What Does Exodus 28:18 Mean in the King James?

And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

Exodus 28:18 · KJV

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

The stone translated “diamond” bears a Hebrew name tied to striking, so the row’s beauty carries the force of impact.

THE MEANING

This verse sets three distinct stones in one ordered row. In the KJV’s “diamond,” the Hebrew name retains a root of striking, holding beauty and force together.

THE ROOT

יָהֲלֹם

yahalom

GROWS FROM

הלם

to strike, beat, or hammer

⁨יָהֲלֹם⁩ (yahalom), rendered “diamond,” shares its consonants with ⁨הלם⁩, the root for striking or hammering. The precise modern identity of this ancient stone name is uncertain, but its Hebrew form carries an echo of impact within the adornment.

ALSO GROWS

halam: to strike or hammer

הָלַם

This verb makes explicit the striking force carried by the stone’s name.

mahalumah: a blow or stroke

מַהֲלֻמָּה

This noun names the impact itself, extending the same root from the act of striking to its effect.

THE PATTERN

Distinct stones can remain distinct while forming one ordered whole.

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

Exodus 28:21 · KJVEach stone bears a distinct name while belonging to the same ordered set.

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5 · KJVDistinct living stones together form one house.

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

Revelation 21:19 · KJVThe city’s foundations form one structure from individually named precious stones.

THE THREAD

She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.

Judges 5:26 · KJV

The verb translated “smote” comes from ⁨הלם⁩ (halam), sharing the root consonants with ⁨יָהֲלֹם⁩ (yahalom), the stone name in this verse. That link lets the word rendered “diamond” retain an echo of striking inside the breastplate’s adornment.

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