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.
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.