Exodus 28:36

28:36 “You are to make a plate ¹  of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: ²  “Holiness to the Lord.” ³ 

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; ⁴  you are to have them set ⁵  in gold filigree ⁶  settings.

Exodus 39:6

39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal ⁷  with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁸ 

Exodus 39:14

39:14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of ⁹  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.”

[28:36]  ¹ tn The word צִּיץ (tsits) seems to mean “a shining thing” and so here a plate of metal. It originally meant “flower,” but they could not write on a flower. So it must have the sense of something worn openly, visible, and shining. The Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear, but this is an attempt to give details that the Law does not give (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 818).

[28:36]  ² tn Heb “the engravings of a seal”; this phrase is an adverbial accusative of manner.

[28:36]  ³ sn The engraving was a perpetual reminder of the holiness that was due the Lord (Heb “Yahweh”), that all the clothing, the furnishings, and the activities were to come under that description. This corresponded to the symbolism for the whole nation of binding the law between the eyes. It was to be a perpetual reminder of commitment.

[28:11]  ⁴ 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.

[28:11]  ⁵ tn Or “you will mount them” (NRSV similar).

[28:11]  ⁶ tn Or “rosettes,” shield-like frames for the stones. The Hebrew word means “to plait, checker.”

[39:6]  ⁷ tn Or “as seals are engraved.”

[39:6]  ⁸ 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.

[39:14]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “the number of” has been supplied.