Shemot 39:2

2 And he [Bezalel] made the Ephod of zahav, turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, and twisted fine linen.

Shemot 39:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 2-31. And he made the ephod of gold
From hence to the end of verse thirty one we have a very particular account of the making of the priest's garments exactly according to the directions given to Moses, (See Gill on Exodus 28:1) &c. to end of chapter twenty eight; only it may be observed, that here in ( Exodus 39:3 ) an account is given of the manner in which they made the gold fit to be worked along with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; they beat the gold into thin plates, and then cut them into wires, and then twisted them together with the yarn: the gold that was used in the weaving of the ephod and the breastplate, spoken of in the law, was wrought after this manner; the workman took one thread of pure gold, and put it with six threads of blue, and twisted the seven threads as one, and so he wrought a thread of gold with six of purple, and another thread with six of scarlet, and another with six of linen or flax, so that there were four threads of gold, and all the threads were twenty eight, as it is said; "they did beat" or spread out "the gold" "to work in the midst of blue" from whence is learnt that the thread of gold was twisted in the midst of them ^F25: and it may be further observed, that after the enumeration of the stones in the breastplate, ( Exodus 39:10-13 ) no mention is made of the Urim and Thummim, which seems to confirm the opinion of many, and which is my own, that they are the same with the stones: moreover, in ( Exodus 39:28 ) , it may be observed, that what the coats for the common priests were made of is expressed, which is not before, which was linen; expressive of their purity and holiness, and in which they ought always to appear before God and man, and in which apparel they have been imitated among the Heathens: the priests of Hercules are said to be clothed with linen ^F26, and the Egyptian priests wore only a linen garment ^F1; hence the priests of Isis, with whom she is represented as surrounded by Juvenal ^F2, are called by him "grex liniger", and by Martial, "linigeri" ^F3.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 5.
F26 Silius Ital. de Bell. Punic. l. 3.
F1 Herodot. Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 38.
F2 Satyr. 6.
F3 L. 12. Epigram. 26.

Shemot 39:2 In-Context

1 9 And from the turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, they made bigdei serad (elaborately woven garments) for service in HaKadosh, and made Bigdei Hakodesh for Aharon; as Hashem commanded Moshe.

2 And he [Bezalel] made the Ephod of zahav, turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, and twisted fine linen.

3 And they did hammer the zahav into thin sheets, and cut threads, to work into the turquoise, and into the purple, and into the fine linen, the artistic weaver’s work.

4 They made attaching ketefot (shoulder straps) for it, which were attached to its two [upper] ends.

5 And the Cheishev (Belt) of his Ephod, which is upon it, was of the same according to the work thereof; of zahav, turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, and twisted linen; as Hashem commanded Moshe.