Exodus 28:11

Exo 28:11. Ouches — Hollow places, such as are made in gold rings, to receive and hold the precious stones.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 11. Like the engravings of a signet] So signets or seals were in use at this time, and engraving on precious stones was then an art, and this art, which was one of the most elegant and ornamental, was carried in ancient times to a very high pitch of perfection, and particularly among the ancient Greeks; such a pitch of perfection as has never been rivalled, and cannot now be even well imitated. And it is very likely that the Greeks themselves borrowed this art from the ancient Hebrews, as we know it flourished in Egypt and Palestine long before it was known in Greece.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) The engravings of a signet.—Compare Note 2 on Exo_28:9. Signets had been already mentioned in Gen_38:18; Gen_38:25; Gen_41:42. Those of Egypt were for the most part rings, with cylindrical bezels turning upon an axis. Those of Babylonia were cylinders, which were commonly worn by a string round the wrist. The engraving of the Babylonian cylinders is frequently of a very fine quality.

Thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.—The setting intended seems to have been a sort of open or filigree work, such as is very common in Egyptian ornaments of the time. The term “ouche”—more properly “nouch”—is derived from the old French “nouche,”a buckle or clasp (see Skeat’s Etymol. Dict., §5).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. the engravings of a signet] Seal engraving of precious stones was an art practised from very remote times in both Babylonia and Egypt.

ouches] filigree settings, or, in one word, rosettes. (LXX. in v. 13 ἀσπιδίσκαι, ‘little shields’). ‘Ouch’ (‘an ouch’ for ‘a nouch,’ by a mistaken division of words [cf. an apron for a napron, an adder for a nadder, umpire for numpire; and conversely newt for ewt, notch for otch], Fr. nouche, a buckle or clasp) is an old word for the frame in which precious stones were set, used also for the jewels themselves; cf. 2 Henry IV. ii. 4. 53 ‘Your brooches, pearls, and ouches’ (Aldis Wright, Bible Word-Book, s.v.). The Heb. root means to chequer or plait (see on v. 39): hence what is probably meant is ‘settings of filigree work’: the gold was first beaten out into thin sheets, which were afterwards cut up into narrow strips (see Exo_39:3); these were then formed into filigree work by a delicate process of soldering, and used as a setting for jewels (Kennedy, DB. iii. 636). Rosettes would probably express the general meaning with sufficient accuracy.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

With the work of an engraver in stone,.... Not in common but precious stones: Moses was not to do this himself, as it could not be supposed he should, but he was to employ an engraver, whose business it was, and one that was capable of doing it in a professional manner:

like the engravings of a signet shall thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: as in signets or seals, by which impressions are made on wax, the letters or figures are cut deep, that they might on the wax stand out; so it seems the letters of the names of the children of Israel were cut in these stones: this shows that engraving on precious stones is very old, and the ancients indeed are said to excel in this art:

thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold; in beazils or sockets, such as precious stones in rings are set in; these with the stones in them served as buttons to fasten together the hinder and fore part of the ephod on the shoulder pieces of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hollow places, such as are made in golden rings to receive and hold the precious stones which are put in them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

With the work of an engraver. Rather, "an artificer." The engravings of a signet. Signets in Egypt were ordinarily rings, on the bezel of which the name of the owner was inscribed. Some were of solid gold; others with cylindrical bezels of glass or hard stone. On the early use of such signet rings in Egypt see Gen_41:42. Cylinders, strung round the wrist and engraved with a name and titles, were common in Mesopotamia from B.C. 2000. Ouches of gold. Settings in open-work or filagree seem to be intended a kind of setting which is very common in Egyptian ornaments.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ouches - Hollow places, such as are made in gold rings, to receive and hold the precious stones.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

מעשה חרש אבן means THE WORK OF AN ARTIFICER IN STONES. This word חרש is in close connection (i. e. in the construct state) with the word that follows it and therefore it is punctuated with Patach in its last syllable. Similar is, (Isaiah 44:13) “The חָרַשׁ עצים stretcheth out a line” i. e. the worker in wood. So, also, (Isaiah 44:12) “the worker in (חָרַשׁ) iron maketh an axe.” All these examples of חָרַשׁ are in close connection with the words that follows them and are therefore punctuated with Patach.

פתוחי חותם LIKE THE ENGRAVINGS OF A SIGNET — Understand this as the Targum renders it: a distinct writing like the engraving of a signet-ring: the letters were incised in them just as one incises the seals of a ring which are used to seal letters — a clear and distinct writing.

על שמות — This is the same as בשמות “with the names of”.

מסבת משבצות SURROUNDED WITH SETTINGS [OF GOLD] — Thou shalt make the stones to be surrounded by gold settings: the meaning is that they should make as a setting for each stone a kind of indentation in the gold, of the same size as the stone and sink it in the setting; thus the setting surrounds the stone on all sides. That setting they attached to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.