Sotah 36B

לא כדרך שחלוקין בחומש הפקודים, חלוקין באבני אפוד, אלא כדרך שחלוקין בחומש שני.

The names of the tribes were not divided on the stones of the ephod the same way that they were divided in the list found at the beginning of the book of Numbers (Numbers 1:1–15). Rather they were divided the way that they were divided in the second book, i.e., Exodus (Exodus 1:2–4).

כיצד? בני לאה כסידרן, בני רחל אחד מכאן ואחד מכאן, ובני שפחות באמצע.

How were they written? On one stone, the names of the sons of Leah were written in the order of their birth: Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. On the other stone the sons of Rachel were written. One, Benjamin, was written on this side, i.e., at the bottom of the list, and one, Joseph, was written on that side, i.e., at the top of the list. And the children of the handmaids, i.e., Bilhah and Zilpah, who were Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, were written on the second stone in the middle.

ואלא מאי אני מקיים ״כתולדתם״⁠ — כשמותן שקרא להן אביהן, ולא כשמות שקרא להן משה. ״ראובן״, ולא ״ראובני״, ״שמעון״, ולא ״שמעוני״, ״דן״ ולא ״הדני״, ״גד״ ולא ״הגדי״. תיובתא דרב כהנא! תיובתא.

But rather, if their names were not written in the order of their births, then how do I establish the meaning of the phrase: “According to their birth” (Exodus 28:10)? It means that their names were written according to the names that their father, Jacob, called them, and not according to the names that Moses called them. On the stones it said Reuben, and not Reubenites; Shimon, and not Simeonites; Dan, and not Danites; Gad, and not Gadites. This baraita contradicts Rav Kahana’s opinion, as according to all of the opinions in the baraita, the division of the names on the ephod is not identical to the division of the tribes on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. The Talmud confirms: The refutation of the opinion of Rav Kahana is in fact a conclusive refutation.