Exodus 28:12

Summary

The verse instructs that two stones be set on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to carry their names before Yehovah on his two shoulders as a reminder.

Key words

• sam.Ta ("you will put", H7760A) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the chain of instructions begun earlier in the chapter; addressed to a masculine "you" (Moses).
• kit.Fot ("shoulder-pieces of", H3802) — feminine plural construct, linking the stones' placement to a specific part ("of") the ephod.
• zi.ka.Ron ("reminder", H2146) — masculine singular noun, appearing twice (lines 12 and 30), framing the stones' purpose at the start and the whole action at the end.
• na.Sa' ("he will bear", H5375H) — qal sequential perfect, third person, describing Aaron's ongoing action of carrying.
• she.mo.Ta-m ("names-their", H8034 + H9028) — feminine plural construct with pronominal suffix, "their names," referring back to the sons of Israel.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parallel clauses joined by the narrative vav (H9001), each built on a sequential perfect verb continuing prior instructions: first ve-sam.Ta ("and you will put"), then ve-na.Sa' ("and he will bear"). This grammatical pattern ties the placement of the stones directly to Aaron's subsequent action of bearing the names, presenting both as parts of a single continuous instruction.

The phrase 'av.Nei zi.ka.Ron ("stones of reminder", H0068G construct + H2146) uses a construct chain, so the stones are grammatically defined by their function — they are "stones of remembrance," not merely stones with a memorial use attached. The same root zikaron appears again at the end of the verse, this time alone as le-zi.ka.Ron ("for a reminder"), forming an inclusio: the stones' purpose introduced at the start of the verse recurs as the summary at its end.

The construct chain she.mo.Ta-m ("their names") lacks an explicit antecedent within this verse alone — the referent is contextual, tied to the "sons of Israel" mentioned via li-v.Nei Yis.ra.'El ("for the sons of Israel", H1121A + H3478) in the first clause. The double occurrence of she.Tei kit.Fot / she.Tei khe.te.Fa ("two shoulder-pieces" / "two shoulders") — first regarding the ephod, then regarding Aaron's own body — creates a structural link between the garment's construction and the priest's physical bearing of the names.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders kit.Fot ha-'e.Fod ("shoulder-pieces of the ephod") as "in utroque latere superhumeralis" ("on each side of the ephod"), using "latere" (side) rather than a term for shoulder, differing from the Hebrew's explicit shoulder-piece terminology (kit.Fot, H3802). The LXX text given begins mid-sentence with "τῶν ὤμων τῆς ἐπωμίδος" ("of the shoulders of the ephod"), aligning with the Hebrew's shoulder-piece language, and specifies "τοῖς υἱᾶς Ἰσραήλ" ("for the sons of Israel") and later "τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ" ("of the sons of Israel") explicitly, whereas the Hebrew's second reference to whose names Aaron bears (she.mo.Ta-m, "their names") leaves the antecedent to be inferred from context rather than restating "sons of Israel."