39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal 1 with the names of the sons of Israel. 2 39:7 He put 3 them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:8 He made the breastpiece, the work of an artistic designer, in the same fashion as the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen. 39:9 It was square – they made the breastpiece doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled. 39:10 They set on it 4 four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row; 39:11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 39:12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 39:13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree settings. 39:14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of 5 their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.
1 tn Or “as seals are engraved.”
2 sn The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.
3 tn Or “attached.”
4 tn That is, they set in mountings.
5 tn The phrase “the number of” has been supplied.