What Does Exodus 28:15 Mean in the King James?
And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Judgment is pictured not as a cold, abstract verdict but as a carefully designed work, formed from distinct materials.
THE MEANING
The verse presents judgment as something that takes shape through deliberate workmanship. Gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen are brought into one made thing while remaining distinct. What is weighed can be carefully composed, not merely pronounced.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Judgment is only a cold ruling, detached from the person who carries it.
THE ROOT
חֹשֵׁב
choshev
GROWS FROM
חשב
ḥ-sh-b
To think, reckon, devise, or plan.
The word translated “cunning” describes the designer’s work: it is thought-out and composed. The same root can describe reckoning, so the verse links judgment with careful thought that measures and forms.
ALSO GROWS
chashav: Think, plan, reckon.
חָשַׁב
The act of designing the breastpiece grows from the same root as deliberate reckoning.
machashavah: Thought, plan, design.
מַחֲשָׁבָה
This branch makes visible the plan beneath the finished work.
מִשְׁפָּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-t
To judge, decide, or govern.
“Judgment” here names a faculty carried in a crafted object, not just a verdict spoken aloud. Its root connects the breastpiece with the act of discerning and deciding.
ALSO GROWS
shaphat: Judge or decide.
שָׁפַט
The breastpiece bears the work of discernment and decision.
shofet: Judge, one who decides.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch names the one who exercises the judgment represented by the breastpiece.
THE PATTERN
What carries judgment is formed through deliberate design, with distinct elements brought into one ordered work.
And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.THE THREAD
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.The Hebrew word for “cunning” is חֹשֵׁב (choshev, designer), from the root חשב (ḥ-sh-b, think or reckon). Genesis uses that same root for “counted,” linking careful reckoning with the deliberate forming of the breastpiece.
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