Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel. The two onyx stones for the ephod's shoulder pieces bear the twelve names — six names per stone, in birth order. The engraving is not decorative but functional: the names are the content, and the stones are the carrier. The choice of onyx — a semiprecious stone — for the names of the twelve tribes reflects the worth of each tribe: no tribe's name is written on common material. The craft required to engrave twelve names on two stones is the craft of a jeweler and a calligrapher combined — the names of Israel are written on precious stone with the precision that the covenant's documentation requires.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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