Exodus 28:26

Summary

The verse instructs the making of two rings of gold to be attached to the two ends of the breastpiece (choshen, H2833), specifically on its inner edge, on the side that faces the inside of the ephod. The syntax is a chain of sequential actions describing precise placement.

Key words

• 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H) — qal sequential perfect, continuing a chain of instructions begun earlier in the passage; addressed to a single male addressee (Moses, contextually).
• ta.be.'ot ("rings of", H2885) — feminine plural construct, meaning it is bound to the following noun zahav ("gold", H2091) to form "rings of gold."
• ke.Tzot ("ends of", H7098) — feminine plural construct, bound to ha.Choshen ("the breastpiece", H2833), specifying the two extremities of the object where the rings attach.
• se.fa.T-o ("its edge", H8193I + H9023) — singular construct with 3rd person masculine suffix, meaning literally "the edge of it," referring back to the breastpiece.
• Ba.ye.ta-h ("[the] inside" + directional he, H1004O + H9011) — the directional he attached to bayit gives a sense of "toward the inside," indicating orientation rather than mere location.

What the text says

The verse is built as two sequential clauses joined by the narrative vav: "and you will make" ('a.Si.ta) two rings of gold, "and you will put" (sam.Ta) them upon the two ends of the breastpiece. Both verbs are qal sequential perfects continuing a series of commands, which in Biblical Hebrew narrative-instructional style function like a chain of successive imperatives describing steps in a construction process.

The placement is specified through a stack of construct chains: "two ends of the breastpiece" (she.Nei ke.Tzot ha.Choshen), then further narrowed to "upon its edge" ('al-se.fa.T-o), and finally qualified by a relative clause: "which is to the side of the ephod" ('a.Sher 'el-'E.ver ha.'e.Fod). This relative clause uses the preposition 'el ("to", H0413) to indicate direction/side, and 'E.ver ("side of", H5676G) as a construct noun specifying which side of the ephod is meant.

The final word, Ba.ye.ta-h, combines the noun bayit ("house/inside", H1004O) with the directional he (H9011), producing a sense of "toward the inner side" rather than a static location. This grammatical feature — the directional he — is difficult to render in translation and is typically absorbed into prepositional phrases like "on the inside" in English versions.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text describes the placement of two gold rings on the ends of the breastpiece, near the inner edge facing the ephod. The Vulgate (duos annulos aureos... in oris, quae e regione sunt superhumeralis) and the English/Spanish translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) follow this content closely, differing mainly in how they render the directional and locative nuances (e.g., "on the inside edge" vs. "por la parte de adentro").

The LXX text supplied for this reference does not correspond to the same content: it speaks of placing "the Manifestation and the Truth" (τὴν δήλωσιν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν) upon "the oracle of judgment" and describes Aaron carrying the judgments of the sons of Israel before the Lord — material that in the Hebrew numbering belongs to a different part of the chapter. This reflects a divergence in versification between the Greek and Hebrew textual traditions at this point, rather than a translation choice for the same verse.