THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 277
And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
And
they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of
the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle
of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.
And
Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate
of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a
memorial before the Lord continually.
And
thou shalt put in the breastplate of Judgment the Urim and the Thummim
; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the
Lord : and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon
his heart before the Lord continually.
Of the miraculous quality of the stones worn by the high-priest, the Jewish historian Josephus (37-95 a.D.) says::1
From
the stones which the high-priest wore (these were sard-onyxes, and I
hold it superfluous to describe their nature, since it is known to
all), there emanated a light, as often as God was present at the
sacrifices; that which was worn on the right shoulder instead of a
clasp emitting a radiance sufficient to give light even to those far
away, although the stone previously lacked this splendor. And
cerÂtainly this in itself merits the wonder of all those who do not,
out of contempt for religion, allow themselves to be led away by a
pretence of wisdom. However, I am about to relate something still more
wonderful, namely, that God announced victory in battle by means of
the
twelve stones worn by the high-priest on his breast, set in the
pectoral. For such a splendor shone from them when the army was
not
yet in motion, that all the people knew that God himself was present to
aid them. For this reason the Greeks who reverence our solemnities,
since they could not deny this, called the pectoral λόγων or
oracle. However, the pectoral and the onyxes ceased to emit this
radiance two hundred years before the time when I write this, because
God was displeased at the transgressions of the Law.
'Flavii Josephi, "De Antiq. Jud.," lib. iii, cap. viii, 9; Opera, Dindorf, Parisiis, 1845, vol. i, pp. 100, 101.
