Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 28:2
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
2. for glory and for beauty ] or, and for decoration (so v. 40), for a distinctive decorated dress.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 28:2
Holy garments for Aaron.
The vestments of our High Priest
The vestments appointed by God for the high priest when he went into the holy place were, besides those which he wore in common with the other priests, four: the ephod, with its curious girdle; the breastplate; the robe of the ephod; and the mitre.
1. And speaking of these garments generally, you will notice that it was Gods especial command that they should all be made of linen, which, being a material of a very simple and natural kind, has always been understood by the Church to be typical of that human nature which Christ wears still in His glorified state, and in which, as man, we are distinctly to understand that He now executes, as our Representative, all the services of His exalted Priesthood.
2. And, further, it is to be observed generally, that all the garments were carefully fastened together so as to be one. The girdle binding the ephod, and the ephod the robe, and the breastplate carefully joined to the ephod by chains of gold; signifying, again, the complete unity which there is in all Christs work for His people, so that it cannot be divided; for if we have Him in one of His offices so, necessarily, we hold Him in all. A blessed truth I there is no such thing as anything partial in the work of Jesus; no partial pardon; no partial peace! If you have one promise, you have every promise!
3. And yet, once more, generally, you will see that (unlike the description of our Saviours garments in the 59th chapter of Isaiah, and unlike that which is provided for the believer in the 6th chapter of Ephesians)all these are robes, not of war, but of peace. Indicating that the warfare is now accomplished, and that our Saviour, having triumphed over His enemies and ours, is now set down in the calm and quiet of His holy, peaceful functions. A thought which should be one of unselfish joy to the Christian.
4. The robe of ephod represents the perfect robe of the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He wore as man, and which He will always present to the Father for our sakes. Its seamless fabric denotes the perfectness and the unity of the righteousness which He has wrought.
5. The ephod itself was a closer vestment–long behind, and short in front–which was worn over the robe, and fastened by clasps, or ouches, over the shoulders; it was also for beauty and for glory–of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine-twined linen, with cunning work, costly and magnificent. Upon each shoulder, in the ouches, was placed an onyx stone, and on either onyx stone were engraven the names of six of the tribes of the children of Israel, placed according to their seniority. Concerning this engraving, God was very express: With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, that is, very accurately, very deeply, very beautifully, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And, then, the ephod was girt about with a girdle of the same kind. Here, then, we have our great High Priest continually standing in heaven, and always of necessity bearing, as part of His own glory, the names of all His people in holy remembrance before God. He both remembers us, and causes us to be remembered. We are held in perpetual remembrance. The weakest and the strongest–the greatest saint with the unworthiest and guiltiest sinner–we are all remembered: everything which goes to make our name is there: the smallest work, the secret sorrow that the world knows nothing of: it is all in the memorial: our prayers, and tears, and sighs–they are all gone there! they are all rivetted there! There they are! They are knit into the dignity of Jesus, into the glory and the excellency of Jesus!
6. The breastplate teaches that Christ not only bears His people on His shoulders for strength, but lays them separately on His heart for love. He identifies His interest with ours. It becomes a dear and fond thing to Him to have us upon His breast, that He may save us and magnify us for ever! We live always in His love, and God sees us there; in that love, loves us–unloveable though we be–for the love He has to us. And, living on His heart, each one in his own proper place and order, we hold in Him safe and privileged intercourse.
7. The high priest wore a mitre of linen, with this inscription, Holiness to the Lord. Now observe the comfort of this thought. Here we all are assembled, in our holy devotions before the mercy seat of God, but every prayer we have put up this day is stained, and every service is unclean before Him who chargeth His angels with folly! Presently, your petitions will go up in your own bedroom; and the very supplication, in which you ask for pardon, only goes to increase the amount of the guilt that has to be pardoned. It is all unclean! The brand of sin, the degradation of sin, is everywhere! But He, in His very character and being, as our Representative, is standing before God; and high emblazoned upon His front is His own proper righteous title, Holiness to the Lord–not for Himself, He needs it not, but for us! He bears the iniquity of our holy things–what a thought! even as if we were the holy, we poor worms–as if we were the holy–we stand before God: Holiness to the Lord. A poor sinner, incapable of one pure thought, lifts himself up in Christ, and looks in the face of God, and stands there, in his High Priest–Holiness to the Lord;–and God recognizes His own eternal counsel, and acknowledges the unworthiest services of the poorest sinner to be–Holiness to the Lord. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The priestly garments
They signified–
1. The function to be glorious and excellent.
2. The fitness of their persons to that office.
3. The glory of the true High Priest, Jesus Christ, of whom Aaron was but a figure.
For all the glistering show of these priestly garments set forth the more angelical brightness of all the virtues which should shine in Jesus Christ. The priestly garments appointed by God were ten in number; of which four belonged to the inferior priests (Exo 28:40; Exo 28:42).
1. A linen garment. Which signified the white garment of Christs righteousness and innocency; which they were to appear in before the Lord, if they would be acceptable in their persons and duties. Noting to us by the way, that every godly minister wears a white linen garment, not woven and made by men, but by God; not without him, but within him; not a shadow or ceremony, but the substance and truth, to which all shadows give place. Nay, there is no private man that is godly, but he must wear this white linen garment, having put it on in the laver of regeneration: as Gal 3:27.
2. A girdle (verse 40). Which signifies constancy and stability in the truth, both in our High Priest, Jesus Christ, who was not a reed shaken, but a firm rock: as also in His members, who are commanded to stand fast, their loins girt with verity (Eph 6:14). Hence follows, that the ministers word must be yea and nay; his course must be constantly gracious and watchful. And for private Christians (Heb 13:9).
3. A bonnet (verse 40). A symbol and sign to them of Gods protection still covering them in their faithful service: signifying to us the Lords cover and faithful protection both over our head, and over His members for His sake.
4. The breeches (verse 42). Putting more comeliness upon the uncomely parts. Signifying to them and us–
(1) What reverence we ought to use in the service of God; far removing thence every uncomely thing.
(2) Shadowing out the true and perfect holiness, with which Christs humanity was clothed; and not only with that, but with the majesty of His Deity, which highly graced and honoured the despised and frail humanity, which had no form nor beauty (Isa 53:2).
(3) Not darkly representing that care and respect which our Lord and Saviour Christ hath of His inferior, base, and despised both ministers and members through the world (Isa 41:14). To the high priest belonged six peculiar garments:
I. First the ephod (verse 4), in which–
1. The matter. It was not wool or silk, but linen, which riseth out of the earth (Eze 44:17). Signifying that holy flesh of Christ which veiled His Deity as a garment; and that it was taken not from heaven, but from His mother on earth, as the matter of that garment grew immediately out of earth.
2. The form. It was a long white garment: signifying the long white garment of Christs absolute righteousness; white, innocent and unspotted; and long, to cover all our nakedness, without patching of merits.
3. The ornament of it. In it were set two onyx stones, and in them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraven, which Aaron carried upon his shoulders; signifying–
(1) That the names of the godly are not lightly written, but fast engraven in the love and memory of Christ as those names were engraven in very hard stones.
(2) That Christ doth still carry His Church on His shoulders; lifting them up out of dust and misery, and bearing them upon the shoulders of His power and providence, as on eagles wings (Isa 40:31).
II. The second garment peculiar to the high priest was called the breastplate of judgment (verse 15), the most precious part of all his garments.
1. In respect of the twelve costly and glittering stones, which were set in four rows, according to the number of the tribes (verse 17-22). In which–
(1) The shining of these stones signified the shining purity and innocency of Jesus Christ, both in Himself and in His members. If they be pure as the sun, fair as the moon, what is He?
(2) Their price of great value and worth signified what a price the Lord Jesus valued His Church at.
(3) Their place or situation. They are set in the pectoral, and Aaron must carry them on his heart: signifying that Christ hath as much care of His Church, as if it were enclosed in His heart; lets out His blood to make room in His heart for them.
(4) Their number; twelve, according to all the tribes: noting that there is room in the heart of Christ for every one of the elect. None can anticipate or prevent the other. With Him is plentiful redemption. The former without the latter shall not be perfected (Heb 11:40).
(5) Their order. They stand in four rows in a comely quadrangle: signifying the comely order that Christ hath established in the Church: some in higher places, some in lower, some in one rank and office, and some in another, as those stones, but all stand seemly and fitly. And this order we must maintain, keeping our ranks as they did.
(6) The figure. The foursquare (verse 16), signifying the stability and firmness of the Church, as a foursquare, turn it any way tis firm. Satan and all deceivers shall not pick one stone out of Christs pectoral. The gates of hell shall not prevail against him that is fixed in that rock and stone of Israel.
(7) Their use. That Aaron, who before bare the names of Israel on his shoulders before the Lord, might now bear them on his heart continually for a remembrance before the Lord, when he goeth into the holy place (verse 29). Signifying–
(a) The ardent love of Jesus Christ towards His Church, who bears it not only on His shoulders as a shepherd, or only in His arms as a nurse; but upon His heart, and in His heart, never to forget our good.
(b) Bearing of the names continually before the Lord on His heart signifieth the continual mindfulness and intercession of Jesus Christ for His Church in that heavenly sanctuary (Heb 7:25). By virtue of which all our prayers get audience and acceptance.
(8) The quantity. As all the names of Israel were gathered into a narrow compass: so Jesus Christ our Mediator shall gather together into one all the dispersed sons of God, and present them before God as the most beautiful and precious parts of the world (Joh 11:52). (T. Taylor, D. D.)
The garments of the priesthood, and their significance
In almost every modern nation there are some remnants of the ancient custom of representing office by garments of peculiar material, shape, and colour. History registers the decline of the custom, but not its birth and growth; for it was as powerful as ever in the earliest age which has transmitted to us its records. In the time of Moses, both kings and priests in every country were clothed in a garb not only distinctive but emblematic. In interpreting the significance conveyed by the garments of the Levitical priesthood, it will be convenient to treat first of the four pieces worn by priests of ordinary rank, and then of those peculiar to their chief. Is there, then, no significance in the fact that this official costume consisted of four pieces? As four limits the colours of the tapestry, the ingredients of the incense, the spices of the holy anointing oil, the composite parts of the cherubs, we conclude that the same signature of the kingdom of God was designedly impressed on the official costume of those who were elected to draw near to Jehovah.
This judgment is confirmed by the recurrence of four as the number of pieces additional to the dress of the ordinary priests which the head of the order was required to wear in the performance of official duty. The numerical signature of the Tabernacle was thus impressed on the official garments of its priesthood. The garments of the priests of ordinary rank were all of pure white except the girdle. The drawers, the coat, and the bonnet were of shesh, bleached, but not dyed. White raiment was emblematic of ethical purity. It was the righteousness of the saints. As worn by the priest, it signified that those who were admitted to intimacy with the Holy One of Israel must be pure in heart and life. The material also contributed something to the significance of the dress. The garments must all be of linen; and in the vision of Ezekiel the directions given for the official raiment of the priests add to the requirement of linen the express prohibition of anything woollen. The reason of the requirement lies, doubtless, in the greater cleanliness possible in a warm climate to one whose garments are exclusively of this material. Not only was the costume of a priest significant in its material, colour, and number of pieces, but each of the four garments of which it was composed contributed an element peculiar to itself.
The coat, or tunic, was first in importance, as it was in size. Reaching from the neck to the ankles, it was merely coincident, as a covering of the person, with the whole costume; so that the other three garments were supplements to this, rather than its equals. Its import, as might be expected, is also nearly the same as that of the whole dress. As the entire costume of four pieces, by means of its material and its dominant colour, was suggestive of holiness, so was the coat in particular, as it invested the person from the neck to the ankles with linen white and shining as light. Moreover, this garment was woven in one piece to represent, by this sort of integrity, moral wholeness or holiness. The tunic of the priest was also woven so as to exhibit checks like the pattern called damask; for such is the meaning of the descriptive adjective which the English translators incorrectly regarded as equivalent to broidered. The coat was therefore covered throughout with four-sided figures of small size. Bahr thinks that these were symbols of like import with the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest; as if every member of the sacerdotal family bore on his person visible signs that as a priest he was the representative of the tribes of Israel, these symbols designedly having, in the case of the subordinate priests, only a reflection of the glory and beauty of those which distinguished the head of the order. A girdle of some kind was in ancient times, as it is even now, essential to the completeness of an oriental costume; and, by means of diversity in material, size, shape, and ornamentation, was easily made a badge of office.
The girdle of the Hebrew priest seems to have been, more than any other article of his attire, an official badge. According to the traditional law of the Hebrews, the priest must remove his girdle when he ceased to officiate, but might, if more convenient, continue to wear the other official garments through the day. How the girdle of the priest symbolized his office as an attach of the Tabernacle, is evident when we consider its peculiar ornamentation. Like the other garments it was of white linen; but, unlike them, it was interwoven with threads of blue, purple, and crimson. The four colours of the Tabernacle signified that the wearer belonged to the institution. This badge of office certified that he had a right to enter the habitation where these significant colours were dominant. The Arab wears on his head a cap similar to the Turkish fez, which he calls a tarbush. The Bedouin spreads over it a handkerchief folded so that three of the four corners hang down on the back and shoulders, and binds it in place with a twisted rope of goats hair or camels hair, reaching around his head. The Syrian Arab, if he wishes any addition to his tarbush, ties a handkerchief over it, or winds around it a shawl of wool, silk, or cotton, so as to form a turban. The oriental turban has exhibited both in modern times and in the remotest antiquity, a great variety of form, material, and colour. By means of this diversity it has served to distinguish between men of different nations, and of different classes in the same nation.
As an ancient Assyrian king was distinguished by a head-dress of a peculiar shape and ornamentation, as a descendant of Mohammed is known by the colour of his turban, so the dignity of the Hebrew priest, as an attendant on Jehovah in His holy habitation, was symbolized by a turban peculiar to his order in its material, its colour, and perhaps its shape. The priests must wear drawers while officiating, to cover their nakedness; and neglect to do so was to be punished with death, even if no exposure of the person resulted. The covering was therefore symbolic. It was a removal from the significant tableau in which the priest was engaged, of those parts of his person which, as excretory, were especially representative of defilement. The significance of the costume of the Hebrew priest cannot be fully seen by one who overlooks the fact that it left his feet uncovered. An oriental does not wear a shoe or sandal for protection from cold, but from filth, and lays aside at least the outermost covering of his feet when he enters a house, because he will not need such protection in such a place, and because his shoe might bring filth into the house. The costume of the high priest consisted of the four pieces worn by his subordinates, and of four others peculiar to him as the head of the order.
Over the tunic he wore the robe of the ephod, the significance of which resulted from its blue colour and the ornamental fringe which hung from its border at the bottom. To understand the meaning of this fringe see Num 15:38-39. The ornaments were intended to remind the wearer of the commandments of Jehovah, and were connected with his garment, whatever its colour, by a cord or ribbon of blue, to signify the heavenly origin of that which he was to keep in remembrance. But this fringe, in the case of the high priest, consisted of tassels in the shape of pomegranates, alternated with little golden bells. If, as seems probable, the pomegranates symbolized the law in its totality as including every specific requirement, it is at least a plausible conjecture that the bells with which they alternated signified that the high priest, or rather the covenant people whom he represented, were not only to remember the commandments of Jehovah, but by obeying to proclaim them. So far as they remembered and obeyed it, the Word of the Lord sounded out from them. The specifications for the ephod make its shoulder-pieces so prominent that the Greek and Latin versions give it names in those languages which characterize it as a shoulder-garment. But the shoulder as the seat of strength was, in the early times, when the strongest ruled, the seat of authority, and the most appropriate position for an emblem of government. We infer, then, that the ephod was a symbol of rank; and from the materials of which it was made, that it invested the wearer as a badge of royalty. This garment was provided for the high priest as the representative of the holy nation, that the jewels on its shoulders, and the threads of beaten gold woven into it throughout, might signify that they were kings as well as priests.
The breastplate of judgment was closely connected in significance with the ephod, indicating that the wearer was a ruler endowed with wisdom for the decision of important questions relating to the public welfare. He wore it on his heart because the heart was regarded as the seat of wisdom. The head-dress of the high priest was distinguished from that of his subordinates not only by its shape, but by its plate of gold bearing the inscription, Holiness to Jehovah. This plate, peculiar to him as the head of the priesthood, and of the nation as a kingdom of priests, was another badge of rank, and equivalent in meaning to a crown. The inscription, peculiarly important from its position on the forehead, proclaimed that the high priest, through his election, his physical faultlessness, his separation from common life, his investment with the robes of office, and his consecration, was so holy that he might not only approach Jehovah, but could take away the sins of his people (verse 38). Their iniquity was taken away, and they were accounted holy because their representative was holy. (E. E. Atwater.)
The robes of glory and beauty
Aaron had not in himself the proper qualifications for shadowing forth the Lord Jesus, the great High Priest; so the requisite beauty and glory were put on him symbolically. Arrayed in those beautiful, costly, and Divinely-appointed garments, he was symbolically what Jesus Christ is in reality, and he could minister about the Tabernacle as a type of Him who is the true Minister and the ever-living Saviour. These garments were said to be for glory and for beauty (verse 2). They were very costly and very beautiful, and everything belonging to them was significant in some way of the manifold excellencies and glories of the blessed Jesus. They are so many glasses which God has given to us, by which we may see Jesus in various aspects, as manifested to us in all His moral comeliness, and beauty, and spiritual excellences. I love to see Jesus as set forth here, because He is so lovely. He is altogether lovely (Son 5:16). And yet even here we do but see through a glass darkly; we only know Him in part; we do not see Him face to face (1Co 13:12). He is here looking forth at the windows, and showing Himself through the lattice (Son 2:9), and it is very blessed to see Him thus; but it will be much better to see Him as He is, with no window or lattice between Him and ourselves (Php 1:23; 1Jn 3:2). (G. Rodgers.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. For glory and for beauty.] Four articles of dress were prescribed for the priests in ordinary, and four more for the high-priest. Those for the priests in general were a coat, drawers, a girdle, and a bonnet. Besides these the high-priest had a robe, an ephod, a breastplate, and a plate or diadem of gold on his forehead. The garments, says the sacred historian, were for honour and for beauty. They were emblematical of the office in which they ministered.
1. It was honourable. They were the ministers of the Most High, and employed by him in transacting the most important concerns between God and his people, concerns in which all the attributes of the Divine Being were interested, as well as those which referred to the present and eternal happiness of his creatures.
2. They were for beauty. They were emblematical of that holiness and purity which ever characterize the Divine nature and the worship which is worthy of him, and which are essentially necessary to all those who wish to serve him in the beauty of holiness here below, and without which none can ever see his face in the realms of glory. Should not the garments of all those who minister in holy things still be emblematical of the things in which they minister? Should they not be for glory and beauty, expressive of the dignity of the Gospel ministry, and that beauty of holiness without which none can see the Lord? As the high-priest’s vestments, under the law, were emblematical of what was to come, should not the vestments of the ministers of the Gospel bear some resemblance of what is come? Is then the dismal black, now worn by almost all kinds of priests and ministers, for glory and for beauty? Is it emblematical of any thing that is good, glorious, or excellent? How unbecoming the glad tidings announced by Christian ministers is a colour emblematical of nothing but mourning and wo, sin, desolation, and death! How inconsistent the habit and office of these men! Should it be said, “These are only shadows, and are useless because the substance is come.” I ask, Why then is black almost universally worn? why is a particular colour preferred, if there be no signification in any? Is there not a danger that in our zeal against shadows, we shall destroy or essentially change the substance itself? Would not the same sort of argumentation exclude water in baptism, and bread and wine in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? The white surplice in the service of the Church is almost the only thing that remains of those ancient and becoming vestments, which God commanded to be made for glory and beauty. Clothing, emblematical of office, is of more consequence than is generally imagined. Were the great officers of the crown, and the great officers of justice, to clothe themselves like the common people when they appear in their public capacity, both their persons and their decisions would be soon held in little estimation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Garments to be used only in holy ministrations,
for glory and for beauty, i.e. such as are glorious and beautiful; partly to mind the people of the dignity and excellency of their office and employment; and principally to represent the glorious robes wherewith Christ is both clothed himself, and clotheth all his people, who are made priests unto God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2-5. holy garmentsNo inherentholiness belonged either to the material or the workmanship. But theyare called “holy” simply because they were not worn onordinary occasions, but assumed in the discharge of the sacredfunctions (Eze 44:19).
for glory and for beautyItwas a grand and sumptuous attire. In material, elaborate embroidery,and color, it had an imposing splendor. The tabernacle being adaptedto the infantine aid of the church, it was right and necessary thatthe priests’ garments should be of such superb and dazzlingappearance, that the people might be inspired with a due respect forthe ministers as well as the rites of religion. But they had also afurther meaning; for being all made of linen, they were symbolical ofthe truth, purity, and other qualities in Christ that rendered Himsuch a high priest as became us.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother,…. Called so, because in these he was to minister in the holy place, and perform holy service; and because typical of the holy human nature of Christ our great High Priest, and of his spotless righteousness, and of the garments of sanctification, both outward and inward, that all believers in him, who are made priests unto God, are arrayed with: Aaron and his sons being appointed priests, their garments are first described before their work and even before their consecration to their office; and there were some peculiar to Aaron, or the high priest, and different from those of his sons, or the common priests; and which are first treated of, as the breastplate, the robe of ephod, and the plate of gold; besides these, there were four more, common to all the priests, as the coat, the breeches, the girdle, and bonnet. Now whereas some of the Heathen priests performed their office, and offered their sacrifices, naked, which was very shameful and abominable, as Braunius o from various authors has shown, though this was not done by them all: in opposition to such a filthy practice, and to show his detestation of it, the Lord orders his priests to be clothed, and that in a very splendid manner, with garments
for glory and beauty; that is, with glorious and beautiful ones, and which would make his priests look so: and this was done, partly to point out the dignity of their office to themselves, that they might take care to behave suitable to it, and keep up the honour and credit of it; and partly to make them respectable unto men, and be honoured by them, none being clothed as they were, as Aben Ezra observes; but chiefly because they were typical of the glory and beauty of Christ’s human nature, which was as a garment put on, and put off, and on again, and in which he officiated as a priest, and still does; and which is now very glorious, and in which he is fairer than any of the children of men; and of the garments of salvation, and robe of righteousness, in which all his people, his priests, appear exceeding glorious and beautiful, even in a perfection of beauty.
o De Vestitu Sacerdot. Heb. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 5. p. 11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. And thou shalt make holy garments. These external ornaments denoted the want of those which are true and spiritual; for if the priest had been absolutely and entirely perfect, these typical accessories would have been superfluous. But God would shew by this symbol the more than angelical brightness of all virtues which was to be exhibited in Christ. Aaron was defiled by his own corruption, and therefore unworthy to appear in the presence of God; in order, then, that he might be a fit peacemaker between God and man, he put off his ordinary garments, and stood forth as a new man. Hence the holy garments were, first of all, supposed to conceal his faults; and, secondly, to represent the incomparable adornment of all virtues. The latter may indeed be in some measure applied to the pastors of the Church; nor will the comparison be absurd, if we say that no others are worthy of so excellent an honor, except those in whom surpassing and extraordinary virtue brightly manifests itself. But we must chiefly recollect what I have said, viz., that in these garments the supreme purity and wondrous glory of Christ were represented; as if God should promise that the Mediator would be far more august than the condition of man could produce. He therefore declares that they shall be “for glory and for beauty.” We shall speak more fully hereafter, what I will touch upon now, as to the wisdom of the artificers, viz., that all who from the foundation of the world have invented arts useful to the human race, have been imbued with the Spirit of God; so that even heathen authors have been compelled to call them the inventions of the gods. But inasmuch as in this Divine work there was need of rare and unwonted skill, it is expressly spoken of as a peculiar gift of the Spirit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Holy garments.Though holiness is, strictly speaking, a personal quality, yet all nations have felt it right to regard as holy, in a certain modified sense, all those material objects which are connected with religion and employed in the worship of God. Hence we hear, both in Scripture and elsewhere, of holy places, holy vessels, holy books, holy garments. These last are required especially for the ministrants in holy places, who need to be marked out by some evident signs from the body of the worshippers. In Egypt the ministering priests in temples always wore peculiar dresses; and probably there was no nation in the time of Moses which, if it possessed a class of priests, did not distinguish them by some special costume, at any rate when they were officiating. The natural instinct which thus exhibited itself, received Divine sanction by the communications which were made to Moses in Sinai, whereby special dresses were appointed both for the high priest and for the ordinary priests.
For glory and for beauty.These words have great force. God would have His priests richly, as well as decently, apparelled, for two objects(1) For gloryto glorify themto give them an exalted position in the eyes of the nation, to cause them to be respected, and their office to be highly regarded; (2) for beautyto make the worship of the sanctuary more beautiful than it would otherwise have been, to establish a harmony between the richly-adorned tabernacle and those who ministered in it; to give to the service of the sanctuary the highest artistic, as well as the highest spiritual, perfection. The relation of art to religion is a subject on which volumes have been written, and which cannot be discussed here; but Gods regard for beauty is here brought prominently before us, and no honest exegesis can ignore the pregnant fact that when God was pleased to give directions for His worship upon earth, they were made subservient, not only to utility and convenience, but to beauty. Beauty, it would seem, is not a thing despised by the Creator of the universe.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Holy garments for glory and for beauty As the entire sanctuary service constituted a system of object teaching to impress lessons of God’s truth and holiness and his relations to his people, it was eminently proper that the vestments of the ministers of the sanctuary should have noticeable harmony with the holy and beautiful places and services . Hence, the figures of clean robes and beautiful attire to signify the righteousness of the saints .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Priestly Garments ( Exo 28:2-4 )
Exo 28:2
“And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.”
The garments made for Aaron are now to be described. They are to be ‘for glory and for beauty’. They are unique and are to separate him off as holding a splendid office, a thing of beauty, distinguished from all others in his being ‘sanctified’, set apart as holy, as belonging to God, as God’s supreme representative to His people, as God’s mediator between God and man. They were to reveal to the people a hint of Yahweh’s own glory and beauty, and that this one acted before God on their behalf, and came to them from God. He was a shadow of the Greater Who was yet to come.
So God was concerned that men should honour ‘the priest’ as His representative and mediator, and through his clothing God revealed some small hint of His own glory and beauty. Aaron was called on to reveal ‘the beauty of holiness’ (Psa 29:2; Psa 96:9; 1Ch 16:29), the beauty of total dedication and separation to God. His failure to fully do so led to his death (Num 20:24).
But it should be noted that only one had such garments as are described in what follows, because of his unique position, because uniquely he represented God, and he represented Israel (Exo 28:38 see also Leviticus 16). On the other hand, his sons also wore special robes ‘for glory and for beauty’ (Exo 28:40). They too were mediators, for one man could not bear the responsibility alone. And they possibly even wore the full garments when acting as ‘the Priest’, if such occasion ever arose before the death of Aaron. Eleazar would do so, and would inherit them from Aaron (Lev 16:32).
Today the One Who has a right to these garment ministers in Heaven. We have ‘the high priest’ eternal in the heavens (Heb 7:26; Heb 9:11; Heb 9:24-28; Heb 10:12; Heb 10:21). There is now only One Mediator between God and man. It is questionable therefore whether any should wear such garments on earth. To do so is to make a claim that is not justified. There is now only One Who represents God before His people. All others come as suppliants and humble servants to God, as the chief of sinners. There was never any suggestion that the Prophets or Apostles should have such clothing. Indeed they often wore camel’s hair or rags. And if not they who else is justified in doing so? For to wear such clothing is to turn men’s eyes from God and from the Saviour of the world, to exalt a man. Anything that thus exalts man is to be abhorred.
Men love such clothing for it exalts them. The motive for them may initially be pure, but man’s heart is such that it soon turns what is good into what is supremely evil, and man becomes exalted, and enjoys his exaltation, rather than exalting God. They actually begin to mistakenly see themselves as especially holy.
Exo 28:3
“And you shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.”
To Israel the ‘heart’ was seen as the seat of the intellect and of all wisdom. And those who made Aaron’s garments were to be those whose hearts had been filled with the Spirit of wisdom, revealed by the expertise of their work. There seems little doubt here that they were to be seen as not just talented but as inspired by God in a special way. His own Spirit would inspire their spirits. For these garments were special, and they set apart Aaron in holiness before God so that he could fulfil the priestly office. They were to be seen therefore as, in a real but secondary sense, made by the Spirit of God. And yet even these had to be ‘sanctified’ by the shedding of blood (Exo 29:21), as had Aaron.
Exo 28:4
“And these are the garments that they shall make, a breastpouch, and an ephod, and a robe, and an under-robe of patterned work, a turban and a girdle. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.”
The garments are summarised and will be dealt with in more detail. They number six, the intensification of three, expressing full completeness. They are ‘holy’ garments for they set apart firstly the leading priest (‘the priest’) and then these other priests for a unique task, men who are set apart for mediation between God and man.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exo 28:2. Thou shalt make holy garmentsfor glory and for beauty Holy garments, or garments separated and set apart for the sole use of the priests, are directed to be made for glory and for beauty; that is, very glorious and beautiful; not only that the high-priest might appear in a manner something worthy the solemn character of representative of the Almighty King of the Jews; but also, that the people’s minds might be impressed with a due reverence to the dignity of his office, as well as of the character which he sustained: for it should be remembered, that as the tabernacle or temple was the court of Jehovah, the King of Israel; so the high-priest sustained the character of the vice-roy or immediate representative of that great King: and hence many writers have observed, that the glorious and beautiful garments were symbolical of the real glories and perfections of JEHOVAH, the present King and future MESSIAH of the Jews. Philo tells us, that the law dressed up the priests to the venerableness and honour of a king: and in Josephus we have a remarkable relation, that when Alexander the Great was advancing to besiege Jerusalem, the high-priest of the Jews in his sacerdotal robes went forth to meet him at the head of the sacred order, all clothed in their holy vestments; the majesty of which spectacle struck Alexander with such reverence, that he bowed down, and saluted the high-priest: upon which Parmenio asked him, How it came to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the high-priest of the Jews? To whom he replied, “I did not adore him, but that GOD who has honoured him with his high-priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios in Macedonia.” See more in Josephus, Antiq. B. 11: ch. 8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. Are not these garments emblematical of the glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus? Zec 9:16-17 ; Heb 7:26 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 28:2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
Ver. 2. For glory and for beauty. ] Prodit Aaron a capite ad calcem, os humerosque Deo similis. The high priest was gloriously apparelled, to strike a religious reverence into the eyes and hearts of the beholders, and to set forth the beauty and bravery of Christ and his Church.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
holy garments. Hebrew garments of holiness. See App-17: emphasis on “holy”. See note on Exo 3:5.
for glory and for beauty. Septuagint (time kai doxa), same as Heb 2:9 and 2Pe 1:17. With which Christ was clothed and crowned for the same purpose when He was consecrated priest (Mat 17:1-10. Mar 9:1-10. Luk 9:28-36) “to minister unto Me in the priest’s office. “
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
holy garments
Heb. qodesh= “set apart” for God. Trans. “holy,” Exo 28:2; “consecrate,” Exo 28:3. Often trans. “sanctify.” See summary, (See Scofield “Zec 8:3”). This is always the fundamental idea of a holy, consecrated, separated, or sanctified person or thing–something set apart for God. Infinite confusion would have been spared the reader if qodesh had been uniformly trans. “set apart.”
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
holy garments: Exo 29:5-9, Exo 29:29, Exo 29:30, Exo 31:10, Exo 39:1, Exo 39:2, Exo 40:13, Lev 8:7-9, Lev 8:30, Num 20:26-28, Psa 132:9, Psa 132:16, Isa 61:3, Isa 61:10, Isa 64:6, Zec 3:3, Zec 3:4, Rom 3:22, Rom 13:14, Gal 3:27, Heb 7:26, Rev 19:8
glory: Exo 28:40, Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6, Num 27:20, Num 27:21, Job 40:10, Psa 90:16, Psa 90:17, Psa 96:6, Psa 149:4, Isa 4:2, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24, Joh 1:14, 1Co 1:30, 1Co 1:31, Heb 2:9, 2Pe 1:17, 1Jo 3:2, Rev 5:10, Rev 19:8
Reciprocal: Gen 27:15 – goodly raiment Exo 39:41 – the holy Lev 8:2 – garments Lev 16:4 – holy linen coat Lev 21:10 – consecrated 2Ki 10:22 – vestments Psa 105:26 – Aaron Zec 3:5 – fair
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
PRIESTLY ROBES
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
Exo 28:2
I. The garments peculiar to the high-priest were four: the ephod, with its curious girdle, the breastplate, the robe of the ephod, and the mitre.
I. The garments were made of linen, typical of the human nature which Christ wears still in His glorified state.
II. They were carefully fastened together, signifying the complete unity which there is in all Christs work for His people.
III. They were robes, not of war, but of peace, indicating that our Saviours warfare is accomplished, and that He is now set down in the calm and quiet of His holy, peaceful functions.
IV. The robe of the ephod represents the perfect robe of the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.
V. Aaron bearing the names of the people before the Lord on his ephod is a picture of Christ bearing the names of His people in holy remembrance before God.
VI. The breastplate teaches that Christ not only bears His people on His shoulders for strength, but lays them separately on His heart for love.
VII. The high-priest wore a mitre with this inscription graven upon it, Holiness to the Lord. Jesus Christ, in His very character and being, as our Representative, is standing before God, and emblazoned upon His front is His own proper title: Holiness to the Lord. Not for HimselfHe needs it notbut for us! He bears the iniquity of our holy things. For us the golden letters run for glory and for beauty upon the mitre of Jesus.
Illustrations
(1) The shoulders are the place of strength, so that as our great High Priest goes in, He bears our names, representing us, one by one, on the place of strength; and there they are borne up and carried, there we typically dwell between His shoulders, there we are carried all day long, and there is the assurance of perfect supply in our most utter weakness. So that, like Paul, when we see our names there we may glory in our weakness, because it will only show forth the perfection of His strength.
(2) The holiness of the raiment implies that separation to office can be expressed by official robes in the Church as well as in the State: and their glory and beauty show that God, who has clothed His creation with splendour and with loveliness, does not dissever religious feeling from artistic expression.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Exo 28:2. The priests garments were made for glory and beauty Some of the richest materials were to be provided, and the best artists employed in making them, whose skill God, by a special gift, would improve to a very high degree. Eminence, even in common arts, is a gift of God; it comes from him, and ought to be used for him. The garments appointed were, 1st, Four, which both the high-priest and the inferior priest wore, namely, the linen breeches, the linen coat, the linen girdle, which fastened it to them, and the bonnet: that which the high-priest wore was called a mitre. 2d, Four more, which were peculiar to the high-priest, the ephod, with the curious girdle of it, the breast-plate of judgment, the long robe, and the golden plate on his forehead. These glorious garments were appointed, 1st, That the priests themselves might be reminded of the dignity of their office. 2d, That the people might thereby be possessed with a holy reverence for that God whose ministers appeared in such grandeur.
3d, That the priests might be types of Christ, and of all Christians who have the beauty of holiness put upon them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
28:2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for {a} glory and for beauty.
(a) By which his office may be known to be glorious and excellent.