Exodus 28:11
מַעֲשֵׂה חָרַשׁ אֶבֶן פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם תְּפַתַּח אֶת־שְׁתֵּי הָאֲבָנִים עַל־שְׁמֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֻסַבֹּת מִשְׁבְּצוֹת זָהָב תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָֽם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה חָרַשׁ֮ אֶבֶן֒ פִּתּוּחֵ֣י חֹתָ֗ם תְּפַתַּח֙ אֶת־שְׁתֵּ֣י הָאֲבָנִ֔ים עַל־שְׁמֹ֖ת בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מֻסַבֹּ֛ת מִשְׁבְּצ֥וֹת זָהָ֖ב תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה אֹתָֽם׃
ἔργον λιθουργικῆς τέχνης· γλύμμα σφραγῖδος διατοὺς τούς δύο λίθους ἐπὶ
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Opere sculptoris et cælatura gemmarii, sculpes eos nominibus filiorum Israël, inclusos auro atque circumdatos:
Las grabarás con el mismo cuidado que un joyero graba un sello, y luego las montarás en engastes de oro.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
De obra de escultor en piedra á modo de grabaduras de sello, harás grabar aquellas dos piedras con los nombres de los hijos de Israel; harásles alrededor engastes de oro.
Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse instructs that the two stones bearing the names of the sons of Israel be engraved in the manner of a seal-cutter's work, and then set (literally "surrounded") in gold filigree mountings. Two distinct actions are commanded: engraving (tefattach, H6605B) and making/mounting (ta'aseh, H6213H).
Key words
- ma'aseh ("the work of", H4639G) — construct singular opening a chain of three nouns that together function adverbially, describing the manner of engraving rather than naming a separate object.
- charash ("an engraver of", H2796) — construct singular; combined with ma'aseh, it produces "work of an engraver of stone," a professional-craft comparison.
- tefattach ("you will engrave", H6605B) — piel imperfect, second person masculine; the intensive stem marks the engraving as a deliberate, effortful craft action, distinct from the simple qal used later.
- musabbot ("surrounded", H5437G) — hophal passive participle, construct plural feminine; the hophal stem marks the stones as being made to be enclosed, i.e., the encasing is presented as a caused state rather than a simple passive event.
- ta'aseh ("you will make", H6213H) — qal imperfect, second person masculine; a second, distinct verb of production, governing the making of the gold settings around the stones.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence opens with a triple noun-construct chain — ma'aseh ("work of") + charash ("engraver of") + 'even ("stone") + pittuchei ("engravings of") + chotam ("a seal") — that functions as an adverbial description modifying the verb tefattach: the engraving is to be done "as the work of a stone-engraver, [with] the engravings of a seal." This chain has no verb of its own; it sets the standard or style before the finite verb appears.
The sentence then names the object with the marker 'et before shtei ha'avanim ("the two stones") and specifies 'al shemot benei Yisra'el ("upon/with the names of the sons of Israel") as the content of the engraving.
A second clause follows with its own subject-object structure: musabbot mishbetzot zahav ("surrounded [by] settings of gold") functions as a participial description of the stones' final state, and ta'aseh ("you will make") is the qal verb governing this action, with 'otam ("them") as its object via the suffixed direct-object marker.
Differences between versions
The Vulgate collapses the second Hebrew verb (ta'aseh, "you will make") into passive participles — inclusos...circumdatos ("enclosed...surrounded") — modifying eos ("them"), rather than preserving it as a separate finite verbal action as the Hebrew does with musabbot...ta'aseh. The BSB renders the opening construct chain as an explicit simile ("the way a gem cutter engraves a seal"), turning the Hebrew's noun-chain description into a comparative clause not present as such in the Hebrew syntax.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.