Exodus 28:23

Summary

The verse instructs the making of two gold rings for the choshen ("breastpiece", H2833) and their placement at the two ends of that same breastpiece. The sentence uses two sequential verbs describing consecutive actions: first fashioning the rings, then attaching them.

Key words

• choshen ("breastpiece", H2833) — masculine singular noun, repeated twice (once with the preposition 'al "on", once as the final word), framing the verse around this object.
• tabbe'ot ("rings of", H2885) — feminine plural noun in construct form the first time (linked to zahav, "gold"), then plural absolute with the article the second time (ha-tabba'ot, "the rings"), showing the shift from introducing an item to referring back to it as already defined.
• zahav ("gold", H2091) — masculine singular noun specifying the material of the rings.
• shtei / shnei ("two", H8147) — dual cardinal number in construct state, appearing three times to count the rings (feminine form shtei, agreeing with tabbe'ot) and the ends (common-gender form shnei, agreeing with qetzot).
• qetzot ("ends of", H7098) — feminine plural noun in construct, specifying the location on the breastpiece where the rings are placed.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two sequential perfect verbs, 'asita ("you will make", H6213H) and natatta ("you will put", H5414H), both second-person masculine singular forms that continue a chain of instructions addressed to Moses. The sequential perfect construction links this verse to the surrounding commands about the breastpiece, presenting the making and placing of the rings as consecutive steps in an ongoing set of directions rather than isolated statements.

The first clause introduces the rings as new information: shtei tabbe'ot zahav ("two rings of gold") appears without the definite article, in construct chain. The second clause refers back to these same rings using the direct object marker 'et (H0853) followed by shtei ha-tabba'ot ("the two rings"), now with the article, marking them as already established in the discourse. This pattern — indefinite introduction followed by definite backreference — is a feature of Biblical Hebrew narrative and instructional syntax not always visible in translations that render both occurrences simply as "the rings" or "two rings."

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (et duos annulos aureos, quos pones in utraque rationalis summitate) compresses the two Hebrew verbs into one relative clause ("which you will place"), omitting a separate verb for "making" the rings and treating the verse as a continuation of a list from the prior sentence rather than as two distinct commands.

The LXX text supplied for this reference (Swete) does not correspond to the same content as the Hebrew of Exodus 28:23 — it describes Aaron bearing the names of Israel's sons on the logion ("oracle/breastpiece") before God, a statement about function rather than construction. This indicates a difference in verse alignment or content between the Hebrew textual tradition represented here and the Greek text cited, rather than a translation variant of the same clause.