Priestly breastplate

Jewish ritual object worn by the High Priest

"Hoshen" and "Choshen" redirect here. For the organization, see Hoshen (organization). For the rabbinic text, see Choshen Mishpat.

Ceramic replica of the High Priest's breastplate

The priestly breastplate or breastpiece of judgment (Hebrew: חֹשֶׁן ḥōšen) was a sacred breastplate worn by the High Priest of the Israelites, according to the Book of Exodus. In the biblical account, the breastplate is termed the breastplate of judgment (Hebrew: חֹשֶׁן מִשְׁפָּט ḥōšen mišpāṭ – Exodus 28:15), because the Urim and Thummim (Hebrew: הָאוּרִים וְהַתֻּמִּים hāʾūrīm wəhattummīm) were placed upon it (Exodus 28:30). These elements of the breastplate are said in the Exodus verse to carry the judgment (Hebrew: מִשְׁפָּט mišpāṭ) of God concerning the Israelites at all times.

## Hebrew Bible

[edit]

Illustration of priestly breastplate

According to the description in Exodus, this breastplate was attached to the tunic-like garment known as an ephod by gold chains/cords tied to the gold rings on the ephod's shoulder straps and by blue ribbon tied to the gold rings at the belt of the ephod.[1] The biblical description states that the breastplate was also to be made from the same material as the ephod—embroidery of 3 colors of dyed wool and linen—and was to be 1⁄3 of a cubit squared, two layers thick, and with four rows of three engraved gems embedded in gold settings upon it, one setting for each stone.[1] The description states that the square breastplate was to be formed from one rectangular piece of cloth—1⁄3 of a cubit by 2⁄3 of a cubit, folded so that it formed a pouch to contain the Urim and Thummim.

The Hebrew term for the breastplate, חֹשֶׁן‎ (ḥōšen), appears to be named from its appearance; The 19th-century German biblical scholar August Dillmann thought that it was likely to be derived from the Hebrew word חֹצֶן‎ (ḥōṣen), meaning "fold", relating to its function.[2]

According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Hoshen atoned for the sin of errors in judgment on the part of the Children of Israel.[3]

## The jewels

[edit]

Artist's conception of Jewish high priest wearing a hoshen in ancient Judah

According to the Biblical description, the twelve jewels in the breastplate were each to be made from specific minerals, none identical to another, and each of them representative of a specific tribe, whose name was to be inscribed on the stone.

According to a rabbinic tradition, the names of the twelve tribes were engraved upon the stones with what is called ‮שָׁמִיר‬‎ shamir in Hebrew, which Jewish legend explains to be a small, rare creature which could cut through the toughest surfaces.[4] According to most authorities such as Rabbi David Kimhi and Rabbi Jonah ibn Janah, shamir was a stone stronger than iron, probably emery[5][6] which finds its equivalent in the Greek, σμήρις (smeris).[7]

There are different views in classical rabbinical literature as to the order of the names; the Jerusalem Targum, for example, argued that the names appeared in the order according to which they were born. Maimonides describes the jewel stones arranged in four rows, saying that on the first stone belonging to Reuben were also engraved the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while on the last stone belonging to Benjamin were also engraved the words "the tribes of God";[8] kabbalistic writers such as Hezekiah ben Manoah and Bahya ben Asher argued that only six letters from each name were present on each stone, together with a few letters from the names of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, or from the phrase "[these are] the tribes of Jeshurun", so that there were 72 letters in total (72 being a very significant number in Kabbalistic thought).[9]

There was also a different order for the names inscribed on the two "onyx" stones on the High Priest's shoulders. One opinion suggests that the names of the twelve tribes were arranged in groups after their mothers: Leah's six sons aligned one after the other on one stone, with Judah heading this list, followed by Rachel's sons with the names of the concubines' sons interposed between the two sons of Rachel.[10]

Unfortunately, the meanings of the Hebrew names for the minerals, given by the Masoretic text, are obscure and historically subjected to dispute.[9] Several recent studies have developed a scientific methodology for identifying the jewels of the breastplate. Harrell, Hoffmeier & Williams (2017) compared the Hebrew gemstones with attested gemstones from Ancient Egypt.[11][page needed] Ayil (2024) compared the Hebrew names with names of gemstones from across the Ancient Near East, claiming to have identified 11 out of twelve with a high degree of certainty.[12][page needed]

Though the Greek names for them in the Septuagint are more apparent, some scholars believe that they cannot be wholly relied on for this matter because the Septuagint's translations are contradictory.[13] Several Greek names for various gems have changed meaning between the classical era and modern times.[9] Classical rabbinical literature argues that the names were inscribed using shamir because neither chisels nor paint nor ink were allowed to mark them out,[14][15] whereas a more naturalistic approach suggests that the jewels must have had comparatively low hardness to be engraved upon. Therefore, this gives an additional clue as to the identity of the minerals.[2]

Explanations of the symbolic meaning of the jewels generated a great deal of both Jewish and Christian writing and were a staple component of the tradition of lapidaries or books on gemology.

The names and proposed identities of the jewel stones are as follows:

### First row

[edit]

Part of a series of articles on

Priesthood in Judaism

* Kohen
* Presumption of priestly descent

Priestly covenant

Roles

* Priestly Blessing
* Redemption of the firstborn son
* Tzaraath (skin disease and mildew)
* The Torah instruction of the Kohanim
* Sacrifice
* Incense offering
* Beth din shel Kohanim
* Priestly divisions

High Priests

* Aaron
* Eleazar
* Phinehas
* Eli
* Ahimelech
* Abiathar

(First Temple)

* Zadok
* Shallum
* Hilkiah
* Jehoiada

(Second Temple)

* Joshua the High Priest
* Simeon the Just
* Ishmael ben Elisha HaKohen
* Joshua ben Gamla
* Phannias ben Samuel

Twenty-four priestly gifts

The ten gifts given in the Temple

* Sin offering
* Guilt offering
* Communal peace offering
* Fowl sin offering
* Leftovers from the suspensive guilt offering
* Oil from the offering for the leper
* Bread from First Fruits
* Showbread
* Leftovers of the meal offering
* Leftovers of the First Sheaf

Four gifts given in Jerusalem

* Firstborn animal
* First fruits
* Burnt offering
* Parts of the thank offering and Nazirite's offering

Ten gifts given (even) outside of Jerusalem

* Heave offering
* Heave offering of the Levite's tithe
* Dough offering
* First shearing of the sheep
* Foreleg, cheeks and maw
* Coins for redemption of the firstborn son
* Redemption of a donkey
* Dedication of property to a priest
* Field not redeemed in a Jubilee year
* The property of the foreigner with no heir

Priestly garments

All Priests

* Undergarments
* Tunic
* Turban
* Sash

High Priest

* Robe
* Ephod
* Frontlet
* Breastplate
* Urim and Thummim

Miscellaneous topics

* The mitzvah of sanctifying the Kohen
* Kohanic disqualifications
* Holy anointing oil
* Kahen
* Aaron's rod
* Bat-Kohen (daughter of a kohen)
* Sons of Zadok
* Contact by a kohen with a dead body
* 13 Kohanic cities

* v
* t
* e

* Odem (אֹדֶם in the Masoretic text) / Sardios (in the Septuagint) – derives from the Hebrew root meaning 'red' and probably refers to carnelian or sard, a common gemstone in classical cultures.[16] All authors agree that this stone was red.[17] A parallel semantic development occurred in the Akkadian term sāmtu ("carnelian"), which derived from sāmu (also meaning "red"), suggesting that Odem referred to carnelian. Carnelian was a common gemstone in the surrounding regions of Egypt and Mesopotamia.[18] Some modern translations translate this stone as being a ruby, however rubies were unknown in biblical times.[19]
* Pitdah (פִּטְדָה in the Masoretic text) / Topazios (in the Septuagint) – despite the suggestion of some interpreters that it was topaz, topaz was scarcely known at the time the Book of Exodus was written;[2] in the classical era, topazios always refers to peridot.[20] Peridot, a light green semi-precious stone, was found carved into two known Middle Kingdom scarabs.[21] The word pitdah is thought to be related to Greek topazios.[22]
* Bareḳet (בָּרֶקֶת in the Masoretic text, cf. בָּרְקַת) / Smaragdos (in the Septuagint) – Bareketh etymologically derives from a root meaning 'yellow-green', whence its color.[23] Smaragdos is cognate with emerald, but is somewhat of a false friend as the Greek term could apply to several different green gems, not just the emerald. Emerald in the stricter modern sense of green beryl exists locally in Egypt, but was not actively mined until the Ptolemaic period. Taking into account the implication that Bareketh was green, there is much to be said for bareḳet being green jasper.[24]

### Second row

[edit]

Interpretation of the hoshen by Robert Hindmarsh

* Nofekh (נֹפֶךְ in the Masoretic text) / Anthrax (in the Septuagint) – Nofekh appears to be a loan word from the Egyptian term mfkꜣt, referring to turquoise, a greenish-blue gemstone.[25] This mineral was most frequently mined in Egypt during the second millennium BCE at the sites of Serabit el-Khadim and Gebel Maghara in the Sinai Peninsula.[26] While Anthrax means coal (presumably here referring to the color of burning coal), the Vulgate here has carbunculus, referring to the carbuncle, which was red.[2] Philo of Alexandria, when writing about this stone, says that it was red. He seems to agree with Josephus,[27] the LXX, and the Jerusalem Targum, the latter saying that it is כדכדנא, explained by Saadia Gaon as meaning karkand, a red variety of precious stone. Exodus Rabbah and the second Jerusalem Targum favor an identification with a red gemstone, while the Babylonian Targum and first Jerusalem Targum favor it being green.[9]
* Sappir (סַפִּיר in the Masoretic text) / Sapphiros (in the Septuagint) – despite sounding like sapphire, sapphire was unknown before the era of the Roman Empire. Once sapphire became better known, it was rendered in Greek and Latin as hyacinth or of jacinth.[9] The term sappir referred to lapis lazuli, a mineral of similar color to sapphires and that the name gradually came to refer to the latter mineral on account of its color. Lapis lazuli is a stone with a deep, ocean-blue color which was frequently sent as a gift to Akhenaten from Babylon.[9][28] Theophrastus mentions the stone sapphiros as being "dark" and having the "color of verdigris", as well as being "speckled as of with gold".[29] Theophrastus' description of sapphiros fits lapis lazuli.
* Yahalom (יָהֲלֹם in the Masoretic text) / Iaspis ἴασπις (in the Septuagint) – in some other places the Septuagint instead has Beryllios where the Masoretic reads Yahalom.[2] A few scholars have suggested that Yahalom may refer to diamonds, owing to their hardness, though the ability to cut diamonds had not been discovered before the classical era.[9] The Septuagint employs the word Iaspis, which Pliny the Elder only described as referring to a category of blue-green stones composed of a great number of mineral species.[30] In the Syriac Peshitta of the sixth or seventh century (MS. B.21, Inferiore of the Ambrosian Library in Milan, Italy), the word used to describe this stone is ܢܩܥܬܐ = naq'atha,[31] a word which is sometimes transliterated into Arabic as it is pronounced in Aramaic, mainly by Arabic-speaking Christians. Bar-Ali, a 9th-century Arab author, brings down two opinions about this stone, the naq'atha, saying, by one opinion, that it is "honey-coloured", and by the other opinion that it is "turquoise, a blue-coloured stone".[32] In some versions of the Peshitta, the Aramaic word rendered for the same stone is shabzez. Other scholars have proposed a variety of quartz, especially the common milky quartz (known for its moon-like whiteness). Spanish Jewish scholar Abraham ibn Ezra says the yahalom was a white stone.

### Third row

[edit]

An 1837 illustration depicting breastplate, with the tribes and their jewels

* Lešem (לֶשֶׁם in the Masoretic text) / Ligurios (in the Septuagint) – the Hebrew name appears to be derived from Egyptian nšmt, referring to amazonite.[33][34] This etymological identification is in contrast to traditions following the Septuagint. Theophrastus mentions the fossilized pine resin, amber, called in Greek liggourrion or lyngurium,[35] as does Dioscorides and Aëtius.[36][Note 1] In Greek antiquity, this stone was believed to have been the solidified urine of lynxes, and its name a mere corruption of lykos ouron,[2] meaning white urine, presumably about its color.[38] Pliny (who did not believe the stone existed) described the ligurios as having certain electrical properties, which some scholars have taken to imply that it referred to amber.[9] Amber was one of the first items to have been discovered to have electrical properties (see Thales); the English stem electric derives from the Latin word for amber (elektrum). In the Latin Vulgate, the name was given as ligure, a Latinization invented by Flavius Josephus, and equated with lyngurium, but Luther used hyacinth (jacinth), and during the Renaissance belief in lyngurium died away.[39][Note 2] Modern scholars are inclined to think that the stone must have been similar to the pale color of natural gold (as opposed to the color known as gold);[9] The Midrash Rabba (Numbers Rabba 2:7) states that the mineral had a black color, and is there named כוחלין, meaning the antimony known as stibium. Rabbi Saadia Gaon and other medieval rabbinical commentators argued that the gem itself was an onyx (Judeo-Arabic: גזע = جَزَع), although Abraham ibn Ezra casts doubt on the accuracy of Rabbi Saadia's tradition.[40] Modern English translations use either amber or jacinth.[41]
* Ševo (שְׁבוֹ in the Masoretic text) / Achates (in the Septuagint) – ševo derives from the Akkadian term šubû, meaning agate, and achates definitely refers to a banded agate.[9][42] Agates were common in Egypt and Assyria. Isidore of Seville lists agate as being among the black gems.[43] The Midrash Rabba (Numbers 2:7) appears to argue for the jewel in question having been a grey variety.[9]
* Aḥlamah (אַחְלָמָה in the Masoretic text) / Amethystos (in the Septuagint) – Aḥlamah is derived from Egyptian ḫnmt referring to red jasper, a mineral widely attested in Egypt.[44][45] On the other hand, amethystos refers to amethyst, a purple mineral which was believed to protect against getting drunk from alcohol (amethyst's name refers to this belief, and literally translates as "not intoxicating"),[9] and was commonly used in Egypt.[2] In the Babylonian Targum, aḥlamah is translated into a term meaning strong drinking, which appears to reference beliefs about amethyst, but in the Jerusalem Targum, it is translated into a term meaning calf's eye.[9] The Midrash Rabba (Numbers Rabba 2:7), while describing the stone's color, says: "[It is] similar to clear wine whose redness is not too strong."

### Fourth row

[edit]

* Taršīš (‮תַּרְשִׁישׁ‬‎ in the Masoretic text) / Chrysolithos (in the Septuagint) – in some other places, the Septuagint instead has anthrax (meaning coal) where the Masoretic reads tarshish.[9] Taršīš is thought by most scholars to be somehow related to the place Tarshish.[9][2] Chrysolithos does not refer specifically to chrysolite, which was named much later, but is an adjective which translates as "gold-stone", meaning that it was golden.[9] As a golden material, it likely refers to amber,[9][46] or to peridot[2] (since chrysolithos could refer to peridot in the classical era). The 2nd-century Jewish translator, Symmachus, renders the word as yakinthos, meaning "jacinth", or "hyacinth".[47] There is little certainty among scholars regarding which of these is the most likely to be the jewel in question.[9]
* Šoham (שֹׁהַם in the Masoretic text) / Beryllios (in the Septuagint) – in some other places, the Septuagint instead has onychion,[Note 3] or smaragdos, or the phrase leek-green stone, where the Masoretic reads šoham;[2][Note 4] beryllios refers to beryl but earlier to the blue-green color of the sea, onychion refers to onyx, and smaragdos literally means green stone and refers to a bright columnar crystal (either beryl or rock crystal). Onyx is an opaque and banded stone, while smaragdos is translucent, and beryl is cloudy, and all these come in several colors. Onyx was apparently mined from the pre-exilic era, making it a viable candidate for šoham.[48] "Onyx" is derived from the Greek for fingernail due to the pink-white veining.[Note 5] Because existing etymologies for šoham are problematic for one reason or another, the scholar Ephraim S. Ayil suggests a possible derivation from a reconstructed Old South Arabian word *šuwahbu(m) from the root w-h-b meaning "gift".[49] According to Epiphanius’ Treatise on the Twelve Stones (Epiphanius de Gemmis), the beryl was "white like a cloud".[Note 6] Scholars point out that the Syriac form of the word is berūlā and/or belūra, the latter going back to a Pahlevi form (the old Persian tongue), and all in turn to the Sanskrit वैडूर्य = vaiḍūrya (Pali: veḷuriyaṁ), the gemstone which is called in English, "cat's eye, beryl",[50] a variety of chalcedonic quartz that has a chatoyant luster resembling the eye of a cat when cut.
* Yošfe (‮יָשְׁפֶה‬‎ in the Masoretic text, cf. יָשְׁפֵה) / Iaspis (in the Septuagint and Josephus).[Note 7] Although yošfe and iaspis are cognate to jasper, they do not quite have the same meaning; while jasper can be any color, the mineral which the Greeks called iaspis was generally a blue or green one (the most prized form of jasper), and scholars think this is most likely to be the color referred to by yošfe.[9] Since a blue chalcedony has been found bearing an Elamite inscription calling it yašpu, clearly a cognate of both yošfe and Iaspis, the biblical stone has been identified as a blue chalcedony.[51] In the Targums, where the jewel is variously identified as a ruby (which is red), as a hyacinth (which is yellow), or as an emerald (which is green).[9] In the Babylonian Talmud,[52] one opinion states that the gemstone was the same as kadkhod,[53] a stone described by Bar-Ali as being al-karkahan = الكركھن (the Baghdadi onyx), "a kind of gemstone from which they cut [smaller] stones for setting in ouches".[54] Rabbi Saadia Gaon, however, in his Judeo-Arabic translation of Isaiah,[55] translates kadkhod as karkand, a red variety of precious stone. Josephus, quoting from one version of the Septuagint, says it was a beryl.[56] Numbers Rabba 2:7 says that the stone was varicolored, meaning all of the colors combined were to be found in the yāšǝfêh.

### 12 jewels in the New Testament

[edit]

In the New Testament Book of Revelation is the description of a city wall, with each layer of stones in the wall being from a different material; in the original Koine Greek, the layers are given as iaspis, sapphiros, chalcedon, smaragdos, sardonyx, sardion, chrysolithos, beryllos, topazion, chrysoprason, yacinthos, amethystos.[57] This list appears to be based on the Septuagint's version of the list of jewels in the Breastplate – if the top half of the breastplate was rotated by 180 degrees, and the bottom half turned upside down, with Onchion additionally swapping places with Topazion, the lists become remarkably similar; there are only four differences:

* Onchion (literally onyx) has become sardonyx (red onyx)
* Anthrax has become chalcedon (literally meaning chalcedony, of which the red variety is the most common). Anthrax literally means coal, presumably the red color of burning coal.
* Ligurios has become chrysoprason. Scholars suspect that ligurios was a pale yellowish mineral, and although chrysoprase now refers to a specific gemstone which is generally apple-green in color, in earlier times it referred to gems of a yellowish leek-green, such as peridot; chrysoprase literally means golden leek.[2]
* Achates (agate) has been replaced by yacinthos (jacinth). According to classical rabbinical literature, the specific agate was of a sky-blue color, and though jacinth now refers to a red-tinted clear gem, this was not the case at the time the Book of Revelation was written, and at that time jacinth appears to have referred to a bluish gem; Pliny describes jacinth as a dull and blueish amethyst, while Solinus describes it as a clear blue tinted gem – the modern sapphire.[2]

### Pattern

[edit]

Whether there is any pattern to the choice of gemstones depends on their identity. Taking the majority view of scholars regarding the identity of the gems, and including the implication from the Book of Revelation that the onyx at the end of the fourth row was a sardonyx, there are four colors – red, green, yellow, and blue – each represented by a clear gem (red – carbuncle, green – heliodor, yellow – chrysolite, blue – amethyst), an opaque gem (red – carnelian/red jasper, green – green jasper, yellow – yellow jasper/yellow serpentine, blue – lapis lazuli), and a striped gem (red – sardonyx, green – malachite, yellow – pale golden agate, blue – sky-blue agate).[2] The four colors of red, green, yellow, and blue are the first four colors (apart from black and white) distinguished by languages and are distinguished in all cultures with at least six color distinctions (the other two being black and white).[58] These colors roughly correspond to the sensitivities of the retinal ganglion cells. (The retinal ganglia process color by positioning it within a blue to yellow range, and separately positioning it within a red to green range.)[58]

## See also

[edit]

* Ephod
* Priestly golden head plate
* Priestly robe (Judaism)
* Priestly sash
* Priestly tunic
* Priestly turban
* Priestly undergarments

### Other

[edit]

* Birthstone – Gemstones representing a person's birth month
* Gemstones in the Bible
* Lamen (magic) – Magical pendant worn around the neck
* List of inscriptions in biblical archaeology
* Twelve Stones – Stones of the Twelve Tribes of Israel

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "electrum (amber), succinum and lyncurium (ligure) are all one and the same thing."[37]
2. ^ Epiphanius, in his Treatise on the Twelve Stones (the Old Georgian version), p. 116, seems to be unsure what the Greek word lygyron actually meant in the sacred books, which stone in Hebrew is called lešem, but conjectures that perhaps it is the jacinth, a stone otherwise not mentioned anywhere in scripture. On p. 139, he voices the same conjecture by saying that the "ligure" or lešem (in Hebrew) may be the "hyacinth", i.e., a stone of a yellowish-red color, like honey; see Blake & de Vis (1934).
3. ^ cf. The Pentateuch in the Version of the Syro-Hexapla, (ed. Arthur Vööbus), in Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalum, vol. 369 (45), Louvain 1975, Folio 48 (Exo. 28:17–23), and which Syriac translation is believed to represent the Vorlage, or parent-text, of the Septuagint used by Origen to produce his Hexapla. The stone called "shoham" in Hebrew is explained as onyx.
4. ^ leek green stone appears at Genesis 2:12 in the Septuagint
5. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary, Webster's New International Dictionary (Second Edition), and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (College Edition) state that "onyx" derives from the Greek term, "onux", meaning "(finger-)nail", "claw" or onyx-stone. The connection between "nail" or "claw" and the stone is that the onyx stone is usually found with a vein of white on a pink background, like the lunula of a fingernail. There is no indication in these or other desk dictionaries that "onyx" could be derived from a word meaning "ring".
6. ^ Based on the Shatberd MS., the Old Georgian version of Epiphanius’ Treatise on the Twelve Stones. Our source for this MS. is Blake & de Vis (1934)
7. ^ Josephus twice mentions the stones of the breastplate; once in his Antiquities, and again in his Wars, but he reverses the order in the third and fourth rows.

### References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Exodus 28:15–19
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cheyne & Black (1899): "Di. rejects the probable derivation from the root ḥasuna, 'to be beautiful', and would prefer to connect it with חֹצֶן‎, sinus or 'fold' in which something is carried; cp. Ewald, Alterth. 390."
3. ^ B.Zevachim 88b
4. ^ Sifrey ṭrey ʻaṡar mefurashim, ed. Joseph Johlson, Karlsruhe 1827, s.v. Rashi on Zechariah 7:12 (Hebrew), p. 174b
5. ^ David Kimhi, Sefer HaShorashim (Michlol, part ii), Venice 1547 (Hebrew), on Zechariah 7:12 p. 426–427
6. ^ Yonah ibn Ǧanāḥ, Sefer Shorashim (Book of Roots), ed. Dr. A. Berliner, Berlin 1896, s.v. שמר (Hebrew), who explains the word by its Judeo-Arabic name, מאס, meaning "diamond".
7. ^ Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 68a; cf. Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36:54 (36:51).
8. ^ Mishne Torah (Code of Jewish Law), Hil. Kelei Ha-Mikdash, 9:7.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t  Hirsch, Emil G. (1901–1906). "GEMS". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
10. ^ Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 36a–b.
11. ^ Harrell, Hoffmeier & Williams (2017).
12. ^ Ayil (2024).
13. ^ Harrell, James A. (2011). "Old Testament Gemstones: A Philological, Geological, and Archaeological Assessment of the Septuagint". Bulletin for Biblical Research. 21 (2): 141–171\. doi:10.2307/26424638. ISSN 1065-223X. JSTOR 26424638.
14. ^ Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 68a
15. ^ Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 48b
16. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 32, 34
17. ^ cf. Bar-Bahalul, 1886, vol. ii, p. 1313
18. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 28, 30
19. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 27
20. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 41
21. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 41, 43
22. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 38–39
23. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 54
24. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 59–60
25. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 61, 64
26. ^ Harrell, Hoffmeier & Williams (2017), p. 18
27. ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, iii. vii § 5
28. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 72
29. ^ Eichholz (1965), pp. 65, 71
30. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 87
31. ^ The Old Testament in Syriac (According to the Peshitta Version), Part I, Leiden E. J. Brill 1977, p. 183.
32. ^ Gottheil (1908), p. 95
33. ^ Harrell, Hoffmeier & Williams (2017), pp. 22–23
34. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 87
35. ^ Eichholz (1965), pp. 68–69
36. ^ Dioscorides, Materia Medica 2:100
37. ^ Aëtius of Amida, Sixteen Books on Medicine (Aetii Medici Graeci Contractae ex Veteribus Medicinae Sermones XVI), 2.34
38. ^ Walton (2001), pp. 364–365
39. ^ Walton (2001), pp. 371, 375–378
40. ^ Abraham ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Penteuch, Genesis 2:11.
41. ^ Walton (2001), p. 371
42. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 95
43. ^ Isidore of Seville, The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (ch. XVI on Stones and Metals), ed. Barney, Lewis, Beach & Berghof, Cambridge University Press 2006, p. 325
44. ^ Harrell, Hoffmeier & Williams (2017), p. 24
45. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 96
46. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 106
47. ^ Field (1875), s.v. Exo. 28:20.
48. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 117, 123
49. ^ Ayil (2024), p. 121
50. ^ Blake & de Vis (1934)
51. ^ Ayil (2024), pp. 128–129, 133
52. ^ Baba Bathra 75a
53. ^ q.v. Isaiah 54:12
54. ^ Gottheil (1908), p. 367
55. ^ Isaiah 54:12
56. ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, iii.vii § 5
57. ^ Revelation 21:19–20 (Nestle-Aland edition)
58. ^ a b Berlin & Kay (1969)

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Ayil, Ephraim S. (2024). Identifying the Stones of Classical Hebrew: A Modern Philological Approach. Ancient Languages and Civilizations. Vol. 7\. Leiden/Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-67799-9.
* Berlin, Brent; Kay, Paul (1969). Basic Color Terms: their Universality and Evolution. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520014428.
* Blake, Robert Pierpont; de Vis, H. (1934). Epiphanius de Gemmis: the Old Georgian Version and the Fragments of the Armenian Version. London: Christophers.
* Cheyne, Thomas Kelly; Black, J. Sutherland (1899). Encyclopaedia Biblica.
* Eichholz, D. E., ed. (1965). Theophrastus: De Lapidibus. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Faris, Nabih Amin (1938). The Antiquities of South Arabia: being a translation from the Arabic with linguistic, geographic, and historic notes of the eighth book of al-Hamdāni's al-Iklīl. Oxford University Press.
* Field, Frederick (1875). Origensis Hexaplorum quæ Supersunt. Oxford.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
* Gottheil, Richard H., ed. (1908). Bar 'Alī (Īshō'): The Syriac–Arabic Glosses. Rome: Reale Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
* Harrell, James E.; Hoffmeier, James K.; Williams, Kenton F. (2017). "Hebrew Gemstones in the Old Testament: A Lexical, Geological, and Archaeological Analysis". Bulletin for Biblical Research. 27 (1): 1–52\. doi:10.5325/bullbiblrese.27.1.0001. ISSN 1065-223X. S2CID 246560656.
* Kostov, R. I. (2023). Gem Minerals of the Bible. Multiprint, Sofia, 320 p. (in Bulgarian with English abstract) ISBN 978-954-362-436-2
* Neusner, Jacob; Sonn, Tamara (1999). Comparing Religions through Law: Judaism and Islam.
* Walton, Steven A. (2001). "Theophrastus on Lyngurium: medieval and early modern lore from the classical lapidary tradition". Annals of Science. 58 (4): 357–379\. doi:10.1080/000337900110041371. PMID 11724065. S2CID 8649133.

## External links

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Media related to Priestly breastplate at Wikimedia Commons

* v
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* e

* Book of Exodus

Chapters|

* 1–6
* 6–9
* 10–13
* 13–17
* 18–20
* 21–24
* 25–27
* 27–30
* 30–34
* 35–38
* 38–40

People|

* Moses
* Israelites
* Aaron
* Bezalel
* Eliezer
* Elim
* Gershom
* Jethro
* High Priest of Israel
* Ithamar
* Marah
* Miriam
* Nadab and Abihu
* Oholiab
* Pharaoh
* Pharaoh's daughter
* Shiphrah and Puah
* Zipporah

Objects|

* Aaron's rod
* Ark of bulrushes
* Ark of the Covenant
* Asherah pole
* Bronze laver
* Burning bush
* Golden calf
* Incense offering
* Manna
* Mercy seat
* Pillars of fire and cloud
* Priestly clothing
* breastplate
* golden head plate
* robe
* sash
* tunic
* turban
* undergarments
* Showbread
* Staff of Moses
* Tabernacle
* Tefillin
* Temple menorah

Places|

* Egypt
* Massah and Meribah
* Mount Horeb
* Mount Sinai
* Stations of the Exodus
* Pi-HaHiroth
* Pi-Ramesses
* Battle of Refidim
* Shur
* Wilderness of Sin
* Yam Suph (Reed Sea)

Torah readings|

* Shemot
* Va'eira
* Bo
* Beshalach
* Yitro
* Mishpatim
* Terumah
* Tetzaveh
* Ki Tissa
* Vayakhel
* Pekudei

Sources|

* Priestly
* Jahwist
* Elohist

Textual analysis|

* Sources and parallels
* Textual variations
* Covenant Code
* Exodus Rabbah
* Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael
* Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai
* Song of the Sea
* In Antebellum America

Manuscripts|

* Nash Papyrus
* Papyrus 18

Phrases|

* I Am that I Am
* Baal-zephon
* El Shaddai
* Eye for an eye
* Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
* With a strong hand and an outstretched arm

Events|

* The Exodus
* Plagues of Egypt
* Parting of the Red Sea
* Ten Commandments
* Zipporah at the inn

* v
* t
* e

Jewish priesthood

* Kohen
* Sons of Zadok
* Priestly sash
* Ephod
* Holy anointing oil
* Priestly breastplate
* Priestly tunic
* High Priest
* Sacrifice
* Priestly robe
* Priestly undergarments
* Priestly turban
* Priestly divisions
* Shemen Afarsimon
* Priestly crown
* Urim and Thummim
* Priestly covenant

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