The Ephod Breastplate

Question

What exactly was the ephod? Was it only worn by the priest? And lastly, if so, Why was King David wear it? How did it work?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The Ephod was the High Priest’s breastplate. It had twelve gems on it, representing each one of the Twelve Tribes. The Midrash Agadata 28:8 explains the twelve gems and their meanings.

    Reuven’s gem was Odem, it was red and is translated as a ruby. It was chosen to laud Reuven that his face reddened with shame when he admitted sinning.
    Shimon’s gem was Pitd’a, it was green and is either an emerald or jade. It was chosen because the Shimon’s face went green with shame when he heard that Zimri, a future leader of his Tribe would sin with the Moabite princess.
    Levi’s gem was Bareket, it was multi colored and glowed like fire, it is probably a diamond. It was given to the Tribe of Levi because their
    Torah learning illuminated the entire world.
    Yehuda’s gem was Nofech, it was green and is either an emerald or jade (whichever gem Shimon isn’t). It symbolizes the shame that Yehuda felt when he was faced with his behavior towards Tamar (his daughter-in-law), but unlike Shimon Yehuda’s subsequent behavior proved that he overcame his shame.
    Yissachar’s gem was Sapir, it was blue and is a sapphire. The Two Tablets of Stone were carved out of Sapphire and it was chosen as Yissachar’s stone to show their mastery over the Torah.
    Zevulun’s gem was Yahalom, it was white and is a diamond. The Yahalom is “white” (i.e. transparent), the merchants used to sit in white chairs. this was very apt for Zevulun as they were very successful merchants who used their wealth to support Yissachar in learning Torah.
    Dan’s gem was a Leshem, it was a type of diamond that showed a man upside down. It represented the fact that Dan was the Tribe who introduced idol worship.
    Naftali’s gem was a Shevo, there seems to be no description of it.
    Gad’s gem was Achlama, ditto.
    Asher’s gem was Tarshish, it was a yellow diamond. The color yellow was a reminder of the huge amounts of olive oil that was found in Asher’s land.
    Yosef’s gem was a Shoham, it had a clear color and was a diamond. It represented Yosef because it is written with the same letters that spell out the Name of G-d. Yosef found special grace in G-d’s Eyes which allowed him to reach the heights that he did.
    Binyamin’s gem was a Yashpe and it was multi-colored.

    The Ephod was worn by the High Priest and it was used to try and decipher God’s Will. When the Jewish People were unsure as to what God wanted from them they would ask a question to the Ephod and the stones on the breastplate would light up. Each stone had letters etched into it and it was the task of the High Priest to work out which letters were being used and in which order they needed to be read in.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team