Tafsiran Keluaran 39:27: Ramban, Tur HaArokh & Rabbeinu Bahya

AND THEY MADE THE TUNICS OF FINE LINEN OF WOVEN WORK FOR AARON, AND FOR HIS SONS. It appears from here that the tunics were identical for father [Aaron] and sons. For even though in the case of the tunic made for Aaron it says, And thou shalt make the tunic of chequer-work from fine linen,²²Above, 28:39. and in speaking of those made for his sons it just says, thou shalt make tunics²³Ibid., Verse 40. [without specifying that they should be of chequer-work], the intention is: “thou shalt make tunics similar to the one mentioned.” And thus it is written, a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of chequer-work, a mitre, and a belt; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that they may minister unto Me,²⁴Ibid., Verse 4. for the expression for Aaron… and his sons refers back to the tunic of chequer-work, the mitre and the belt, which were alike for all of them. Similarly, that which Scripture says here, and the mitre of fine linen, and the beautiful head-tires, refers to those of both Aaron and his sons, since the mitznepheth (mitre) and the migba’ath (the head-tire) were made in the same way, except that Aaron wound it [around his head, fold upon fold], and his sons set them upon their heads tightly, as I have explained.²⁵Ibid., Verse 31 (towards the end) and Verse 37.

ויעשו את הכתנות שש מעשה אורג.לאהרן ולבניו, “they made the tunics of the fine linen of weaver’s work, for Aaron and his sons.” This means that these tunics and the headdresses as well as the sash for Aaron and his sons were made of the same material. The Torah, describes the sash, and the trousers as being made of שש משזר, linen woven of twisted (multiple) threads as well as blue wool, red and purple wool, something that had not been mentioned in the instructions. We must assume therefore that the difference between the two kinds of headgear מצנפת and מגבעת respectively, was not in the materials used, but in the manner in which they were worn. Moreover, when three kinds of thread, i.e. תכלת, ארגמן תולעת שני, are used, the method of combining them is known as מעשה רוקם, embroiderer’s work.

ויעשו את הכתנות שש......ואת המצנפת שש, ואת פארי המגבעות שש, ואת מכנסי הבד שש משזר. “They made the tunics of linen and the turban of linen, and the splendid headdresses of linen and the linen breeches of twisted linen.” These two verses contain the word שש meaning linen, five times, and the word בד which also means linen once, making a total of six times that the material “linen” is repeated here. Whereas the word did have to be mentioned once, the other five times it has been mentioned are meant to convey additional information, allegorical or otherwise. The sages in Yuma 71 offer a number of additional insights based on the repetitions of these words. One of the insights they offered is that בד and שש both mean “linen,” seeing that the tunic had been described as made of בד in Leviticus 16,4. The expression בד for linen describes the manner in which flax (the raw material for linen) grows out of the ground in long strands, fibers. This plant is identical to the one known as פשתים. The reason the Torah refers to it as שש, i.e. ”six” is because the strands used to weave it consist of six threads spun together. Had the word occurred only one extra time, we would have thought that though it is preferable that these strands consist of six threads each, this is not mandatory. The repetition of the word another time means that this kind of six-fold strand is mandatory.