4. Thesuperhumerale
BOOK THREE
THESUPERHUMERALE
28:6 And they shall make the superhumerale of gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, variegated with embroidery work. Since it is customary for us to cany burdens on our shoulders, what is being represented by the superhumerale of the high priest unless it is the labours of good works which he ought to bear continually before the Lord? And aptly does the commandment concerning the making of the superhumerale stand in the first place, becausc when anyone is to be promoted to the priesthood and to ministry for God's people, his works should first be examined, so that while what is on the outside and evident to human view is seen to be blameless, at the same time the integrity of his heart and the sincerity of his faith may also receive appropriate scrutiny.
Consequently, let us take the superhumerale whch the high priest bore on his shoulders as that burden of which the Lord speaks in the gospel, 'For my yoke is pleasant# and my burden is light; elsewhere he commended this to us more plainly, saying, 'Isany want to come aJer me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
,2 Now the same superhumerale is made of gold and blue and purple and scarlet twice dyed and fine twisted linen. [It is made] ofgold, so that in the vesture of the priest the understanding of wisdom might be conspicuous in thejrst place before everything else. To (gold] there is added blue, which is resplendent with the colour of air, so that in each thing that he penetrates with his understanding he will be motivatednot by approbationfi.oni below but by the love of heavenly things, lest while he is foolishly feeding on his own praises he should be emptied even of his understanding of the truth itse5 Andpurple ismixedwith thegoldandthe blue so that the priest, while he has hope in his own heart for the heavenly things that he is preaching, may also repress in himselfeven the intimations of vice and oppose them as ifwith royal power, inasmuch as he is alwqs regarding the nobility of his inner regeneration andprotecting it by clothing himselfin the habits of a heavenly kingdom3 However, as we have said above,4 the colour purple can also be understood as the spilling of one's blood for Christ, or as the enduxance of various afflictions; for it is the very cross that we who follow the Lord are ordered to bear daily. Hence rightly does the appearance of (991 ~~ 1 Matt. 11:30
2 Matt. 16124
3 Gregory the Great, Reg. past. 2, 3 (SC 381: 184.43-53) 4 Bede, De tub. 1.3; 2.2; 2,9 (CCSL 119A: 11,247-8; 46, 154-60; 74, 1265-6)
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
such [a colour] shine among the others on the shoulder of the priest, that it may teach him to be always prepared to suffer adversities.
Now to gold ond blue and purple there is added scarlet twice dyed, that all good [works] of virtue may be adorned with charity before the eyes of the inner Judge. As all [the vestments] appear before humans with a reddish hue, so does [charity] burn with the inner flame oflove in the sight ofthe secret Judge. Surely this charity that loves both God and neighbour shines as ifwith a double dyeing.
But when the mind has been directed toward the precepts ofcharity, doubtless it still remainsfor the flesh to be soflened through abstinence.
Hence fine twisted linen is also added to the scarlet twice dyed; since fine linen comesporn the earth and its appearance is radiant, what could be designated by fine linen except chastity, which glows with the beauty of bodily purity? When it has been twisted, fine linen] is joined to the beauty of the superhunierale, because chastity is then brought to the per ect brightness ofpurity when the flesh is made weary through abstinence.
Perhaps it is not unsuitable to say of scarlet, which shines with the appearance of fire, that it was also commanded to be made twice dyed because it is characteristic of fire to possess a double power, namely, of burning and of giving light. Surely it is fitting for one who presides to imitate the nature [of fire] when [administering] the word of saving doctrine, taking care both to disclose the light of knowledge to those who desire
[that word] and by reproving the rust of sins to bum it up in those who despise [that word]. For when he expounds to his hearers the sweetest secrets of the Scriptures, whether they be the miracles or the parables of the Lord in the gospels, it is as if he is showing the brightness of light in his vesture; and when he strikes out in order [to save] the life of those who are haughty by reminding them of eternal vengeance, it is as if he is showing the terror of the devouring flame to those who are looking at him. Anyone spealung a word to the people should not apply himself solely to rebuking the offenses of the wicked, for he may be listened to less willingly if he is only arguing about the reproof of sins. Nor should he apply himself solely to laying open the secrets of the Scriptures, for if he is only disclosing hidden mysteries he may be less helpful to those whom he ought to reprove.
But when he tempers his speech with both, by explaining the sweetness of heavenly secrets to his hearers and by also urging the reproof of their behaviour, through which they are enabled to become partakers of those
(loo] ~ 1 Gregory the Great, Reg. past., 2,3 (SC 381: 186,63-9) 2 Ibid. (SC 381: 186,73-81)
BOOK THREE
[secrets], it is as ifthe hgh priest is displaying in his vesture the splendour of scarlet twice dyed.
28:7 It shall have two borders attached at the top on either side, so that they may be joined together. Here is what is said later on concerning this subject: He made then a superhumerale ofgoIcl9 blue, andpurple, and a little further on: And two borders were joined to one another at the top on either From this it appears to have been the case that the borders of two pieces were joined together fmm top to bottom on both sides into a doubled garment, in such a way that half of the garment would be visible to the eyes of those looking at it from the outside while the other half would be concealed on the inside, but the joined borders of the two would come all the way down to the lowest point below. What else are we to understand by means of thls type, except that while we are displaying good works on the outside before our neighbours, we must keep them unblemished on the inside before the Lord? For we must never let the innocence of a pure thought be followed by a pious action that is less than perfect; nor should we let the apparent perfection of a work be left to some extent in the lurch, abandoned by a relatively imperfect intention in the mind. But it is as if the two borders of the superhumerale are joined together with one anothcr, when all the good things that we show on the outside are being performed on the inside with the pure and simple intention of pleasing God. And this is to be on both sides of the superhumerale, so that we may serve our Creator in the midst of both adversity and prosperity, with our actions always in harmony with our thoughts. For surely the smaller border falls short of the wider one and they arc unable to meet due to the difference in thcir measurements if, when externally we appear to be doing good for the sake of an eternal reward, in the inner recesses of our mind we are entangled with the intention of pleasing people, and seek the rewards of human favour rather than those of invisible life.
28:s Its weaving also and all the variety of its workmanship shall be of gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and tine twisted linen. There was not supposed to be gold in one part of the superhumcrale, blue in another, and various other colours in still other parts, but when they were woven together with the gold also, all the colours were doubtless meant to be throughout. For in the activity of a priest, none of the great virtues should ever be left off, even for an hour, but the priest or teacher of the faithful should always be luminous with the gold of wisdom; he should always be lifted up to higher things with the blue of hope; he should always
1 Exod. 39:2
2 Exod. 39:4
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
[I 011 be courageous against the onslaughts of vices with the purple of a heavenly kingdom; he should always be inflamed with the scarlet twice dyed of a double love [of God and neighbour]; he should always be shining with the fine twisted linen of flesh that has been kept under restraint.
28:9-12 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six names on one stone, and the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth. With the workmanship of an engraver and the carving of a jeweller, you shall engrave them with the names of the sons of Israel, in gold and encircled, and you shall put them on both sides of the superhumerale as a memorial for the sons of Israel. There were three reasons why Aaron always bore the names of the patriarchs on his shoulders and also on his breast during the sacrifices: so that he himself might remember to imitate the faith and life of the partriarch; so that in his prayers and sacrifices he might retain the memory of the twelve tribes that were descended from them; and so that the people themselves, when they saw the names of the fathers written on the vesture of the one who presided over them, might take painstaking care lest they should depart from [the fathers'] merits and turn away to the filthiness of error. For this is what it means when it says, And you shall put them on both sides of the superhumerale as a memorial for the sons of Israel.
Even now, the high priest wears the names of the patriarchs on his superhumerale when, in everything that he does, anyone who teaches or presides in the Church reflecting on the deeds of the fathers who went before him is eager to conduct his life in imitation of them, and to bear the burden of evangelical perfection.
Aptly were the names of these fathers commanded to be engraved on precious stones, for the deeds of spiritual virtues are precious stones. The priest has on his shoulders precious stones upon which the names of the fathers have been inscribed when he is himself admired by everyone for the radiance of his good works, and when he teaches them that this same radiance is not a new discovery of h s own but has rather been handed down to him on the authority of the ancient fathers. And there are two reasons why he carries them on his shoulders: so that he himself may make progress by humbly subjecting himself to the precepts of the Lord, and so that he may always be holding out heavenly models for his hearers to follow, whether his own or those of the fathers.
Aptly also are the same stones commanded to be set in gold and encircled.
For gold suggests either the understanding, as we said above,' or else charity, because just as gold is superior to other metals, so is charity superior
1 Bede, De. tab. 1 (CCSL 119A: IS, 420-1; 23,710-13; 24,774-6)
BOOK THREE
to the other virtues. The precious stones are set in gold and encircled when the exercise of virtues is surveyed' all around in every direction by an understanding of such great purity that there is no defect in them thit shall escape detection, no foulness in them that shall remain, and when these same virtues are held together by the bond of charity in such a way that by no mutability of circumstances can those virtues fall from their place, or slip away from his characte? because he has become sluggish about keeping guard over his mind. And there properly follows:
[I021 28: 12 And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on both of his shoulders for remembrance. Surely the priest bears the names of the fathers upon both of his shoulders for remembrance when at every hour, both in adversity and in prosperity, as he is diligently pondering the life of the saints who have gone before, he is alwaysprotected by the ornanrent of virtues, striving only aJer those things that lie ahead and walking (in accordance with Paul Spronouncementj 'with the arniour of righteousness on the right hand and on the leJ ', that he may not he deflected on either side to base pleasure.
28: 13-14 You shall also make hooks of gold, and two little chains of the purest gold, linked to one another; these you shall put into the hooks. It says that the craftsman was to affix the hooks on the top comers of the superhumerale, and it adds that the little chains were not on the superhumerale itself but rather on the rational, that is, on its uppermost edges. They seem to have been connected by golden rings, so that when the high priest got dressed the little chains that hung down from the rational could be connected with the hooks of the superhumerale; in this way, they were linked together with one another and held firmly in place. For it is written more clearly farther on: They inn& on the rational little chains that were linked with one another, of the purest gold, and two hooks, and as nrany rings of gold. Then on either side of the rational they put the rings; from these hung the two golden chains, which the put into the hooks that 4"
protruded from the edges of the superhumerale. But it will be better to discuss the figure of these things in the csposition of the ntional.
1 crrcumspicrlur, Bede plays this off the word circurndafos ('encircled') used in his quotation of Exod. 28: 1 1.
2 de habrtu; habrfrcs can mean 'attire' as well as 'character' or 'condition'.
3 Gregory the Great, Reg. past. 2, 3 (SC 381: 182, 30-3); quoting from 2 Cor. 6:7.
4 Exod. 39:15-17