Exodus 28:30

Summary

The verse instructs that the Urim ("Urim", H0224) and Tummim ("Thummim", H8550) be placed inside the choshen ha-mishpat ("breastpiece of judgment", H2833/H4941G) so that they rest over Aaron's heart whenever he approaches Yehovah. It further states that Aaron will continually carry the mishpat ("judgment", H4941G) of the people of Israel over his heart before Yehovah.

Key words

• choshen ("breastpiece of", H2833) — construct noun, forming choshen ha-mishpat, "the breastpiece of the judgment," naming the object into which the Urim and Tummim are placed.
• 'Urim ("Urim", H0224) and Tummim ("Thummim", H8550) — masculine plural titles, each preceded by the direct object marker 'et (H0853) and definite article, treated as fixed proper terms rather than translated common nouns.
• be-vo'o ("when he comes", H0935G + H9043 suffix) — infinitive construct with preposition be ("when/in") and pronominal suffix "his," giving "in his coming," i.e., the temporal clause "whenever he enters."
• lev / lib(bo) ("heart of / his heart", H3820A) — masculine singular construct noun, used twice (once for Aaron generally, once with the suffix "his"), anchoring the breastpiece's position on the body.
• tamid ("continually", H8548) — noun functioning adverbially, closing the verse and marking the ongoing, repeated nature of the action of bearing the mishpat.

What the text says

The verse continues a narrative sequence using two sequential perfect verbs, ve-natatta ("and you will put", H5414H) and ve-hayu ("and they will be", H1961), both carrying instructional force within the ongoing description of priestly garments. The object placed is marked twice by the direct object marker 'et (H0853) — once for ha-'Urim and once for ha-Tummim — showing they are treated as two distinct definite items, joined by ve ("and", H9002), both to be set "into" ('el, H0413) the breastpiece.

The clause be-vo'o lifney YHWH ("when he comes before Yehovah") uses an infinitive construct with a pronominal suffix, a common Hebrew way of expressing "whenever he does X," rather than a finite subordinate clause. The final sentence repeats the construct pattern seen earlier: mishpat benei-Yisrael ("the judgment of the sons of Israel", H4941G/H1121G/H3478), mirroring choshen ha-mishpat from the verse's opening, and again situates the object 'al-libbo ("over his heart", H5921A/H3820A) lifney YHWH tamid ("before Yehovah continually", H6440G/H3068G/H8548). The repetition of lev/lib and lifney YHWH in both halves of the verse creates a structural parallel between the first placement of the Urim and Tummim and Aaron's ongoing bearing of the mishpat.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew leaves 'Urim and Tummim as untranslated titles, while the Vulgate renders them as Doctrinam et Veritatem ("Doctrine and Truth"), interpretive glosses rather than transliterations. The Septuagint text supplied here (concerning a golden bell and pomegranate on the robe's hem) does not correspond to the Hebrew content of this verse and cannot be compared on this point.