You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:
Parallel translations
- KJV And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
- BSB Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:
- NKJV “Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:
- NASB And you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,
- NLT “Take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the tribes of Israel.
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
Two onyx stones were to be engraved with the names of the sons of Israel. These would be set on the ephod's shoulders, bearing the tribes before God.
Overview
The names of Israel's tribes were engraved on onyx stones to be worn by the high priest, so the whole nation was carried into God's presence. The priest thus represented all the people before the Lord. This beautifully foreshadows Christ, who bears the names of His own before the Father, ever interceding for them (Hebrews 7:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. In the day that you were created they were prepared.
- Gen 2:12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there.
- Exod 39:6They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel.
- Isa 49:16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. your walls are continually before me.
- Exod 39:13and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings.
- Job 28:16It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- Song 8:6Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh.
- Exod 28:36“You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’
- Exod 28:20and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.
- 2 Chr 2:7“Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, in silver, in brass, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
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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 28:9 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
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