18 replies to this topic

[Adanac]

Why did the High Priest have bells and pomegranates on the hem of his robe?

[Keturah]

Adanac, on Nov 29 2004, 02:04 PM, said:

Why did the High Priest have bells and pomegranates on the hem of his robe?

I'm glad you asked. I can't tell you much about the bells (except that they were to remind the priest that he was approaching the presence of God) but I can tell you a bit about the pomegrantates.

First things to ask yourself-

-What was the color of the embroidery of the pomegranates? Do the colors signify anything in particular?
-What is the color and physical characteristics (inside and out) of the pomegranate? (Google its image if you don't know)
-Are the seeds healthful or toxic?
-Where else is the pomegranate mentioned in the Bible? Does it have a special symbolism?
-When are the pomegranates harvested and is there a connection between the harvest and a particular Jewish high holy day?
-After thinking about all of these, take your mind back to the Garden of Eden. Does this tree have any special significance?

The pomegranate is a fascinating study. Let me know what you come up with. If you don't have time, I'll post what I have come up with. I'm doing a personal study of the plants of the Bible and their spiritual significance. It is mind blowing what the scriptures reveal...

[Keturah]

Oh yeah, look up the meaning in hebrew for 'pomegranate' then look up the meaning in hebrew for 'apple'. What an eye opener! Lots and lots of echos...

[Adanac]

Well the root word for pomegranate would seem to be "to exalt" and the root of apple "to breathe out".

Any chance I can have a butcher's at your notes Keturah?

[Keturah]

To give some background of the pomegranate...

Physical description:


The pomegranate is a low growing shrubby tree that can reach with age 20-30 feet tall and wide. It is long lived with records of specimens lasting over two centuries. The spiny branches have a suckered growth pattern. It has bright green glossy leaves with very showy coral red flowers. Large fruits filled with hundreds of blood red juicy seeds form and are ready for harvest in 5-7 months. In fall after the harvest, the leaves turn a vibrant yellow as if a burning bush and then drop for the winter.

The pomegranate is a refreshing delicacy for those in a thirsty hot land. The seeds are eaten directly or crushed to extract their sweet-tart juice. It is one of the most labor intensive fruits to consume.

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-What was the color of the embroidery of the pomegranates?  Do the colors signify anything in particular?

They were colored blue, purple and scarlet bringing to mind the image of salvation and royalty. Keep in mind for later.

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-What is the color and physical characteristics (inside and out) of the pomegranate? (Google its image if you don't know)

The white multitudenous seeds are clothed in red all within the red fruit...

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-Are the seeds healthful or toxic?

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Adel A. Kader, Ph.D., Professor of Postharvest Physiology, Department of Pomology at the University of California, has conducted research on the phytochemical profile of pomegranates, and states that "our research indicates that the total antioxidant capacity of 100 ml of pomegranate juice is two to three times that of 100 ml of red wine and of 100 ml of green tea. This is due to the higher polyphenols content of pomegranates." A recently published article, "Antioxidant and eicosanoid enzyme inhibition properties of pomegranate seed oil and fermented juice flavonoids," conducted at Israel's Institute of Technology (J Ethnopharmacol, July 1999) indicates that pomegranates contain flavonoids that are more concentrated than those found in grapes. Researchers examined the enzyme inhibition properties of pomegranate fermented juice and seed oil. The pomegranate fermented juice and cold-pressed seed oil showed strong antioxidant activity close to that of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and green tea, and significantly greater than that of red wine. The investigators showed that pomegranate seed polyphenols possess potent antioxidant and most likely cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory effects as well. If consumed daily over a long period of time, the powerful antioxidants in pomegranates may help to combat cancer, and may also prevent hardening of the arteries. Other studies show that pomegranate seeds contain a number of flavonoids, including isoflavones with estrogenic capabilities. Flavonoids are part of a wide class of polyphenolic compounds that posses an impressive array of pharmacological activities. Researchers in England are studying the possibility of developing a virucide from pomegranates as a protective anti-viral agent against HIV. In India, a preliminary study screening for antimicrobial activities of pomegranate seeds shows them to have potent antimicrobial activities against laboratory test organisms Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. While more studies are needed to further investigate the nutritional power of pomegranates, the nutritional significance of this ancient fruit is just beginning to emerge.

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-Where else is the pomegranate mentioned in the Bible? 

Notable scriptural references:

Exodus 28:33 – on the hem of the priest’s blue robe, colored blue, purple and scarlet
Numbers 13:23 – spies brought back pomegranates from the land of Canaan
Deuteronomy 8:8 – one of the choice produce of the promised land
I Kings 7:18 – bronze decoration in the capitals of the Temple’s pillars
Song of Solomon 4:3 – beauty
Song of Solomon 4:13, 6:11, 7:12 – choice tree in ‘the garden’
Joel 1:12 – prosperity (trees of the field) dried up
Haggai 2:19 – ‘Is the seed still in the barn?’ – not fruited yet

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Does it have a special symbolism?

Land of Israel, multitudinous seed, fertility

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-When are the pomegranates harvested and is there a connection between the harvest and a particular Jewish high holy day?

Their harvest coincides with the Day of Atonement...

I found this interesting quote

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At Rosh Hashana, a special prayer is recited over a pomegranate.

"May it be Your will O Lord our God and the God of Our Fathers, that our good deeds will increase like the seeds of the pomegranate."


”Generally, the bloody color of the pomegranate and its juice links it to the eating of flesh. Also, because in Jewish tradition the pomegranate is linked to the Jewish people themselves, a cannibalistic image might also be conjured.”

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-After thinking about all of these, take your mind back to the Garden of Eden.  Does this tree have any special significance?

I believe it could have been the Tree of Life.
After being taken out of the Garden of Eden and faced with adversity, what could Adam and Eve see just beyond the cherubim? What was the eye-catching color and what did it represent? Think about the pomegranate’s red multitudenously seeded fruits growing amongst thorny branches and when fall arrives, the Keeper of the Garden harvests the choice fruit and then the leaves turn to fire and nothing perishable is left. Did that image give them the reassurance of their redemption and hope in the promised Seed?

[Keturah]

Adanac, on Nov 29 2004, 03:55 PM, said:

Well the root word for pomegranate would seem to be "to exalt" and the root of apple "to breathe out".

Any chance I can have a butcher's at your notes Keturah?

Yes, but look at more of the meanings together...

pomegranate:

Hebrew: rimmon from the root ramam, to rise, exalt, get up, lift up (self), mount up

apple:

Hebrew: tappuach from the root naphach, to puff, inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle, expire, blow, breath, give up, cause to lose [life], seething, snuff

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Proverbs 1

29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD ,
30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."

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Isaiah 40
…
 
6 
      A voice says, "Call out."
          Then he answered, "What shall I call out?"
        All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 
      The grass withers, the flower fades,
          When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
          Surely the people are grass.
8 
      The grass withers, the flower fades,
          But the word of our God stands forever.
…

24 
        Scarcely have they been planted,
          Scarcely have they been sown,
          Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
          But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
          And the storm carries them away like stubble.
…

29 
      He gives strength to the weary,
          And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 
      Though youths grow weary and tired,
          And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 
      Yet those who wait for the LORD
          Will gain new strength;
          They will mount up with wings like eagles,
          They will run and not get tired,
          They will walk and not become weary.

:coffee:

[Lectron]

Well deserved cup of coffee Keturah!

Most interesting set of posts

[Adanac]

Thanks K, will digest...

[Keturah]

Adanac, on Nov 29 2004, 02:04 PM, said:

Why did the High Priest have bells and pomegranates on the hem of his robe?

Just heard something interesting on the bells bit tonight at Bible class.

It was put forward that the bells could be heard from the outside of the holy of holies. When the bells would cease with their sound for an extended period of time, the people would know that the high priest was found unacceptable to God and struck dead. Jewish tradition has that a rope was tied around the ankle of the high priest so in case of this situation the dead body could be retrieved from the holy place. If this is true it is a neat contrast with Hebrews 6:19-20

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This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having beome a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

where it is exactly the opposite. Instead of having the high priest anchored to the people in case of sin resulting in death and removing the dead body from the holy of holies, we are anchored to Christ our high priest to be able to pass from this life of sin into the holy of holies.

[amitchell]

Keturah, on Feb 15 2005, 10:59 PM, said:

Adanac, on Nov 29 2004, 02:04 PM, said:

Why did the High Priest have bells and pomegranates on the hem of his robe?

Just heard something interesting on the bells bit tonight at Bible class.

It was put forward that the bells could be heard from the outside of the holy of holies. When the bells would cease with their sound for an extended period of time, the people would know that the high priest was found unacceptable to God and struck dead. Jewish tradition has that a rope was tied around the ankle of the high priest so in case of this situation the dead body could be retrieved from the holy place. If this is true it is a neat contrast with Hebrews 6:19-20

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This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having beome a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

where it is exactly the opposite. Instead of having the high priest anchored to the people in case of sin resulting in death and removing the dead body from the holy of holies, we are anchored to Christ our high priest to be able to pass from this life of sin into the holy of holies.

I think the pomegranates are a symbol of purity. As you mentioned previously, if the prient was not pure, he would be found dead - as a penalty for sin.

[Jeremy]

Don't know much about pomegranates: I've seen them growing, and they're about the most time-consuming food in the world to eat! But bells: maybe for the sake of those outside at the tabernacle door. The bells tingling would serve as a reminder that their high priest was on duty on the presence of God, working for their redemption. I think it's a beautiful illustration of what Christ is doing for us now.

It seems to link in with another verse in Hebrews too:

Heb. 9 v 28
"...and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Like the faithful waited at the tabernacle door for the high priest to emerge and pronounce them forgiven (uttering the words of the priestly blessing, Num. 6?), so we wait for the signs that our high priest is about to reappear too.

Nice thoughts.

[Solace]

This is most interesting. My curiosity of pomegranates in the bible brought me to this thread, and I was intreeged so I joined the forum. I hope i'll learn other things here.

[Matt Smith]

Solace, on May 30 2009, 10:50 AM, said:

This is most interesting. My curiosity of pomegranates in the bible brought me to this thread, and I was intreeged so I joined the forum. I hope i'll learn other things here.

You might find this interesting...

[canlam]

I read all of these posts; extremely intersting! One thing that came to mind is this: The 613 seeds found with in the pomegranate represtents the 613 commandments in 1st five books of the Old Testament, which is "the law". (2 given directly by G-d Himself in first person, and 611 given by Moses in third person.) We know that the 613 commandments are the law. The law condemns us, even tho now we live under the period of grace. So it's interesting to think that if the Tree of Good and Evil was indeed a pomegranate tree and that they ate a pomegrante (forbidden fruit)that by eating, sin was revealed. The law reveals "good and evil", if we didn't have the law, we wouldn't know sin, or that we were breaking the law. So by partaking in the "fruit of the law" their eyes were opened and "they knew they were naked." And by Scripture we know that the knowledge of good and evil is indeed the law itself. Just a thought...

[Richie]

There are 613 seeds in every pomegranate?

[Mark]

It seems that people have done research into the number of seeds found in pomegranates - here.

[orthotomeo]

To comment on an earlier note, the High Priest on the day of atonement was only wearing white when he entered into the most holy. He would not have worn the garment with bells and pomegranates. It could represent his daily work, but not that of the reconciliation for the sins of the people for that year.