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LXX Exodus

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 28

1 And you, take to yourself both Aaron your brother, and his sons from among the children of Israel; so that Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu, and Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron, may minister to me. 2 And you shall make holy clothing for Aaron your brother, for honor and glory. 3 And you, speak to all those who are wise in understanding, whom I have filled with the spirit of perception; and they shall make the holy clothing of Aaron for the sanctuary, in which clothing he shall minister to me as priest. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make: the breast-plate, and the shoulder-piece, and the full-length robe, and the tunic with a fringe, and the headdress, and the sash; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron and his sons to minister to me as priests. 5 And they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen. 6 And they shall make the shoulder-piece of fine linen spun, the woven work of the embroiderer. 7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined together, fastened on the two sides. 8 And the woven work of the shoulder-pieces which is upon it, shall be of one piece according to the work, of gold and blue and purple, and spun scarlet and fine twined linen. 9 And you shall take the two stones, the stones of emerald, and you shall engrave on them the names of the children of Israel. 10 Six names on the first stone, and the other six names on the second stone, according to their births. 11 It shall be the work of the stone-engraver's art; as the engraving of a seal you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. 12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the shoulder-piece: they are memorial-stones for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel before the Lord on his two shoulders, a memorial for them. 13 And you shall make circlets of pure gold; 14 and you shall make two fringes of pure gold, variegated with flowers, plaited work; and you shall put the plaited fringes on the circlets, fastening them on their shoulder-pieces in front. 15 And you shall make the oracle of judgment, the work of the embroiderer: in keeping with the ephod, you shall make it of gold, and blue and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen spun. 16 You shall make it square: it shall be double; of a span the length of it, and of a span the breadth. 17 And you shall interweave with it a texture of four rows of stone; there shall be a row of stones, a sardius, a topaz, and emerald, the first row. 18 And the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper. 19 And the third row, a ligure, an agate, an amethyst: 20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, and a beryl, and an onyx stone, set round with gold, bound together with gold: let them be according to their row. 21 And let the stones of the names of the children of Israel be twelve according to their names, engravings as of seals: let them be for the twelve tribes each according to the name. 22 And you shall make on the oracle woven fringes, a chain-work of pure gold. 23  24  25  26  27  28  29 And Aaron shall take the names of the children of Israel, on the oracle of judgment on his breast; a memorial before God as he goes into the sanctuary. 29a And you shall put the fringes on the oracle of judgment; you shall put the wreaths on both sides of the oracle, and you shall put the two circlets on both the shoulders of the ephod in front. 30 And you shall put the Unveiling and the Truth⁠ on the oracle of judgment; and it shall be on the breast of Aaron, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgments of the children of Israel on his breast before the Lord continually. 31 And you shall make the full-length tunic all of blue. 32 And the opening of it shall be in the middle having a fringe all around the opening, the work of the weaver, woven together in the joining of the same piece that it might not be torn. 33 And under the fringe of the robe below you shall make as it were pomegranates of a flowering pomegranate tree, of blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen spun, under the fringe of the robe all around: golden pomegranates of the same shape, and bells all around between these. 34 A bell by the side of a golden pomegranate, and flower-work on the fringe of the robe all around. 35 And the sound of Aaron shall be audible when he ministers, as he goes into the sanctuary before the Lord, and as he goes out, that he may not die. 36 And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and you shall engrave on it as the engraving of a signet, Holiness of the Lord. 37 And you shall put it on the spun blue cloth, and it shall be on the turban: it shall be in the front of the turban. 38 And it shall be on the forehead of Aaron; and Aaron shall bear away the sins of their holy things, all that the children of Israel shall sanctify of every gift of their holy things, and it shall be on the forehead of Aaron continually acceptable for them before the Lord. 39 And the fringes of the garments shall be of fine linen; and you shall make a headdress of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer. 40 And for the sons of Aaron you shall make tunics and sashes, and you shall make for them headdresses for honor and glory. 41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, and you shall anoint them and fill their hands: and you shall sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. 42 And you shall make for them linen drawers to cover the nakedness of their flesh; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 And Aaron shall have them, and his sons, whenever they enter into the tabernacle of witness, or when they shall advance to the altar of the sanctuary to minister, so they shall not bring sin upon themselves, for fear that they might die: it is a perpetual statute for him, and for his seed after him.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 28:30 and LXX Exodus 28:30 and Onkelos Exodus 28:30

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 28 describes the Urim and Thummim in the priest’s breastpiece without saying what they are. The Greek translation in the Septuagint calls them the Unveiling and the Truth, while the Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos leaves them unexplained.

Passages

Exodus 28:30

Hebrew Bible
29 Aaron will bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of decision over his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 “You are to put the Urim and the Thummim into the breastpiece of decision; and they are to be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. Aaron is to bear the decisions of the Israelites over his heart before the Lord continually. 31 “You are to make the robe of the ephod completely blue.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

LXX Exodus 28:30

Septuagint
29a And you shall put the fringes on the oracle of judgment; you shall put the wreaths on both sides of the oracle, and you shall put the two circlets on both the shoulders of the ephod in front. 30 And you shall put the Unveiling and the Truth on the oracle of judgment; and it shall be on the breast of Aaron, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgments of the children of Israel on his breast before the Lord continually. 31 And you shall make the full-length tunic all of blue.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Exodus

Onkelos Exodus 28:30

Targum
29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the sanctuary, as a continual memorial before the Lord. 30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually. 31 And you shall make the Robe of the ephod all of blue.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Exodus

References

“... 30. URIM AND THUMMIM. It is impossible to know how these objects functioned and scholars speculate with different ideas. The Aramaic simply repeats the Hebrew words. ...”
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006), 195.
“... The explanation of the terms is difficult. In English translations, as in other modern translations, they are as a rule left untranslated and only transliterated. An exception is the Dutch LuthV, which stands in the tradition of the Luther translation (cf. Van Dam, 23f.), which has ‘Licht en Recht’ (Light and Right) (cf. Buber - Rosenzweig: ‘die Lichtenden und die Schlichtenden’). Already TO, TPsJ, TNf have stayed with the Hebrew terminology. Other ancient versions do have a translation of the terms. ...”
C. Houtman, Historical Commentary on the Old Testament: Exodus (Kok, 1993), 493.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 28:30 and LXX Exodus 28:30 and Onkelos Exodus 28:30

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