Exodus 28:17

Summary

Exodus 28:17 instructs the filling of the breastplate with a setting of gemstones arranged in four rows, then specifies the first row: 'odem ("ruby", H0124), pitdah ("topaz", H6357), and bareket ("beryl", H1304A). The verse combines an instruction verb with a construct-noun list naming the stones in sequence.

Key words

• mi.le.Ta — "you will fill" (H4390): piel stem gives an intensive/factitive nuance ("fill completely" or "set densely"), and the sequential perfect form continues the chain of instructions given earlier in the chapter to Moses.
• mi.Lu.'at — "a setting of" (H4396): feminine singular construct, meaning it must be followed by a noun it governs — here 'even ("stone", H0068G) — forming the phrase "a setting of stone(s)."
• tu.Rim — "rows" (H2905): masculine plural, quantified by 'ar.ba.'Ah ("four", H0702), establishing the overall structure before individual rows are detailed.
• Tur — "[will be] a row of" (H2905): masculine singular construct, re-used from the plural form to introduce the specific contents of the first row ('odem, pitdah, bareket).
• ha.'e.Chad — "the one" (H0259): feminine singular with definite article, paired with ha.Tur ("the row") to mark it as "the first" row, using the cardinal "one" in an ordinal-like function.

What the text says

The sentence opens with a narrative vav attached to a piel sequential perfect (mi.le.Ta), signaling continuation of a series of construction commands rather than a new topic. The verb governs the construct phrase mi.Lu.'at 'even, literally "a setting of stone," which is then quantified by 'ar.ba.'Ah tu.Rim ("four rows") — a parenthetical clarification of how many rows the setting will contain. The text then shifts from general structure to specific content: a bare 'A.ven ("stone") functions almost as a heading, followed by Tur in construct form governing three stone names placed in simple apposition ('odem, pitdah, u-vareket), without repeated conjunctions between all three — only "and" before the last. The closing phrase ha.Tur ha.'e.Chad ("the row, the one") uses the article on both the noun and the numeral, a construction that marks this row as "the first" through cardinal rather than ordinal morphology. Notably, 'e.Chad appears in feminine form while Tur is grammatically masculine, a gender pattern visible only in the Hebrew and not preserved in translation.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew verb mi.le.Ta ("you will fill/set") is rendered in the LXX as καθυφανεῖς ("you will weave"), introducing a weaving image absent from the Hebrew; the Vulgate uses ponesque ("and you will place"), a more neutral placement verb. The LXX further describes the object as ὕφασμα κατάλιθον ("a woven work set with stones") rather than the Hebrew's construct phrase "a setting of stone." For the third stone, bareket (H1304A), the LXX gives σμάραγδος ("emerald"), the Vulgate smaragdus ("emerald"), while RV1909 renders it as "carbunclo" ("carbuncle") — showing divergence among translations on the specific gem intended by the Hebrew term.