Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Exodus 28:31 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ex 28:31	Strong Concordance	And thou shalt make [06213] the robe [04598] of the ephod [0646] all [03632] of blue [08504].
	King James	And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
the robe of the ephod all of blue--It was the middle garment, under the ephod and above the coat. It had a hole through which the head was thrust, and was formed carefully of one piece, such as was the robe of Christ (Joh 19:23). The high priest's was of a sky-blue color. The binding at the neck was strongly woven, and it terminated below in a fringe, made of blue, purple, and scarlet tassels, in the form of a pomegranate, interspersed with small bells of gold, which tinkled as the wearer was in motion.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

the robe of the ephod all of blue--It was the middle garment, under the ephod and above the coat. It had a hole through which the head was thrust, and was formed carefully of one piece, such as was the robe of Christ (Joh 19:23). The high priest's was of a sky-blue color. The binding at the neck was strongly woven, and it terminated below in a fringe, made of blue, purple, and scarlet tassels, in the form of a pomegranate, interspersed with small bells of gold, which tinkled as the wearer was in motion.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
robe (See Scofield) - (Exo 29:5).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The third portion of Aaron's official dress was the robe. To the ephod there also belonged a מעיל (from מעל to cover or envelope), an upper garment, called the robe of the ephod, the robe belonging to the ephod, "all of dark-blue purple" (hyacinth), by which we are not to imagine a cloak or mantle, but a long, closely-fitting coat; not reaching to the feet, however, as the Alex. rendering ποδήρης might lead us to suppose, but only to the knees, so as to show the coat (Exo 28:39) which was underneath. Exo 28:32 "And the opening of the head thereof shall be in the middle of it;" i.e., there was to be an opening in the middle of it to put the head through when it was put on; - "a hem shall be round the opening of it, weavers' work, like the opening of the habergeon shall it (the seam) be to it; it shall not be torn." By the habergeon (θώραξ), or coat-of-mail, we have to understand the linothoo'reex, the linen coat, such as was worn by Ajax for example (Il. 2, 529). Linen habergeons of this kind were made in Egypt in a highly artistic style (see Hengstenberg, Egypt, etc., pp. 141-2). In order that the mel might not be torn when it was put on, the opening for the head was to be made with a strong hem, which was to be of weavers' work; from which it follows as a matter of course that the robe was woven in one piece, and not made in several pieces and then sewed together; and this is expressly stated in Exo 39:22. Josephus and the Rabbins explain the words ארג מעשׂה (ἔργον ὑφαντόν) in this way, and observe at the same time that the mel had no sleeves, but only arm-holes. Exo 28:33-34 On the lower hem (שׁוּלים the tail or skirt) there were to be pomegranates of dark-blue and dark-red purple and crimson, made of twisted yarn of these colours (Exo 39:24), and little golden bells between them round about, a bell and a pomegranate occurring alternately all round. According to Rashi the pomegranates were "globi quidam rotundi instar malorum punicorum, quasi essent ova gallinarum." פּעמנים (from פּעם to strike of knock, like the old High German cloccon, clochon, i.e., to smite) signifies a little bell, not a spherical ball. Exo 28:35 Aaron was to put on this coat, to minister, i.e., to perform the duties of his holy office, "that his sound might be heard when he went into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he came out, and he might not die." These directions are referred to in Ecclus. 45:9, and explained as follows: "He compassed him with pomegranates and with many golden bells round about, that as he went there might be a sound, and a noise made, that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of his people." The probable meaning of these words is either that given by Hiskuni (in Drusius), ut sciant tempus cultus divini atque ita praeparent cor suum ad patrem suum, qui est in coelis, or that given by Oehler, viz., that the ringing of the bells might announce to the people in the court the entrance of the high priest and the rites he was performing, in order that they might accompany him with their thoughts and prayers. But this is hardly correct. For not only is the expression, "for a memorial to the children of Israel," evidently intended by the writer of Ecclesiasticus as a translation of the words ישׂראל לבני זכּרן in Exo 28:12 (cf. Exo 28:29), so that he has transferred to the bells of the mel what really applies to the precious stones on the ephod, which contained the names of the twelve sons of Israel, but he has misunderstood the words themselves; for Aaron was to bear the names of the sons of Israel before Jehovah in these precious stones for a reminder, i.e., to remind Jehovah of His people. Moreover, the words "and he shall not die" are not in harmony with this interpretation. Bhr, Oehler, and others, regard the words as referring to the whole of the high priest's robes, and understand them as meaning, that he would be threatened with death if he appeared before Jehovah without his robes, inasmuch as he was merely a private individual without this holy dress, and could not in that case represent the nation. This is so far justifiable, no doubt, although not favoured by the position of the words in the context, that the bells were inseparably connected with the robe, which was indispensable to the ephod with the choshen, and consequently the bells had no apparent significance except in connection with the whole of the robes. But even if we do adopt this explanation of the words, we cannot suppose that Aaron's not dying depended upon the prayers of the congregation which accompanied his going in and out before Jehovah; for in that case the intercession of the high priest would have lost its objective meaning altogether, and his life would have been actually given up in a certain sense to the caprice of the people. All that remains, therefore, is to take the words as they occur: Aaron was not to appear before the Lord without the sound of the bells upon his robe being heard, in order that he might not die; so that to understand the reason for his not saying, we must inquire what the ringing of the bells signified, or rather, what was the signification of Aaron's robe, with its border of pomegranates and ringing bells. The trivial explanation given by Abraham ben David, viz., that the ringing was to take the place of knocking at the door of Jehovah's palace, as an abrupt entrance into the presence of a great king was punished with death, is not more deserving of a serious refutation than Knobel's idea, for which there is no foundation, that the sounding of the bells was to represent a reverential greeting, and a very musical offering of praise (!). The special significance of the mel cannot have resided in either its form or its colour; for the only feature connected with its form, that was at all peculiar to it, was its being woven in one piece, which set forth the idea of wholeness or spiritual integrity; and the dark-blue colour indicated nothing more than the heavenly origin and character of the office with which the robe was associated. It must be sought for, therefore, in the peculiar pendants, the meaning of which is to be gathered from the analogous instructions in Num 15:38-39, where every Israelite is directed to make a fringe in the border of his garment, of dark-blue purple thread, and when he looks at the fringe to remember the commandments of God and do them. In accordance with this, we are also to seek for allusions to the word and testimony of God in the pendant of pomegranates and bells attached to the fringe of the high priest's robe. The simile in Pro 25:11, where the word is compared to an apple, suggests the idea that the pomegranates, with their pleasant odour, their sweet and refreshing juice, and the richness of their delicious kernel, were symbols of the word and testimony of God as a sweet and pleasant spiritual food, that enlivens the soul and refreshes the heart (compare Psa 19:8; Psa 119:25, Psa 119:43, Psa 119:50, with Deu 8:3; Pro 9:8, Ecclus. 15:3), and that the bells were symbols of the sounding of this word, or the revelation and proclamation of the word. Through the robe, with this pendant attached, Aaron was represented as the recipient and medium of the word and testimony which came down from heaven; and this was the reason why he was not to appear before the Lord without that sound, lest he should forfeit his life. It was not because he would simply have appeared as a private person if he had gone without it, for he would always have the holy dress of a priest upon him, even when he was not clothed in the official decorations of the high priest; but because no mere priest was allowed to enter the immediate presence of the Lord. This privilege was restricted to the representative of the whole congregation, viz., the high priest; and even he could only do so when wearing the robe of the word of God, as the bearer of the divine testimony, upon which the covenant fellowship with the Lord was founded.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The third portion of Aaron's official dress was the robe. To the ephod there also belonged a מעיל (from מעל to cover or envelope), an upper garment, called the robe of the ephod, the robe belonging to the ephod, "all of dark-blue purple" (hyacinth), by which we are not to imagine a cloak or mantle, but a long, closely-fitting coat; not reaching to the feet, however, as the Alex. rendering ποδήρης might lead us to suppose, but only to the knees, so as to show the coat (Exo 28:39) which was underneath.

Exo 28:32

"And the opening of the head thereof shall be in the middle of it;" i.e., there was to be an opening in the middle of it to put the head through when it was put on; - "a hem shall be round the opening of it, weavers' work, like the opening of the habergeon shall it (the seam) be to it; it shall not be torn." By the habergeon (θώραξ), or coat-of-mail, we have to understand the linothoo'reex, the linen coat, such as was worn by Ajax for example (Il. 2, 529). Linen habergeons of this kind were made in Egypt in a highly artistic style (see Hengstenberg, Egypt, etc., pp. 141-2). In order that the mel might not be torn when it was put on, the opening for the head was to be made with a strong hem, which was to be of weavers' work; from which it follows as a matter of course that the robe was woven in one piece, and not made in several pieces and then sewed together; and this is expressly stated in Exo 39:22. Josephus and the Rabbins explain the words ארג מעשׂה (ἔργον ὑφαντόν) in this way, and observe at the same time that the mel had no sleeves, but only arm-holes.

Exo 28:33-34

On the lower hem (שׁוּלים the tail or skirt) there were to be pomegranates of dark-blue and dark-red purple and crimson, made of twisted yarn of these colours (Exo 39:24), and little golden bells between them round about, a bell and a pomegranate occurring alternately all round. According to Rashi the pomegranates were "globi quidam rotundi instar malorum punicorum, quasi essent ova gallinarum." פּעמנים (from פּעם to strike of knock, like the old High German cloccon, clochon, i.e., to smite) signifies a little bell, not a spherical ball.

Exo 28:35

Aaron was to put on this coat, to minister, i.e., to perform the duties of his holy office, "that his sound might be heard when he went into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he came out, and he might not die." These directions are referred to in Ecclus. 45:9, and explained as follows: "He compassed him with pomegranates and with many golden bells round about, that as he went there might be a sound, and a noise made, that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of his people." The probable meaning of these words is either that given by Hiskuni (in Drusius), ut sciant tempus cultus divini atque ita praeparent cor suum ad patrem suum, qui est in coelis, or that given by Oehler, viz., that the ringing of the bells might announce to the people in the court the entrance of the high priest and the rites he was performing, in order that they might accompany him with their thoughts and prayers. But this is hardly correct. For not only is the expression, "for a memorial to the children of Israel," evidently intended by the writer of Ecclesiasticus as a translation of the words ישׂראל לבני זכּרן in Exo 28:12 (cf. Exo 28:29), so that he has transferred to the bells of the mel what really applies to the precious stones on the ephod, which contained the names of the twelve sons of Israel, but he has misunderstood the words themselves; for Aaron was to bear the names of the sons of Israel before Jehovah in these precious stones for a reminder, i.e., to remind Jehovah of His people. Moreover, the words "and he shall not die" are not in harmony with this interpretation. Bhr, Oehler, and others, regard the words as referring to the whole of the high priest's robes, and understand them as meaning, that he would be threatened with death if he appeared before Jehovah without his robes, inasmuch as he was merely a private individual without this holy dress, and could not in that case represent the nation. This is so far justifiable, no doubt, although not favoured by the position of the words in the context, that the bells were inseparably connected with the robe, which was indispensable to the ephod with the choshen, and consequently the bells had no apparent significance except in connection with the whole of the robes. But even if we do adopt this explanation of the words, we cannot suppose that Aaron's not dying depended upon the prayers of the congregation which accompanied his going in and out before Jehovah; for in that case the intercession of the high priest would have lost its objective meaning altogether, and his life would have been actually given up in a certain sense to the caprice of the people. All that remains, therefore, is to take the words as they occur: Aaron was not to appear before the Lord without the sound of the bells upon his robe being heard, in order that he might not die; so that to understand the reason for his not saying, we must inquire what the ringing of the bells signified, or rather, what was the signification of Aaron's robe, with its border of pomegranates and ringing bells. The trivial explanation given by Abraham ben David, viz., that the ringing was to take the place of knocking at the door of Jehovah's palace, as an abrupt entrance into the presence of a great king was punished with death, is not more deserving of a serious refutation than Knobel's idea, for which there is no foundation, that the sounding of the bells was to represent a reverential greeting, and a very musical offering of praise (!).

The special significance of the mel cannot have resided in either its form or its colour; for the only feature connected with its form, that was at all peculiar to it, was its being woven in one piece, which set forth the idea of wholeness or spiritual integrity; and the dark-blue colour indicated nothing more than the heavenly origin and character of the office with which the robe was associated. It must be sought for, therefore, in the peculiar pendants, the meaning of which is to be gathered from the analogous instructions in Num 15:38-39, where every Israelite is directed to make a fringe in the border of his garment, of dark-blue purple thread, and when he looks at the fringe to remember the commandments of God and do them. In accordance with this, we are also to seek for allusions to the word and testimony of God in the pendant of pomegranates and bells attached to the fringe of the high priest's robe. The simile in Pro 25:11, where the word is compared to an apple, suggests the idea that the pomegranates, with their pleasant odour, their sweet and refreshing juice, and the richness of their delicious kernel, were symbols of the word and testimony of God as a sweet and pleasant spiritual food, that enlivens the soul and refreshes the heart (compare Psa 19:8; Psa 119:25, Psa 119:43, Psa 119:50, with Deu 8:3; Pro 9:8, Ecclus. 15:3), and that the bells were symbols of the sounding of this word, or the revelation and proclamation of the word. Through the robe, with this pendant attached, Aaron was represented as the recipient and medium of the word and testimony which came down from heaven; and this was the reason why he was not to appear before the Lord without that sound, lest he should forfeit his life. It was not because he would simply have appeared as a private person if he had gone without it, for he would always have the holy dress of a priest upon him, even when he was not clothed in the official decorations of the high priest; but because no mere priest was allowed to enter the immediate presence of the Lord. This privilege was restricted to the representative of the whole congregation, viz., the high priest; and even he could only do so when wearing the robe of the word of God, as the bearer of the divine testimony, upon which the covenant fellowship with the Lord was founded.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
The robe of the ephod - This was next under the ephod, and reached down to the knees, without sleeves, and was put on over their head, having holes on the sides to put the arms through, or, as Maimonides describes it, was not sewn together on the sides at all. The hole on the top through which the head was put was carefully bound about, that it might not tear in the putting on. The bells gave notice to the people in the outer court, when he went into the holy place to burn incense, that they might then apply themselves to their devotions at the same time, Luk 1:10, in token of their concurrence with him, and their hopes of the ascent of their prayers to God in the virtue of the incense he offered. Aaron must come near to minister in the garments that were appointed him, that he die not. 'Tis at his peril if he attend otherwise than according to the institution.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
The robe of the ephod - See Clarke on Exo 28:4 (note). From this description, and from what Josephus says, who must have been well acquainted with its form, we find that this meil, or robe, was one long straight piece of blue cloth, with a hole or opening in the center for the head to pass through; which hole or opening was bound about, that it might not be rent in putting it on or taking it off, Exo 28:32.

Top

²³ Then [3767] the soldiers [4757], when [3753] they had crucified [4717] Jesus [2424], took [2983] his [846] garments [2440], and [2532] made [4160] four [5064] parts [3313], to every [1538] soldier [4757] a part [3313]; and also [2532] his coat [5509]: now [1161] the coat [5509] was [2258] without seam [729], woven [5307] from [1537] the top [509] throughout [1223] [3650].

⁵ And thou shalt take [03947] the garments [0899], and put [03847] upon Aaron [0175] the coat [03801], and the robe [04598] of the ephod [0646], and the ephod [0646], and the breastplate [02833], and gird [0640] him with the curious girdle [02805] of the ephod [0646]:

⁸ Reprove [03198] not a scorner [03887], lest he hate [08130] thee: rebuke [03198] a wise man [02450], and he will love [0157] thee.

³ And he humbled [06031] thee, and suffered thee to hunger [07456], and fed [0398] thee with manna [04478], which thou knewest [03045] not, neither did thy fathers [01] know [03045]; that he might make thee know [03045] that man [0120] doth not live [02421] by bread [03899] only [0905], but by every word that proceedeth [04161] out of the mouth [06310] of the LORD [03068] doth man [0120] live [02421].

⁵⁰ This is my comfort [05165] in my affliction [06040]: for thy word [0565] hath quickened [02421] me.

⁴³ And take [05337] not the word [01697] of truth [0571] utterly [03966] out of my mouth [06310]; for I have hoped [03176] in thy judgments [04941].

²⁵ DALETH. My soul [05315] cleaveth [01692] unto the dust [06083]: quicken [02421] thou me according to thy word [01697].

⁸ The statutes [06490] of the LORD [03068] are right [03477], rejoicing [08055] the heart [03820]: the commandment [04687] of the LORD [03068] is pure [01249], enlightening [0215] the eyes [05869].

¹¹ A word [01697] fitly [0212] [0655] spoken [01696] is like apples [08598] of gold [02091] in pictures [04906] of silver [03701].

³⁸ Speak [01696] unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478], and bid [0559] them that they make [06213] them fringes [06734] in the borders [03671] of their garments [0899] throughout their generations [01755], and that they put [05414] upon the fringe [06734] of the borders [03671] a ribband [06616] of blue [08504]:
³⁹ And it shall be unto you for a fringe [06734], that ye may look [07200] upon it, and remember [02142] all the commandments [04687] of the LORD [03068], and do [06213] them; and that ye seek [08446] not after [0310] your own heart [03824] and your own eyes [05869], after [0310] which ye use to go a whoring [02181]:

²⁹ And Aaron [0175] shall bear [05375] the names [08034] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478] in the breastplate [02833] of judgment [04941] upon his heart [03820], when he goeth [0935] in unto the holy [06944] place, for a memorial [02146] before [06440] the LORD [03068] continually [08548].

¹² And thou shalt put [07760] the two [08147] stones [068] upon the shoulders [03802] of the ephod [0646] for stones [068] of memorial [02146] unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478]: and Aaron [0175] shall bear [05375] their names [08034] before [06440] the LORD [03068] upon his two [08147] shoulders [03802] for a memorial [02146].

³⁵ And it shall be upon Aaron [0175] to minister [08334]: and his sound [06963] shall be heard [08085] when he goeth [0935] in unto the holy [06944] place before [06440] the LORD [03068], and when he cometh [03318] out, that he die [04191] not.

²⁴ And they made [06213] upon the hems [07757] of the robe [04598] pomegranates [07416] of blue [08504], and purple [0713], and scarlet [08144] [08438], and twined [07806] linen.

³³ And beneath upon the hem [07757] of it thou shalt make [06213] pomegranates [07416] of blue [08504], and of purple [0713], and of scarlet [08144] [08438], round about [05439] the hem [07757] thereof; and bells [06472] of gold [02091] between [08432] them round about [05439]:
³⁴ A golden [02091] bell [06472] and a pomegranate [07416], a golden [02091] bell [06472] and a pomegranate [07416], upon the hem [07757] of the robe [04598] round about [05439].

²² And he made [06213] the robe [04598] of the ephod [0646] of woven [0707] work [04639], all [03632] of blue [08504].

³² And there shall be an hole [06310] in the top [07218] of it, in the midst [08432] thereof: it shall have a binding [08193] of woven [0707] work [04639] round about [05439] the hole [06310] of it, as it were the hole [06310] of an habergeon [08473], that it be not rent [07167].

³⁹ And thou shalt embroider [07660] the coat [03801] of fine linen [08336], and thou shalt make [06213] the mitre [04701] of fine linen [08336], and thou shalt make [06213] the girdle [073] of needlework [07551] [04639].

¹⁰ And [2532] the whole [3956] multitude [4128] of the people [2992] were [2258] praying [4336] without [1854] at the time [5610] of incense [2368].

⁴ And these are the garments [0899] which they shall make [06213]; a breastplate [02833], and an ephod [0646], and a robe [04598], and a broidered [08665] coat [03801], a mitre [04701], and a girdle [073]: and they shall make [06213] holy [06944] garments [0899] for Aaron [0175] thy brother [0251], and his sons [01121], that he may minister unto me in the priest's office [03547].