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Six names will be on each stone, arranged in the order of the births of the original sons of Israel.
Exodus 28:10 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth.
  • KJV Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.
  • BSB six of their names on one stone and the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth.
  • NKJV six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth.
  • NASB six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, according to their birth.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The names of Israel's twelve tribes were engraved on two onyx stones, six per stone, in the order of the sons' birth. This made the high priest a bearer of the whole nation before God.

Overview

These shoulder stones on the ephod carried the tribal names in birth order, so that no tribe was favored or forgotten. The high priest thus represented all Israel as he ministered. This foreshadows Christ, our great High Priest, who carries his people before the Father (Heb. 7:25).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Exod 1:1–4Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):
  • Gen 43:33They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 28:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 28:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.