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the Church ought always to go habited,
in order to appear agreeable in the Sight
of God, introduces
er under the Cha-
racter of a beautiful Princefs, richly and

magnificently drefs'd; The king's daughter Pfal. xlv. is all glorious within, her clothing is of 13. wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needle-work.

The High-Prieft, therefore, was to be gloriously and fplendidly habited upon. two Accounts; not only to give a faint Glimmering, and be the Morning Dawn, as it were, of the glorious High-Prieft to come; but by the Magnificence and Splen dor of his outward Drefs, to fignify that Richness of inward Grace, and Neatness of Soul, which ought to be worn by all those who are Members of CHRIST'S Church, and would qualify themselves for appearing in his Courts.

Then follows, the Description and Denomination of the feveral Parts of the High-Prieft's Habit. And these are the Exod. garments which thou shalt make; a breaft- xxviii. 4: plate, and an Ephod, and a robe, and a

*

We have no English Word that anfwers to this Part of the Drefs; fo that we can have no other Idea of it than what may be form'd from the Defcription here gi

ven.

broider'd

broider'd coat, a mitre, and a girdle. And they shall make the Ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of fcarlet, and fine-twined linnen. It fhall have two shoulder pieces joyned at the two edges thereof; and so it fhall be joyned together. And the curious girdle of the Ephod, which is upon it, fhall be of the fame, according to the work thereof.

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And thou shalt take two onyx ftones, and grave on them the names of the children of Ifrael: fix of their names on one ftone, and the other fix names of the reft, on the other ftone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in ftone, like the engravings of a fignet, fhalt thou engrave the two ftones, with the names of the children of Ifrael: thou shalt make them to be fet in ouches (fockets) of gold. And thou shalt put the two ftones upon the shoulders of the Ephod, for ftones of memorial unto the children of Ifrael. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD, upon his two fhoulders, for a memorial. And thou shalt make two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them; and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

The

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The use of thefe chains was to join the
Ephod and breaft-plate together.

And thou shalt make the breaft-plate of -- 15. judgment, after the work of the Ephod,

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(with the fame Materials.) Four Square it fhall be, being doubled; a Span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou shalt fet in it Settings of ftones, even four rows of ftones. The first now fhall be, a Sardius, a Topaz, and a Carbuncle. The fecond row shall be, an Emerald, a Sapphire, and a Diamond. The third row, a Ligure, an Agate, and an Amethyst. And the fourth row, a Beryl, and an Onyx, and a Jafper: They fhall be fet in gold, in their enclofings. And the ftones fhall be with the names of the children of Ifrael, Twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a fignet shall they be, every one with his name fhall they be, according to the twelve tribes.

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Interpreters differ much about the per Names of thefe Stones; it is therefore very uncertain whether most of them are justly render'd, or not. Indeed, nothing very material depends upon it. But we may take it for granted, whatever they R

were,

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were, that they were * fignificant, in fome Senfe or other; and probably, in the feveral Colours and other Properties of them, bore fome Analogy or Refemblance to the Head of the Tribe, whofe Name was engraven on them.

It is further faid; And Aaron fhall bear the names of the children of Israel, in the breaft-plate of Judgment, upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the Holy Place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. It is therefore not unlikely, that this was call'd the Breaft-plate of Judgment, and had the Names of the Twelve Tribes engraven on the Twelve Stones thereof, that both the High-Prieft might thereby be conftantly put in mind of the great Charge committed to him; no less than that, of doing all that lay in his Power, to procure the justifying Judgment of God in Favour of his Brethren of the Twelve Tribes; and

*Jofephus attributes feveral extraordinary Qualities, both to the Onyxes, upon the Shoulders of the Ephod, and to the twelve Stones in the Breaft-plate. But, as the Scripture makes no mention of them, and be confeffes that they had left their Virtue, upon Account of the Sinfulness of the Jews, two hundred Years before his Time, we fhall take no further Notice of themes

to

to deprecate and avert his condemning Judgment, from punishing them according to their Sins: And at the fame time, that it might be a Memorial to fuggest to the People, what Refpect was due from them, to those Perions who had their great Intereft, the Care of their immortal Souls, fo much at Heart; and whose conftant Employment it was, to follicit Heaven, for their daily Welfare and Happiness.

But further, it is faid, And thou shalt put in the breaft-plate of Judgment, the Urim and the Thummim; and they fhall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: And Aaron fhall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart, before the LORD, continually. What is strictly implied in those two Words, Urim and Thummim, no Interpreter, even among the Jews themselves, has pretended to ascertain.

Though they feem to carry two diftinct Meanings, by one's being frequently mention'd without the other. And the Generality of Conjectures will have it, that one fignifies Knowledge, and the other R 2 Right

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