Exodus 28:11-12

28:11 You are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a seal; ¹  you are to have them set ²  in gold filigree ³  settings. 28:12 You are to put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron will bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial. ⁴ 

Exodus 28:21

28:21 The stones are to be for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to the number of ⁵  their names. Each name according to the twelve tribes is to be like ⁶  the engravings of a seal.

Exodus 32:16

32:16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Deuteronomy 27:2-3

27:2 When you cross the Jordan River ⁷  to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover ⁸  them with plaster. 27:3 Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ⁹  said to you.

Deuteronomy 27:8

27:8 You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear.”

Jeremiah 17:1

17:1 ¹⁰ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard ¹¹  hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond ¹²  point

on the horns of their altars. ¹³ 

¹ sn Expert stone or gem engravers were used to engrave designs and names in identification seals of various sizes. It was work that skilled artisans did.

² tn Or “you will mount them” (NRSV similar).

³ tn Or “rosettes,” shield-like frames for the stones. The Hebrew word means “to plait, checker.”

⁴ sn This was to be a perpetual reminder that the priest ministers on behalf of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their names would always be borne by the priests.

⁵ tn For clarity the words “the number of” have been supplied.

⁶ tn The phrase translated “the engravings of a seal” is an adverbial accusative of manner here.

⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

¹⁰ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.

¹¹ tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure.

¹² tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.

¹³ tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”