JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

nity in Ephesus against the vehement opposition of the local
Jews and the non-Jews who were worshipers of Artemis
(Acts 19, and the Epistle to the Ephesians). Paul disputed his
critics in the hall of Tyrannus within the city (Acts 19:9), but
the whereabouts of this location have not been discovered
during excavations at the site. With the rise of Christianity
throughout the Roman Empire, Ephesus became one of the
most important centers of the new religion. The third Ecumenical
Council was held there in 431 C.E. With the political
change during the sixth and seventh centuries in Asia Minor,
Ephesus ceased to exist. Close to the ruins of Ephesus is the
modern town of Selçuk.
Bibliography: Schuerer, Gesch, 3 (19094), 15f.; Juster, Juifs,
1 (1914), 190; E. Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire (1949), 309f.; J. Klausner,
Mi-Yeshu ad Paulus, 2 (19512), 87, 91–97. Add. Bibliography:
C. Foss, Ephesus After Antiquity (1978); R.E. Oster, A Bibliography
of Ancient Ephesus (1987); A. Bammer, Ephesos: Stadt an
Fluss und Meer (1988); E.C. Blake and A.C. Edmonds, Biblical Sites
in Turkey (1998).
[Abraham Schalit / Shimon Gibson (2nd ed.)]
EPHOD (Heb. דֹ ופֵ א). The term ephod occurs several times
in the Bible, where it appears to describe different cultic objects.
In Exodus 28 the ephod is a garment made of expensive
materials. In I Samuel 2:18; 22:18; II Samuel 6:14 the ephod is
made of linen (Heb. bad). In Judges 17:5; 18:14–20 the ephod is
mentioned along with a sculpted image (Heb pesel) of the kind
outlawed by the Decalogue. In Judges 8:24–27 Gideon makes
an ephod out of captured Midianite metals, which he sets up
(wayaşşeg) in Oprah, which Israel “whored after,” i.e., worshipped.
Another biblical form of the word ephod is ʾafuddah
(Heb. הָ ּדֻפֲ א: Ex. 28:8; 39:5; Isa. 30:22), to which the verb ʾafad
(Ex. 29:5; Lev. 8:7), with the meaning “gird” or “adorn,” is related.
In its broader sense in what appear to be early texts,
ephod includes the entire mantic instrument (e.g., I Sam. 2:28;
23:6, 9; 30:7; cf. I Sam. 21:10). It is possible that the robe worn
by the priest (see below) from which the golden bells were
suspended may also be included in the term ephod. (The bells
were necessary to alert Yahweh that the priest, and not some
intruder, was entering the sanctuary so that the priest would
not be killed for entering the holy place (Ex. 28:31–35).) Biblical
religion prohibited many forms of soothsaying and divination
by means of auguries, but did permit, side by side with
prophecy, the priestly ephod (see *Divination). Both prophecy
and the ephod were seen as a means of seeking the counsel
of God and of obtaining a revelation of His will. The technical
term for consulting the ephod and the Urim and Thummim
is “to come before the Lord” (Ex. 28:30; cf. Num. 27:21),
that is, either in the Tabernacle or before the ark (Judg. 20:27;
cf. Judg. 20:18, 23, 27; I Sam. 14:18, 41 et al.). Some biblical
references indicate that in ancient Israel use was made of an
ephod, together with *teraphim (Hos. 3:4) and a graven image,
for approaching God (Judg. 17:4–5; 18:14, 17, 20; Isa. 30:22;
cf. Judg. 8:27). The Pentateuch contains no clear description
of the shape of the ephod, nor does the Hebrew root of the
ephod
word furnish any additional clues. The Hebrew word seems
related to the Akkadian epattu, plural epadātu, which signifies
a costly garment in the Cappadocian tablets, and to Ugaritic
ʾipd (KTU 4. 707:13; 4. 780:1, 3, 4, 7 ); plural ’iptt (KTU 4. 707:11);
dual ’ipdm (KTU 1. 136:10) with the same meaning. The ephod
has an apparent analogue in Greek ependytēs (overgarment).
A similar word is found in Aquila’s translation of ephod. According
to H. Thiersch (see bibliography), the ependytēs originated
in Syria, spreading from there through Asia Minor and
Greece. But while correct about the Oriental origin of the
ependytēs and its physical resemblance to the ephod, Tiersch
seems to have erred about the cultic use of the Greek garment.
It seems instead to have served as a luxury item for Orientalizing
Greeks. (See Muller in Bibliography.) The pentateuchal
ephod was engraved with the names of the Twelve Tribes, apparently
to signify the totality of the nation (Ex. 28:9–12). It is
not stated how the ephod was made in the days of the Judges
(*Gideon: Judg. 8:27; *Micah: Judg. 17:5), nor the ephod at Shiloh
(e.g., I Sam. 2:18; and Nob: ibid. 22:18), and that used in
connection with Saul’s campaign against the Philistines (ibid.
14:3). The Pentateuch contains a description of the ephod of
Aaron (Ex. 28). The most common occurrences refer to an upper
garment, the ornamented vestment which the high priest
wore over the blue robe (“the robe of the ephod”). To this he
bound the *breastplate together with the principal vehicle for
enquiring of God, the *Urim and Thummim. All of these attestations
are confined to Exodus 25, 28, 35, 39 and Leviticus
8 in settings that describe Aaron as a priest, with him and his
sons wearing breeches (Ex. 28:42), an invention of the Persian
period, and must be dated to post-exilic times. According
to this description, the ephod was an embroidered work “of
gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted
linen, worked into designs.” To its two ends were attached
two straps which fastened over the shoulders, and on each of
the shoulder straps was set a shoham stone (identification uncertain),
engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel. The
breastpiece (Heb. ḥoshen ןֶׁ שֹח) was bound to the ephod at the
top by rings and chains and at the bottom by a cord of blue,
while in the middle it was encircled by “the decorated band”
which was also made “in the style of the ephod” and of the
same combination of gold thread and four yarns. The ephod
seems to have been a square, sleeveless garment, falling from
just below the armpits to the heels (“like a sort of horsewoman’s
surcoat,” according to Rashi (to Ex. 28:6)). According
to this view, it enveloped the entire body. According to the
commentary of R. Samuel ben Meir (to Ex. 28:7), however,
the ephod enclosed the body from the waist downward, the
upper part of the body being covered by the breastpiece. Josephus
(Ant., 3:162; Wars, 5:231–236) states that the ephod had
sleeves and resembled a type of waistcoat (“the epomis” of the
Greeks – used by the LXX in translating “ephod” of the Pentateuch);
it was variegated and had “the middle of the breast
uncovered” for the insertion of the breastplate. The high priest
used the ephod along with the breastplate and the Urim and
Thummim as a means of divination. Lesser priests, as well as
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