Exodus 28:17 - Exposition

Settings of stones . These were similar to those of the two shoulder stones— i.e. of filagree or cloisonne work—as appears from Exodus 39:13 . The first row of the stones is said to have been composed of a sardius , or sard, a topaz, and a carbuncle . Of these names the first only would seem to be tolerably certain. The second cannot be right, since the topaz was too hard a stone to be engraved by the ancient engravers. We may conjecture that the chrysolite, a pale stone not unlike the topaz, but far less hard, was the Genesis intended. The "carbuncle" is also thought to be wrong; and the "beryl" is suggested by some; by others "a sort of precious corundum." Emerald, to which the "smaragdus" of the LXX . and Josephus would seem to point, cannot be right, since that stone is fully as hard as the topaz.