This is a stone that carried names. God told Moses to take “two onyx stones” and engrave on them the names of Israel’s children, six on each, set in gold on the shoulders of Aaron’s ephod “for stones of memorial.” Aaron would bear the names “before the LORD” wherever he served. Onyx was also among the gifts the people brought for the priestly garments (Exodus 25:7), and an onyx is set in the breastplate’s rows of gems. In Job it stands for great value, though wisdom “cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx.” Exodus 28 describes the garment.
8 verses
Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.
With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.
And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.
And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
A hail; claw; hoof, (Heb. shoham), a precious stone adorning the breast-plate of the high priest and the shoulders of the ephod (Ex. 28:9-12, 20; 35:27; Job 28:16; Ezek. 28:13). It was found in the land of Havilah (Gen. 2:12). The LXX. translates the Hebrew word by smaragdos, an emerald. Some think that the sardonyx is meant. But the onyx differs from the sardonyx in this, that while the latter has two layers (black and white) the former has three (black, white, and red).
William Smith, 1884
(a nail) is the translation of the Hebrew shoham ; but there is some doubt as to its signification. Some writers believe that the "beryl" is intended; but the balance of authority is in favor of some variety of the onyx. ("The onyx is not a transparent stone, but as the color of the flesh appears through the nail (Greek onyx) on the human body, so the reddish mass which is below shines delicately through the whitish surface of the onyx. There are several varieties. White and reddish stripes alternating form the sardonyx; white and reddish gray, the chalcedony. When polished it has a fine lustre, and is easily wrought into a gem of great beauty."-Rosenmiller.