Exodus 28:11

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.

Exodus 39:6

39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal ⁴  with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁵ 

Exodus 39:14

39:14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of ⁶  their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.

Exodus 39:30

39:30 They made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Lord.”

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 tn Or “as seals are engraved.”

⁵ sn The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.

⁷ tn The phrase “the number of” has been supplied.