Exodus 31:3-6

31:3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God ¹  in skill, ²  in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds ³  of craftsmanship, 31:4 to make artistic designs ⁴  for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze, 31:5 and with cutting and setting stone, and with cutting wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 31:6 Moreover, ⁵  I have also given him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given ability to all the specially skilled, ⁶  that they may make ⁷  everything I have commanded you:

Exodus 35:30--36:4

35:30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen ⁸  Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 35:31 He has filled him with the Spirit of God – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 35:32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 35:33 and in cutting stones for their setting, ⁹  and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft. ¹⁰  35:34 And he has put it in his heart ¹¹  to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35:35 He has filled them with skill ¹²  to do all kinds of work ¹³  as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are ¹⁴  craftsmen in all the work ¹⁵  and artistic designers. ¹⁶  36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person ¹⁷  in whom the Lord has put skill ¹⁸  and ability ¹⁹  to know how ²⁰  to do all the work for the service ²¹  of the sanctuary are to do the work ²²  according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

36:2 Moses summoned ²³  Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom ²⁴  the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him ²⁵  to volunteer ²⁶  to do the work, 36:3 and they received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do ²⁷  the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning. ²⁸  36:4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work ²⁹  they were doing

Exodus 36:1

36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person ³⁰  in whom the Lord has put skill ³¹  and ability ³²  to know how ³³  to do all the work for the service ³⁴  of the sanctuary are to do the work ³⁵  according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

Exodus 7:14

The First Blow: Water to Blood

7:14 ³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; ³⁷  he refuses to release ³⁸  the people.

Exodus 7:1

7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God ³⁹  to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ⁴⁰ 

Exodus 28:12

28:12 You are to put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron will bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial. ⁴¹ 

Exodus 28:19

28:19 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

Exodus 28:2

28:2 You must make holy garments ⁴²  for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. ⁴³ 

Exodus 13:14

13:14 ⁴⁴ In the future, ⁴⁵  when your son asks you ⁴⁶  ‘What is this?’ ⁴⁷  you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand ⁴⁸  the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. ⁴⁹ 

Isaiah 28:26

28:26 His God instructs him;

he teaches him the principles of agriculture. ⁵⁰ 

[31:3]  ¹ sn The expression in the Bible means that the individual was given special, supernatural enablement to do what God wanted done. It usually is said of someone with exceptional power or ability. The image of “filling” usually means under the control of the Spirit, so that the Spirit is the dominant force in the life.

[31:3]  ² sn The following qualities are the ways in which the Spirit’s enablement will be displayed. “Skill” is the ability to produce something valuable to God and the community, “understanding” is the ability to distinguish between things, to perceive the best way to follow, and “knowledge” is the experiential awareness of how things are done.

[31:3]  ³ tn Heb “and in all work”; “all” means “all kinds of” here.

[31:4]  ⁴ tn The expression is לַחְשֹׁב מַחֲשָׁבֹת (lakhshov makhashavot, “to devise devices”). The infinitive emphasizes that Bezalel will be able to design or plan works that are artistic or skillful. He will think thoughts or devise the plans, and then he will execute them in silver or stone or whatever other material he uses.

[31:6]  ⁵ tn The expression uses the independent personal pronoun (“and I”) with the deictic particle (“behold”) to enforce the subject of the verb – “and I, indeed I have given.”

[31:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “and in the heart of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom.”

[31:6]  ⁷ tn The form is a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The form at this place shows the purpose or the result of what has gone before, and so it is rendered “that they may make.”

[35:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4.

[35:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “to set.”

[35:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.

[35:34]  ¹¹ sn The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able to direct others in the work.

[35:35]  ¹² tn The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling.

[35:35]  ¹³ tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”

[35:35]  ¹⁴ tn Here “They are” has been supplied.

[35:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “doers of all work.”

[35:35]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “designers of designs.”

[36:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”

[36:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “wisdom.”

[36:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”

[36:1]  ²⁰ tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.

[36:1]  ²¹ tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

[36:1]  ²² tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.

[36:2]  ²³ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to” – “to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.

[36:2]  ²⁴ tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”

[36:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “whose heart was willing.”

[36:2]  ²⁶ sn The verb means more than “approach” or “draw near”; קָרַב (qarav) is the word used for drawing near the altar as in bringing an offering. Here they offer themselves, their talents and their time.

[36:3]  ²⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive “to do it” comes after “sanctuary”; it makes a smoother rendering in English to move it forward, rather than reading “brought for the work.”

[36:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the morning, in the morning.”

[36:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a man, a man from his work”; or “each one from his work.”

[36:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”

[36:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “wisdom.”

[36:1]  ³² tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”

[36:1]  ³³ tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.

[36:1]  ³⁴ tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

[36:1]  ³⁵ tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.

[7:14]  ³⁶ sn With the first plague, or blow on Pharaoh, a new section of the book unfolds. Until now the dominant focus has been on preparing the deliverer for the exodus. From here the account will focus on preparing Pharaoh for it. The theological emphasis for exposition of the entire series of plagues may be: The sovereign Lord is fully able to deliver his people from the oppression of the world so that they may worship and serve him alone. The distinct idea of each plague then will contribute to this main idea. It is clear from the outset that God could have delivered his people simply and suddenly. But he chose to draw out the process with the series of plagues. There appear to be several reasons: First, the plagues are designed to judge Egypt. It is justice for slavery. Second, the plagues are designed to inform Israel and Egypt of the ability of Yahweh. Everyone must know that it is Yahweh doing all these things. The Egyptians must know this before they are destroyed. Third, the plagues are designed to deliver Israel. The first plague is the plague of blood: God has absolute power over the sources of life. Here Yahweh strikes the heart of Egyptian life with death and corruption. The lesson is that God can turn the source of life into the prospect of death. Moreover, the Nile was venerated; so by turning it into death Moses was showing the superiority of Yahweh.

[7:14]  ³⁷ tn Or “unresponsive” (so HALOT 456 s.v. I כָּבֵד).

[7:14]  ³⁸ tn The Piel infinitive construct לְשַׁלַּח (lÿshallakh) serves as the direct object of מֵאֵן (me’en), telling what Pharaoh refuses (characteristic perfect) to do. The whole clause is an explanation (like a metonymy of effect) of the first clause that states that Pharaoh’s heart is hard.

[7:1]  ³⁹ tn The word “like” is added for clarity, making explicit the implied comparison in the statement “I have made you God to Pharaoh.” The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is used a few times in the Bible for humans (e.g., Pss 45:6; 82:1), and always clearly in the sense of a subordinate to GOD – they are his representatives on earth. The explanation here goes back to 4:16. If Moses is like God in that Aaron is his prophet, then Moses is certainly like God to Pharaoh. Only Moses, then, is able to speak to Pharaoh with such authority, giving him commands.

[7:1]  ⁴⁰ tn The word נְבִיאֶךָ (nÿvi’ekha, “your prophet”) recalls 4:16. Moses was to be like God to Aaron, and Aaron was to speak for him. This indicates that the idea of a “prophet” was of one who spoke for God, an idea with which Moses and Aaron and the readers of Exodus are assumed to be familiar.

[28:12]  ⁴¹ sn This was to be a perpetual reminder that the priest ministers on behalf of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their names would always be borne by the priests.

[28:2]  ⁴² sn The genitive “holiness” is the attribute for “garments” – “garments of holiness.” The point of the word “holy” is that these garments would be distinctive from ordinary garments, for they set Aaron apart to sanctuary service and ministry.

[28:2]  ⁴³ tn The expression is לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְארֶת (lÿkhavod ulÿtif’aret, “for glory and for beauty”). W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:465), quoting the NIV’s “to give him dignity and honor,” says that these clothes were to exalt the office of the high priest as well as beautify the worship of God (which explains more of what the text has than the NIV rendering). The meaning of the word “glory” has much to do with the importance of the office, to be sure, but in Exodus the word has been used also for the brilliance of the presence of Yahweh, and so the magnificence of these garments might indeed strike the worshiper with the sense of the exaltation of the service.

[13:14]  ⁴⁴ sn As with v. 8, the Law now requires that the children be instructed on the meaning of this observance. It is a memorial of the deliverance from bondage and the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.

[13:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “tomorrow.”

[13:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and it will be when your son will ask you.”

[13:14]  ⁴⁷ tn The question is cryptic; it simply says, “What is this?” but certainly refers to the custom just mentioned. It asks, “What does this mean?” or “Why do we do this?”

[13:14]  ⁴⁸ tn The expression is “with strength of hand,” making “hand” the genitive of specification. In translation “strength” becomes the modifier, because “hand” specifies where the strength was. But of course the whole expression is anthropomorphic for the power of God.

[13:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “house of slaves.”

[28:26]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”