Ephod

Something girt, a sacred vestment worn originally by the high priest (Ex. 28:4), afterwards by the ordinary priest (1 Sam. 22:18), and characteristic of his office (1 Sam. 2:18, 28; 14:3). It was worn by Samuel, and also by David (2 Sam. 6:14). It was made of fine linen, and consisted of two pieces, which hung from the neck, and covered both the back and front, above the tunic and outer garment (Ex. 28:31). That of the high priest was embroidered with divers colours. The two pieces were joined together over the shoulders (hence in Latin called superhumerale) by clasps or buckles of gold or precious stones, and fastened round the waist by a "curious girdle of gold, blue, purple, and fine twined linen" (28:6-12). The breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim, was attached to the ephod.

אפוד. This article of dress was worn by laymen as well as by the high priest. The sacred ephod, the one made for the high priest, differed from the others, in being fabricated of cotton, which was coloured with crimson, purple, and blue, and in being ornamented with gold. In the time of Josephus, it was a cubit of the larger size in length, and was furnished with sleeves. The high priest’s ephod had a very rich button upon each shoulder, made of a large onyx stone set in gold. This stone was so large, that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were engraven, six on each stone, Exod. xxviii, 9–12. The word _shoham_, which we render onyx, is translated, by the Septuagint _smaragdos_, an emerald; but as we have no certain knowledge either of this, or of any of the twelve stones of the breastplate, we may as well be satisfied with our translation as with any other. To the ephod belonged a curious girdle, of the same rich fabric as the ephod itself. This girdle is said to be upon the ephod, Exod. xxviii, 8; that is, woven with the ephod, as Maimonides understands; and, coming out from the ephod on each side, it was brought under the arms like a sash, and tied upon the breast. Samuel, though a Levite only, and a child, wore a linen ephod, 1 Sam. ii, 18. And David, in the ceremony of removing the ark from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem, was girt with a linen ephod, 2 Sam. vi, 14. The Levites were not generally allowed to wear the ephod; but in the time of Agrippa, as we are told by Josephus, a little before the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans, they obtained of that prince permission to wear the linen stole as well as the priests. Spencer and Cunæus are of opinion, that the Jewish kings had a right to wear the ephod, because David, coming to Ziklag, and finding that the Amalekites had plundered the city, and carried away his and the people’s wives, ordered Abiathar, the high priest, to bring him the ephod, which being done, David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue after this troop?” 1 Sam. xxx, 8. Whence they infer, that David consulted God by urim and thummim, and consequently put on the ephod. But it is probable the text only means that he ordered the priest to do what he is himself said to have done. The ephod of Gideon is remarkable for having become the occasion of a new kind of idolatry to the Israelites, Judges viii, 27. What this consisted in, is matter of dispute among the learned. Some authors are of opinion that this ephod, as it is called, was an idol; others, that it was only a trophy in memory of the signal victory obtained by Gideon, and that the Israelites paid a kind of divine worship to it; so that Gideon was the innocent cause of their idolatry, in like manner as Moses had been in making the brazen serpent, which was afterward worshipped. EPHRAIM was the name of Joseph’s second son, by Asenath, Potiphar’s daughter. He was born in Egypt, A. M. 2294. Ephraim, with his brother Manasseh, was presented by his father Joseph to Jacob on his death bed, Gen. xlviii, 8, &c. Jacob laid his right hand on Ephraim the younger, and his left on Manasseh the elder. Joseph was desirous to change his hands, but Jacob answered, “I know it, my son; Manasseh shall be multiplied, but Ephraim shall be greater.” The sons of Ephraim having made an inroad into Palestine, the inhabitants of Gath killed them. Ephraim their father mourned many days for them, and his brethren came to comfort him, 1 Chron. vii, 20, 21. Afterward, he had a son named Beriah, and a daughter Sherah. He had also other sons, Rephah, Resheph, Tela, &c. His posterity multiplied in Egypt to the number of forty thousand five hundred men capable of bearing arms. In the land of promise, Joshua, who was of this tribe, gave them their portion between the Mediterranean west, and the river Jordan east. The ark and tabernacle remained long in this tribe at Shiloh; and after the separation of the ten tribes, the seat of the kingdom was in Ephraim, and hence Ephraim is frequently used to denote the whole kingdom. The district belonging to this tribe is called Ephratah, Psalm cxxxii, 6. Ephraim was led captive beyond the Euphrates, with all Israel, by Salmaneser, king of Assyria, A. M. 3283. 2. EPHRAIM was also the name of a city, into which Christ retired with his disciples a little before his passion, John xi, 54. It was situated in the tribe of Ephraim near the river Jordan. There was also the wood or forest of Ephraim, situated on the other side Jordan, in which Absalom’s army was routed and himself killed, 2 Sam. xviii, 6.