BREAST-PLATE

BREAST-PLATE, in Jewish Antiquity, a part of the vestment of the high priest. It was ten inches square, and consisted of a doubled piece of the same rich stuff of which the ephod was made; and it was set with twelve precious stones, on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes. They were divided from one another by little golden squares or partitions, in which they were set. The names of these stones, and those of the tribes engraved on them, as also of their disposition on the breast-plate, were as follows:

The breast-plate was fastened at the four corners; above, to each shoulder by a golden hook or ring at the end of a wreathed chain; and below, to the girdle of the phod, by two strings or ribbons, which had likewise two rings and hooks. This ornament was never to be severed from the priestly garment; and it was called the Memorial, to remind the high priest how dear those tribes ought to be to him, whose names he wore on his breast. It is also called the Breast-plate of Judgment, because it had the divine oracle of Urim and Thummim annexed to it.