Exodus 28:9
in Exodus 28Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
KJV
And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
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This verse in Exodus 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The ephod was fastened by a girdle of the same costly materials, that is, dyed, embroidered, and wrought with threads of gold. It was about a handbreadth wide and wound twice round the upper part of the waist; it fastened in front, the ends hanging down at great length (Re 1:13).
This site's exposition
take two onyx stones, and grave on them
on Exodus 28:9-12
Two onyx stones carry the twelve names, six to a stone, ordered according to their birth. Aaron wears them on his shoulders, which is where a load is carried, and the text calls them stones of memorial. Matthew Henry and Sir Robert Anderson read the shoulders here and the heart at verse 29 together as a figure of Christ carrying his people, and Hebrews 9:11-12 speaks of the high priest entering the holy place once for all.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
As a symbol of this, the High Priest had two stones on his ephod: one on the right side and the other on the left. And on these were written the twelve names of the sons of Israel: six names on one stone and six …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And thou shall take two onyx stones,.... called from the colour of a man's nail, which they to resemble: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call them stones of beryl, and so the Syriac version; the Septuagint, stones of emerald, and the Arabic version, crystal stones: but, according to Josephus (x), they were sardonyx stones, and in which Brannius (y) thinks he was right: and grave on them the names of the children of Israel; the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, six on one stone and six on the other, as often mentioned, for which onyx stones are very fit; and they must be very large to have so many letters graved upon them; for there is no reason to believe the initial letters of their names only were engraved, but their whole names at length.
Righteousness is the girdle of his loins ( Isa. xi. 6 ), and should be of ours, Eph. vi. He is girt with strength for the work of our salvation, and is ready for it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Two onyx stones - See Clarke on Exo 25:7 (note).
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלָ֣קַחְתָּ֔ | velakachta | and you will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁתֵּ֖י | shetei | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| אַבְנֵי־ | ʾavnei- | stones of | H68 → | 273 times |
| שֹׁ֑הַם | shoham | onyx | H7718 → | 11 times |
| וּפִתַּחְתָּ֣ | ufitachta | and you will engrave | H6605 → | 144 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁמ֖וֹת | shemot | [the] names of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וְלָ֣קַחְתָּ֔and you will take
velakachtaH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁתֵּ֖יtwo
sheteiH8147 →768 times
אַבְנֵי־stones of
ʾavnei-H68 →273 times
שֹׁ֑הַםonyx
shohamH7718 →11 times
וּפִתַּחְתָּ֣and you will engrave
ufitachtaH6605 →144 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֔םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
שְׁמ֖וֹת[the] names of
shemotH8034 →864 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:15
From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you.
- Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Ezekiel 27:16
Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.
- Isaiah 54:11–12
“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Ezekiel 28:15
Through
Job 28:16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:13
You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 28:13
Through
Exodus 28:36You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.
it leads to
- Leviticus 8:9
Moses also put the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the LORD had commanded him.
- Zechariah 14:20
On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the sprinkling bowls before the…
- Leviticus 8:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.