Exodus 25:7

Summary

The verse lists two categories of stones — shoham ("onyx") stones and milluim ("settings") stones — designated for two priestly garments: the ephod and the choshen ("breastpiece"). It is a continuation of the inventory of materials requested for the sanctuary, structured as a bare noun list without a verb.

Key words

• 'av.nei- ("stones of", H0068G) — masculine plural construct form, appearing twice; it binds each stone-word to what follows, producing "stones of X" rather than a free-standing noun.
• Sho.ham ("onyx", H7718) — singular noun specifying the type of stone in the first construct pair, avnei-shoham ("stones of onyx").
• mi.lu.'Im ("settings", H4394) — masculine plural noun; in construct with avnei it yields "stones of settings/fillings," referring to stones meant to be fitted into mountings.
• 'e.Fod ("ephod", H0646) — singular noun preceded by la- ("for the"), marking the ephod as the object for which the stones are destined.
• Cho.shen ("breastpiece", H2833) — singular noun likewise preceded by la-, naming the second garment for which stones are provided.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence has no finite verb; it is a continuation of a list begun earlier in the chapter, consisting of paired construct chains. The first pair, avnei-shoham ("stones of onyx"), names a specific gemstone. The second pair, avnei milluim ("stones of setting"), does not name a stone type but describes the stones' function — they are meant "for filling" or "for mounting," i.e., stones destined to be set into a fixture. This distinguishes a material category (onyx) from a functional category (setting-stones), a nuance that gets partly flattened when both are rendered simply as "gemstones" or "stones to be mounted" in translation. Both stone-groups are then directed toward two objects, ephod and choshen, each introduced by the same preposition-plus-article form la- ("for the"), giving the sentence a balanced two-part destination: stones for the ephod and stones for the breastpiece.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (lapides onychinos, et gemmas ad ornandum ephod, ac rationale) and RV1909/BSB/SBLIBRE all preserve the two-part structure — onyx stones plus setting-stones, directed at the ephod and breastpiece — matching the Hebrew's construct pairs. The LXX text supplied here (καὶ ποιήσεις μοι ἁγίασμα, καὶ ὀφθήσομαι ἐν ὑμῖν, "and you shall make me a sanctuary, and I will appear among you") does not correspond to this verse's content about stones, ephod, and breastpiece; the wording given matches the subject matter of Exodus 25:8 instead.