Bible Strands
Exodus 28:9
Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God instructs Moses to prepare the high priest’s ephod. This directive occurs during the detailed tabernacle construction sequence that follows the ephod’s waistband description.
The words — וְלָקַחְתָּ (ve./La.kach.ta) translates literally as "and you will take," paired with שֹׁהַם (Sho.ham) for "onyx." These terms specify the exact material and the imperative action required for the stones.
The thread — Onyx appears in Genesis 2:12 as a native resource, in Ezekiel 28:13 among the gems of Eden, and in Exodus 28:20 as part of the high priest’s breastplate. These references place the stone within a broader pattern of sacred materials and divine geography.
Why it lands — The text commands the selection of two specific stones and the engraving of the twelve tribal names upon them. A reader must execute this directive by securing the materials and inscribing the names with exactness, leaving no room for substitution or omission.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
Cross-references
- 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 gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- Genesis 2:12 And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.
- Exodus 28:20 and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings.
- Exodus 28:36 You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.
- Exodus 39:6 They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel.
- Exodus 39:13 and the fourth row had a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. These stones were mounted in gold filigree settings.
- 2 Chronicles 2:7 Send me, therefore, a craftsman skilled in engraving to work with gold and silver, with bronze and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with my craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
- Job 28:16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
- Song of Solomon 8:6 Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.
- Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.