Exodus 28:18

“And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.] The first of these stones is by both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan rendered an “emerald”, as by us; and which is described by Pliny f828 as of a green colour, exceeding delightful and pleasant, and to which he gives the third place among precious stones; though by many the stone here called Nophec is thought to be the carbuncle, and is so rendered by the Septuagint; the carbuncle of the ancients is no other than what we call the, “ruby”; and which Braunius f829 thinks is here meant, and so Abarbinel, which is just making an exchange of the last stone of the first row for this; and De Dieu observes, that if any chooses…”

“(Compare Exodus 39:1-31.) Moses is now commanded to commit all that pertains to the offerings made to the Lord in the sanctuary to the exclusive charge of the members of a single family, who were to hold their office from generation to generation. In the patriarchal times, the external rites of worship had generally been conducted by the head of the tribe or family, in accordance with the principle involved in the dedication of the firstborn Exodus 13:2; Numbers 3:12-13. Moses, as the divinely-appointed and acknowledged leader of the nation, had, on a special occasion, appointed those who were to offer sacrifice, and had himself sprinkled the consecrating blood of the victims on the people…”

“emerald: Nophech, an emerald, the same with the ancient smaragdus; one of the most beautiful of all the gems, and of a bright green colour, without any mixture. Exo 39:11; Eze 27:16 sapphire: Exo 24:10; Job 28:6, Job 28:16; Sol 5:14; Eze 1:26, Eze 10:1; Rev 4:3 diamond: Jer 17:1; Eze 28:13 Exodus 28:19”