest in the eighteenth year of Josiah, which means that Hilkiah and his son Azariah had both died in the 35 years between then and the end of Zedekiah’s reign. There are no other statements in the intervening time as to who was High Priest, although there may be a hint in Jeremiah 12:6 where God refers to Jeremiah’s brothers and the house of his father, but not his father or his mother. It seems that the verse is suggesting that all his relatives were against him, and the absence of his father in the list suggests to me that Hilkiah was probably dead by that time. The absence of any mention of mother or sisters would not be unusual even if his mother was still alive and he had sisters. Women were rarely considered to be threats (Jezebel was an exception!). There is no certain date for this passage, but the context suggests a time when Judah was being attacked or had been attacked, so the reign of Jehoiakim seems a good candidate time.
Jeremiah 20:15 curses the man who brought the news to Jeremiah’s father that Jeremiah had been born. This is not worded in a way that requires his father to be still alive. I think this passage is likely to be written sometime in the reign of Jehoiakim or later.
Jeremiah 15:10 mentions his mother in a way that suggests she was still alive. There is no direct indication of when this is written either – chapter 14 refers to a drought but gives no indication when it was. Bible history suggests it is more likely that such a drought would happen in the reign of an evil king (ie. one of Josiah’s sons), but this cannot be proved. As a result, I plan to have his mother live at least until the reign of Jehoiakim.
Since there is no clear statement in the Bible, I have chosen to have Hilkiah die during the reign of King Josiah. Azariah then remains High Priest until the ninth year of Zedekiah and Seraiah is only High Priest for two years.
Still getting organised.
There are no chapters in Jeremiah that specifically mention any time in the reign of Jehoahaz although he is mentioned in Jeremiah 22 as never coming back to Israel after being taken to Egypt. [Also in Jeremiah 1:3, the times in which God spoke to Jeremiah exclude the time of Jehoahaz]
The following chapters in Jeremiah specifically mention times in the reign of Jehoiakim:
Jeremiah 25:1 4th year: 70 years of captivity; cup of God’s wrath for all nations.
Jeremiah 26:1 “beginning of the reign”: Prophecy of destruction of temple; death threats.
Jeremiah 27:1 “beginning of the reign” of Jehoiakim [Some Greek; Vulgate and Targum] Zedekiah [Syriac and Arabic and 3 Hebrew manuscripts]. Verse missing in LXX. 27:3 refers to Zedekiah in some manuscripts. Hard to be sure.
Jeremiah 35:1 “in the days of”: Rechabites.
Jeremiah 36:1 4th year: Scroll written by Baruch at dictation of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 36:9 5th year, 9th month: Reading to people and then burning of Jeremiah’s scroll by Jehoiakim.
Jeremiah 36:27-28 “after the king burned the scroll”: replacement scroll written. Much more added.
Jeremiah 45:1 4th year: message to Baruch when he wrote scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation.
Jeremiah 46:2 4th year: About army of Egypt defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in battle of Carchemish.
None in Ezekiel.
In Daniel:
Daniel 1:1-2 3rd year: Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and defeated it. Daniel and friends taken away.
The conflict between 3rd and 4th years in Daniel and Jeremiah will need to be addressed, but not yet.
Volume 3 has roughly the following chapter divisions (note that I say roughly, because I can never keep to my plans for chapter divisions):
Chapters 1-2 A new high priest, and filling in events in nineteenth/twentieth years, then the rest of Josiah’s reign and some prophecies included.
Chapter 3 Pharaoh Necho comes; death of Josiah.
Chapter 4 Lamentation for Josiah and Jehoahaz reigns.
Chapter 5 Pharaoh Necho returns, takes Jehoahaz away and installs Jehoiakim as king. Prophecies.
Chapters 6 – 16 Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar, first deportation, rebellion, siege and death of Jehoiakim. Death of Immer and Huldah (as said in Vol1Ch12).
Hilkiah has died. What should Jeremiah’s response be? A son should honour his father, yet God’s condemnation for the priests makes it likely that their leader was also astray and for Josiah to have to command Hilkiah and the other leading priests to empty God’s temple of vessels for Baal, Asherah and the host of the heaven (2 Kings 23:4) means that Hilkiah was not a leader in maintaining the purity of the temple as he should have been (like Azariah the priest in the time of King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:17)). Even by himself he should have done better, but with the prophecies of Jeremiah also available from the 13th year of Josiah, the best one can suggest is that he was weak. I have tried to choose this option rather than condemn him outright, although that may well be reasonable.
Try to say the best possible about him with just a hint of a question.
When Hilkiah died, his oldest son Azariah would have become High Priest. Who would arrange the appointment? When Aaron died, God told Moses to dress Eleazar in Aaron’s clothes before Aaron died (Numbers 20:26, 28). We will assume that the king would immediately order the appointment and the leading priests (priests of the second order (2 Kings 23:4)) would perform it, ordaining and anointing the new High Priest.
When would Azariah be ordained and what would it involve? God said Aaron’s garments were to be worn by his descendants and that they were to be anointed and ordained in them and wear them for 7 days (Exodus 29:29-30). Assume it would be immediate as may be hinted at in Leviticus 21:12.
How long would Hilkiah be mourned? Aaron was mourned 30 days (Numbers 20:29). Assume the same.
Could Azariah (as High Priest) mourn for his father? Leviticus 21:10-12 says the High Priest is not to make himself unclean, even for his father.
Gemariah? Yes, no problems. Leviticus 21:1-2.
Could Jeremiah mourn for his father? It seems likely that the answer is “No”. When God forbade him from marrying, he also forbade him from joining people in celebrating (Jeremiah 16:8) or mourning (Jeremiah 16:5). If Jeremiah did not join in mourning that would probably be a cause of even greater friction in his family. Simple commands can have far reaching effects.
How would it feel to become the High Priest?
The house of mourning is preferable to the house of feasting according to Ecclesiastes 7:2-4. God excluded Jeremiah from both. In Jeremiah 16:5, he was told not to go to the house of mourning. What does that mean? The house in which the body of a dead person stayed for a time? If so, how long? Modern Jews apparently bury a body as soon as possible. In Jesus’ time, the message was delivered to Jairus that his daughter had just died, and she was still lying in her bed with many mourners around (Mark 5:22-23). After being dead 4 days (John 11:39), Lazarus had been in the tomb 4 days (John 11:17).
Mourning continued for 70 days with Jacob (40 days for embalming (Genesis 50:3)); 30 days for both Aaron (Numbers 20:29) and Moses (Deuteronomy 34:8); a month for the parents of a captive woman (Deuteronomy 21:13); many days when Jacob believed that Joseph was dead.
A fire is made in honour of king Asa (2 Chronicles 16:14), while for Jehoram, king of Israel, it is observed that no fire was made in his honour (2 Chronicles 21:19).
Jeremiah 22:18 indicates that Jehoiakim would have the burial of a donkey, being thrown out of the city to rot, while Jeremiah 34:5 also says that spices would be burned in honour of Zedekiah as they had been in honour of his father Josiah for whom all Judah and Jerusalem mourned (2 Chronicles 35:24) and about whom Jeremiah and others wrote laments (2 Chronicles 35:25).
After the time of Moses and Aaron, there is little indication of what the mourning involved, or for how long it might have continued. As a result, I have to guess. Assume that mourning continued for 30 days, but that fires were reserved for kings. Assume also that Gemariah arranged the burial since neither Azariah nor Jeremiah were permitted to do so, and that Jeremiah was not involved in any of the formal mourning.
Assume that the house of the High Priest in Jerusalem was kept as a “house of mourning” for that 30 days. Jeremiah does not go there at all.
A mention of a “perpetual backsliding” (Jeremiah 8:5) suggests that even during the reign of good kings, God was often not pleased with his people.
We do not know when Jeremiah 8:5 was written, but the reference to bones of kings, priests, prophets, etc makes it likely that it is closely associated with the eighteenth year of Josiah when bones were thrown out and burned.
Did Judah ever really turn to God during the time of Josiah? This chapter and the comments about Manasseh and the permanent effects of his reign convince me that Judah probably cooperated with Josiah to keep him happy, but that the majority never genuinely turned back to God.
As a result, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were ever so easily able to convince the people to abandon the outward exclusive worship of God.
It is not possible to know when many of the chapters of Jeremiah were written. Various breaks can give hints where sections may begin and end if there are no identifying times given.. Expressions like “Thus says the Lord” and related statements may separate sections given to Jeremiah at different times, but this is hard to prove.
Josiah could not reverse God’s condemnation of Judah because of Manasseh’s behaviour (2 Kings 21:11-15; 23:26; 24:3; Jeremiah 15:4). However, there was an appearance of godliness during Josiah’s reign (2 Chronicles 34:33) and he insisted on the public worship of God as commanded in the Book of the Law (Deuteronomy 17:2-7). However, in secret (Jeremiah 16:17 and later Ezekiel 8:!2; 9:9) the people worshipped other gods as it suited them.
But were there any good people who were helped by Josiah? Jeremiah wrote a lament when Josiah died, so clearly he approved of Josiah’s work. There were other righteous people around and it seems reasonable to believe that Josiah’s work would have helped them. Baruch, Ebed-Melech, Daniel and his 3 friends and Ezekiel are all examples of more righteous people. If nothing else, Josiah gave them an atmosphere in which they could practise righteousness and learn to recognise it when they saw it.
Once Josiah was gone, it must have been much harder to maintain godliness, particularly for those who were in positions of authority and had to satisfy the new rulers to keep their position.
These sorts of things are impossible to prove, but attitudes like those of Daniel and his friends have to come from somewhere.
The High Priest is not mentioned from the 18th year of Josiah (Hilkiah – 2 Kings 23:4, 24; 2 Chronicles 34:18, 35:8) until Seraiah (Hilkiah’s grandson) is killed by Nebuchadnezzar 35 years later, after the conquest of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:18; Jeremiah 52:24). Obviously the position of High Priest continued, but we don’t hear when Hilkiah dies and Azariah is not mentioned at all except as the father of Seraiah (1 Chronicles 6:14). Presumably Seraiah was killed, along with other leaders, because his position was considered important in some way, but he is not important in the prophecy of Jeremiah. Neither Azariah nor Seraiah seem to have helped Jeremiah at all, and the only real hint of any involvement with him is in Jeremiah 12:6 where Jeremiah’s brothers and the family of his father are spoken of as plotting against him. However, when attacks are made on Jeremiah by priests, they come from others (eg. Passhur), but are not restrained by the High Priest.
Authority within the temple is an interesting theme through the Bible. There is not a huge amount of detail, but there is some.
Priests of the second order are mentioned in 2 Kings 23:4 as being commanded, along with Hilkiah and the keepers of the threshold, to remove from the temple the vessels of Baal, Asherah and the host of heaven.
Priests were also separated into divisions (2 Chronicles 31:2) (see also the Levites below).
The keepers of the threshold collected the money in the temple (2 Kings 22:4; 2 Chronicles 34:9), one is named in Jeremiah 35:4, and 3 were killed at the same time as Seraiah in Jeremiah 35:4.
“Chief officer” of the temple: Azariah in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:13) and Passhur (Jeremiah 20:1). In the 18th year of Josiah, the term “chief officers” is used to refer to Hilkiah and the other leading priests in 2 Chronicles 35.8.
The title “second priest” is used of Zephaniah, who was killed at the same time as Seraiah (Jeremiah 52:24).
There was also a hierarchy among the Levites (1 Chronicles 15:16; 2 Chronicles 31:12; 35:12) and they were separated into family groups and “divisions” (2 Chronicles 31:15-17; 35:4-5).
Ordination of a new High Priest. When Aaron and his sons were first ordained, they were given instructions about how this was to be done. It is not completely clear what details refer to the process of ordaining a priest at any time or what was because priests were being ordained to work in the tabernacle for the first time. It is also not completely clear what processes would happen for a new High Priest who had already been ordained as a priest when he reached the correct age, but before the death of his father.
However, it appears that a new High Priest would have to spend 7 days in the temple (Exodus 29:29-30; Leviticus 8:33-35). For a High Priest, no mourning was permitted, even for a father, which implies that the ordination occurred immediately since burial was probably within 24 hours anyway (as I concluded previously).
Events for getting a new High Priest would thus probably be:
Proofs for Volume 2 received today from the printers. They looked good. Approved them and placed an order – for just one copy so far to make sure it looks OK when it is printed.
Today I was putting together the details of mourning and replacing the High Priest to round out Chapter 1 of Volume 3.
An interesting part of mourning is mentioned in Jeremiah 16:7 where it describes breaking bread with the mourner and giving or sending him a “cup of consolation”. This sort of detail helps to get a more complete picture of the social behaviour of the time.
Samuel was buried in his own house (1 Samuel 25:1), so presumably, at times, the “house of mourning” was the dead person’s home, while at other times it would have been used symbolically to describe a state of mourning.
Where would Hilkiah be buried?
Jehoiada the priest was buried in the tombs of the kings because he had done good in Judah (2 Chronicles 24:16), whereas King Joash was not (2 Chronicles 24:25).
King Manasseh and King Amon were both buried in the garden of Uzza (2 Kings 21:18, 26) which doesn’t seem to be in the “tombs of the kings”. This burial place is also described as being in Manasseh’s house (2 Chronicles 33:20).
The “graves of the common people” in the Kidron Valley are mentioned in 2 Kings 23:6 (see also 2 Chronicles 34:4 which probably means the same thing), but it is unlikely that Hilkiah would be buried there.
Being buried in the city of David seems to have been somewhat of an honour, not as great as being buried in the tombs of the kings (see 2 Chronicles 24:25 again), but an honour nevertheless.
As the one who discovered the Book of the Law of God and as one who had been involved in the great reformation of Josiah, I guess that Hilkiah might have been buried in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. This is just a guess.
By the time of Josiah, Judah had been ravaged several times by attackers and we have no information about whether any of the High Priest’s clothes had been lost. The breastpiece had valuable stones, but I think we can assume that it would have been hidden at any times when it was necessary to do so. We also have no indication as to whether the clothes had been replaced since they were initially made for Aaron 900 years before. It seems most likely to me that Solomon would have replaced them when the temple was built (and they may have been replaced before that time anyway), but I don’t believe there is any indication either way.
Clothes of the High Priest and the other priests were designed for glory and for beauty (Exodus 28:2, 40) and they are described in Exodus 28:4 thusly:
“These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.”
Ephod (Exodus 28:6-14): gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen. Two shoulder pieces attached to edges. Skilfully woven band like it and “of one piece with it”. Two stones, one on each shoulder piece, 6 names of sons of Israel on each in order of birth (thus presumably including Levi and Joseph rather than Manasseh and Ephraim). Set in gold settings with gold chains attached.
Breastpiece (Exodus 28:15-30): Like the ephod. About 22cm square and folded double to form a pouch. It is not clear whether the 22cm in one dimension is before or after being folded. Urim and Thummim kept in the pouch for judgement. “bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly” (Exodus 28:30).
4 rows with 3 stones in each all set in gold settings. Each had the name of one of the 12 tribes (v21). Maybe this would exclude Levi and include Manasseh and Ephraim (but maybe not: see v29 “sons of Israel”). Two rings at top to hang by – using twisted chains of gold made to look like cords and attached to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. Two rings at bottom to stop it from swinging out when the High Priest bent over. Tied with blue cords to rings on the ephod.
“bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord” (Exodus 28:29)
Robe (Exodus 28:31-35): All blue. Opening for head with woven binding. Pomegranates around hem made of blue, purple and scarlet interspersed with golden bells. No white on this at all.
“It shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die”
Turban and gold plate (Exodus 28:36-39): turban of fine linen. Gold plate with the words “Holy to the Lord”, tied on to front of turban by a cord of blue.
“bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.”
Coat of checker work (Exodus 28:39): fine linen. No comments about colours, so not sure what the “checker work” means.
Sash (Exodus 28:39): embroidered with needlework. Priests had these sashes as separate things and for the High Priest it probably refers to the “skilfully woven band of the ephod” which was said to be “of one piece with it”. For some reason, this band may have been only done up after the breastpiece was put on (see Exodus passage below).
Linen undergarments (Exodus 28:42-43): reaching from hips to thighs. These had to be worn when going into the tent or a priest would bear guilt and die.
When giving instructions about ordaining Aaron and his sons, we are told that they were first to be washed (Leviticus 8:6) and then what Aaron was to wear:
“Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.” (Exodus 29:5-6)
“…and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them…” (Exodus 29:9)
And in Leviticus 8:6-9:
“And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
From this passage, the order of dressing from the inside outwards is slightly different from the order in which the components are described in Exodus 28:
The new High Priest was to be anointed and ordained in these clothes (Exodus 29:29) and then wear them for 7 days (Exodus 29:30; Leviticus 8:33, 35; 10:7).
Exodus 29:6-7 reads unexpectedly: “And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.” Was the anointing oil to be poured over the turban and the golden plate? This is the way it reads. My guess is that the turban would be taken off, or the oil poured on the head in a way that minimised the amount of oil landing on the turban. Leviticus 8:12 says that oil was to be poured on Aaron’s head.
In Leviticus 8:30, “…Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons’ garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.” The clothes would have been spattered with olive oil and blood as part of their consecration.
There is no mention of washing the clothes, but that is true for most of the Bible. I think the first time washing of clothes is mentioned is in Leviticus 11:25, about 2,500 years after creation!
Staying at the entrance to the tent of meeting (Leviticus 8:33, 35) would be equivalent to staying at the entrance to the temple, but I feel it is most likely that the new High Priest would stay in a building near the entrance rather than sleeping outside. Getting it right was important: “so that you do not die” (Leviticus 8:35).