Texts in Conversation
In Exodus, bells are described hanging from the robe of the high priest. In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin interprets their sound as the preaching of the apostles, connecting the priestly robe with the spread of the message of Jesus.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 28:33–35
Hebrew Bible
31 “You are to make the robe of the ephod completely blue. 32 There is to be an opening in its top in the center of it, with an edge all around the opening, the work of a weaver, like the opening of a collar, so that it cannot be torn. 33 You are to make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet all around its hem and bells of gold between them all around. 34 The pattern is to be a gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe. 35 The robe is to be on Aaron as he ministers, and his sound will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he leaves, so that he does not die.
Date: 5th century BCE (final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 42.1
Early Christian
1 “Moreover, the instruction that twelve bells be attached to the high priest’s [robe], which hung down to the feet, was a symbol of the twelve apostles, who hang from the power of Christ, the eternal Priest; and it is through their voice that the whole earth has been filled with the glory and grace of God and of His Christ. That is why David also says: ‘Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’ 2 And Isaiah speaks as if in the person of the apostles, when they say to Christ that it is not their own report that people believe, but the power of Him who sent them. So he says: ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have preached before Him as if [He were] a child, as if a root in a dry ground.’ (And the rest of the prophecy already quoted, in order.)
Date: 155–160 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... Foreshadowed in type by the twelve bells which belonged to Aaron’s robe
(Exod. 28: 33), these twelve men became the conduit for the advance of
divine glory and grace in the world (‘the twelve apostles, who depend on
the power of Christ, the eternal Priest, through whose voice the whole earth
has been filled with the glory and grace of God and his Christ’, Dial. 42. 1),
in fulfilment of Psalm 19: 4, ‘Their sound has gone forth into all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world’. The prophets often spoke as if
‘personating’ Christ. But according to Justin, Isaiah also spoke as if person-
ating the apostles, when he said, ‘Lord, who hath believed our report? And
to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?’ (Dial. 42. 2) ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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