YASHPEH - JASPER
Ch. 28, v. 20: "The fourth row ... V'yashfei"
Rabeinu Bachayei: The name of the gemstone on which Binyamin’s name was inscribed was ישפה, better known as jasper. The word ישפה may be understood as two words, i.e. יש פה, “he has a mouth,” or words to that effect. The name of that stone alludes to the fact that Binyamin deserved credit for keeping silent about what he knew his brothers had done to his older brother Joseph.
The Story of Dama ben N’sino - The gemara Kidushin 31a and Yerushalmi Pei'ah chapter #1 relate that the "yoshfei" stone of the breastplate was once lost and the Rabbis pursued a replacement. They came upon a non-Jew named Dama the son of N'sino, whose father had such a stone. When they came, his father was asleep and the key to the safety box in which he kept his precious stones was on a cord that was wrapped around his neck. Retrieving the key would require waking his father in the middle of his siesta. Dama, out of respect for his father, refrained from waking him and lost the sale.
The Meshech Chochmoh writes that it is most befitting that the lesson of how far honoring one's parents goes is learned from a tale involving the "yoshfei" stone. All the brothers who were involved with the sale of Yoseif caused their father much pain. Yoseif, as well, by not communicating with his father, also fell short in properly honouring his father (see Ramban on 42:9 d.h. "Va'yizkor"). Only Binyomin was not deficient in honouring his father, thus his stone was involved in this story.
This is the allusion of the name "yoshfeih," - "yeish peh" - there is a mouth, but it keeps quiet. Since the story was that the Rabbis pursued a replacement and came to Dama ben N'sina, who did not wake up his father to gain access to the stone, we have a common thread with Binyomin, who was very careful to not disturb his father.
The Baal Haturim points out that the numerical value of "yoshfei" equals that of "Binyomin ben Yaakov." Possibly, according to the Meshech Chochmoh it is well understood why the mathematical value of "yoshfei" is that of "Binyomin ben Yaakov," of both the son and his father, to indicate that specifically Binyomin was the most devoted son of Yaakov.
M'oroh Shel Torah offers that there is an opinion that the stones have to be set into the "choshen" in order. It is important to relate that it was the "yoshfeih" stone because it was the final stone, so that no problem was presented, as it could simply be put into its setting.
יָשְפֵּה– The word is etymologically related to the Akkadian yašpû, Arabic "יַשְבֻּ ", and Greek iaspis, all referring to jasper, an opaque gem with patterns of color running through it. Targum Onkelos translates it as "פַנְתֵּירִּ י", panther, perhaps also referring to jasper, maybe to a pale-yellow variety with bands of orange or brown. A third possibility is raised by Bemidbar Rabbah which writes that "יָּשְפֵּה" is "similar to all the colors". This aptly describes an opal, a multicolored, often iridescent gem.
