4); he
alone is the one fully qualified priest, the embodiment of all
that is holy in Israel He alone bears the Urim and Thummim and
the Ephod; the Priestly Code indeed no longer knows what those
articles are for, and it confounds the ephod of gold with the
ephod of linen, the plated image with the priestly robe; but the
dim recollections of these serve to enhance the magical charm of
Aaron's majestic adornment. He alone may enter into the holy of
holies and there offer incense; the way at other times
inaccessible (Nehemiah vi. 10, 11) is open to him on the great day
of atonement. Only in him, at a single point and in a single
moment, has Israel immediate contact with Jehovah. The apex of
the pyramid touches heaven.
The high priest stands forth as absolutely sovereign in his own
domain. Down to the exile, as we have seen, the sanctuary was the
property of the king, and the priest was his servant; even in
Ezekiel who on the whole is labouring towards emancipation, the
prince has nevertheless a very great importance in the temple
still; to him the dues of the people are paid, and the
sacrificial expenses are in return defrayed by him.
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