Home › The High Priest's Breastplate › The High Priest's Breastplate: Aaron

The High Priest's Breastplate: Aaron

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: (Flavii Josephi, "De Antiq. Jud.," lib. iii, cap. viii, 9; Opera, ed. Dindorf, Parisiis, 1845, vol. i.) From the stones which the high-priest wore (these were sardonyxes, 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 certainly 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 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.

This writer, who must have seen the high-priest wearing his elaborate vestments, says that the breastplate was adorned "with twelve stones of exceptional size and beauty, a decoration not easily to be acquired, on account of its enormous value. ("Ant. Jud.," lib. iii, cap. vii, 5, Flavii Josephi Opera, Basileae, 1544.) However these gems were not merely rare and costly; they also possessed wonderful and miraculous powers. Writing about 400 A.D., St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia, tells of a marvellous adamas which was worn on the breast of the high-priest, who showed himself to the people, arrayed in all his gorgeous vestments, at the feasts of Pascha, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. This adamas was termed the or "Declaration," because, by its appearance, it announced to the people the fate that God had in store for them. If the people were sinful and disobedient, the stone assumed a dusky hue, which portended death by disease, or else it became the color of blood, signifying that the people would be slain by the sword. If, however, the stone shone like the driven snow, then the people recognized that they had not sinned, and hastened to celebrate the festival. (Sancti Patri Epiphanii, "De XII Gemmis," Tiguri, 1566, ff. 12-14. Edited by Conrad Gesner from a unique MS. in his possession.) There seems to be little doubt that this account is nothing more than an elaboration and modification of the passage in Josephus. Evidently the (oracle) of Josephus has become the (declaration).