Breastplate (High Priest)

Biblical Text and Content

Instructions for making the breastplate appear in Exodus 28:15-30, and the account of its actual construction is in Exodus 39:8-21. In Leviticus 8:8, Moses puts the breastplate on Aaron at his consecration and places the Urim and Thummim in it. The Korean Revised Version calls it the breastplate of judgment.

The text describes its form and materials as follows:

• Materials: Skillfully woven in the same manner as the ephod, of gold thread; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine twined linen.
• Shape: A square of fabric folded double, one span long and one span wide.
• Stones: Twelve gemstones in four rows of three, each mounted in a gold setting. One of the names of the sons of Israel is engraved on each stone, in the manner of engraving a signet.
• Fastening: It is attached to the shoulder pieces of the ephod with gold chains and gold rings and tied to the ephod with a blue cord so that the breastplate does not come loose (Exodus 28:28).

The Korean Revised Version renders the names of the stones, from the first row onward, approximately as follows in English: ruby, topaz, and emerald; garnet, sapphire, and carnelian; amber, white agate, and amethyst; beryl, onyx, and jasper.

Background and Terminology

The Hebrew term is ḥōšen, and its etymology is uncertain. The word translated "judgment" is mišpāṭ, meaning judgment or justice. Which modern minerals correspond to the twelve stones is uncertain, and for this reason the names of the stones differ from one translation to another.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The text itself states the meaning of the breastplate. Aaron is to bear the names of the children of Israel upon his heart when he goes into the holy place, "for a memorial before the LORD continually" (Exodus 28:29). He is also to bear the Urim and Thummim and "the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart" (Exodus 28:30). The breastplate thus shows that the high priest stands before God as the representative of the whole people.

The New Testament does not mention the breastplate directly. However, Hebrews presents Jesus as "a great high priest" (Hebrews 4:14-16). Many Christian interpreters therefore read the breastplate as a shadow prefiguring Christ, who bears his people upon his heart and stands before God on their behalf. The twelve foundation stones of the wall of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:19-20 are also frequently compared with the stones of the breastplate, although the names in the two lists overlap only in part.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Order of the names: The names on the stones of the ephod's shoulder pieces are to be engraved "according to their birth" (Exodus 28:10). Because no order is specified for the names on the breastplate, interpretations differ.
• How the Urim and Thummim worked: The text does not explain how they were used. Accounts that the stones of the breastplate shone or that letters appeared on them to reveal God's will come from Josephus and later Jewish tradition; they are not found in the biblical text.
• Typological interpretation: This approach reads Old Testament institutions as types pointing to Christ and is widely used in Reformed and evangelical preaching. Some scholars, by contrast, regard the text solely as a historical record of ancient priestly vestments.
• Distinction from the soldier's breastplate: The "breastplate of righteousness" in Ephesians 6:10-18 is rendered in Korean Bibles with a different term, referring to a piece of a soldier's armor. Because English Bibles often translate both as "breastplate," the two are easily confused.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, the passage in which the high priest bears the names of the people upon his heart is sometimes connected with intercessory prayer, the proper disposition of pastors, and Christ's intercessory ministry. The breastplate is also covered in Bible studies on the tabernacle and the priestly garments.