Hebrew word · H642

אֲפֻדָּה

'afudato

ephod

The ʾēfôd was a sacred garment, apron-like or wrap-like, worn by priests. In Exodus it is the high priest's richly woven vestment, with shoulder pieces and a waistband, and the breastpiece holding the Urim and Thummim was tied to it.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) ephod

1a) priestly garment, shoulder-cape or mantle, outer garment

1a1) worn by an ordinary priest and made of white stuff

1a2) worn by the high priest-more costly, woven of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and linen threads provided with shoulder-pieces and a breast piece of like material, ornamented with gems and gold

1b) a metallic covering for idols, a plating over

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 39:5

Range of meaning

The ʾēfôd was a sacred garment, apron-like or wrap-like, worn by priests. In Exodus it is the high priest's richly woven vestment, with shoulder pieces and a waistband, and the breastpiece holding the Urim and Thummim was tied to it. Elsewhere a plain 'linen ephod' is worn by ordinary priests and by Samuel and David (1 Samuel 2:18; 2 Samuel 6:14). In Judges 8:27 and 17:5 an 'ephod' is an object used for consulting the deity. The feminine form ʾăfuddāh appears only in Exodus 28:8; 39:5 and Isaiah 30:22, where it means the gold 'plating' or 'sheathing' on an idol.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate it as 'ephod', which tells a reader nothing. 'Its ephod' (BSB, WEB) or 'his ephod' (KJV, YLT) reflect the suffix.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 30:22 suggests the root idea is a fitted covering. Ancient Near Eastern texts describe costly garments draped on divine statues (the 'golden garments of the gods' studied by A. L. Oppenheim). This has led some scholars to see the ephod as originally a cultic covering.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 28:8 אֲפֻדָּתוֹ֙ ephod its

    And the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod must be of one piece, of the same workmanship—with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.

  2. Exodus 39:5 אֲפֻדָּת֜וֹ ephod its

    And the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod was of one piece with the ephod, of the same workmanship—with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

    Here: A rare feminine form related to ʾēfôd, 'ephod', with the suffix 'his/its'. It names the ephod itself, or its fitted 'covering' or binding, the high priest's apron-like vestment the band belongs to.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:22 אֲפֻדַּ֖ת [the] sheathing of

    So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

    Here: A close cousin of 'ephod' that here means the gold casing or sheath around a cast image, parallel to 'overlay' in the first line. It may also hint at the ephod as an idolatrous cult object (Judg 8:27; 17:5).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.