Exodus 28:11

The engravings of a signet. — Compare Note 2 on Exodus 28:9. Signets had been already mentioned in Genesis 38:18; Genesis 38:25; Genesis 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).