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

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.

Exodus 35:35--36:2

35:35 He has filled them with skill ⁹  to do all kinds of work ¹⁰  as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are ¹¹  craftsmen in all the work ¹²  and artistic designers. ¹³  36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person ¹⁴  in whom the Lord has put skill ¹⁵  and ability ¹⁶  to know how ¹⁷  to do all the work for the service ¹⁸  of the sanctuary are to do the work ¹⁹  according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

36:2 Moses summoned ²⁰  Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom ²¹  the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him ²²  to volunteer ²³  to do the work,

Proverbs 2:6

2:6 For ²⁴  the Lord gives ²⁵  wisdom,

and from his mouth ²⁶  comes ²⁷  knowledge and understanding.

Isaiah 28:24-26

28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? ²⁸ 

Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?

28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,

does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,

sow the seed of the cumin plant,

and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? ²⁹ 

28:26 His God instructs him;

he teaches him the principles of agriculture. ³⁰ 

[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.

[35:35]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”

[35:35]  ¹¹ tn Here “They are” has been supplied.

[35:35]  ¹² tn Heb “doers of all work.”

[35:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “designers of designs.”

[36:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”

[36:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wisdom.”

[36:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”

[36:1]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to” – “to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.

[36:2]  ²¹ tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”

[36:2]  ²² tn Or “whose heart was willing.”

[36:2]  ²³ 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.

[2:6]  ²⁴ tn This is a causal clause. The reason one must fear and know the Lord is that he is the source of true, effectual wisdom.

[2:6]  ²⁵ tn The verb is an imperfect tense which probably functions as a habitual imperfect describing a universal truth in the past, present and future.

[2:6]  ²⁶ sn This expression is an anthropomorphism; it indicates that the Lord is the immediate source or author of the wisdom. It is worth noting that in the incarnation many of these “anthropomorphisms” become literal in the person of the Logos, the Word, Jesus, who reveals the Father.

[2:6]  ²⁷ tn The verb “comes” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[28:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “All the day does the plowman plow in order to plant?” The phrase “all the day” here has the sense of “continually, always.” See BDB 400 s.v. יוֹם.

[28:25]  ²⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “place wheat [?], and barley [?], and grain in its territory.” The term שׂוֹרָה (shorah) is sometimes translated “[in] its place,” but the word is unattested elsewhere. It is probably due to dittography of the immediately following שְׂעֹרָה (sÿo’rah, “barley”). The meaning of נִסְמָן (nisman) is also uncertain. It may be due to dittography of the immediately following כֻסֶּמֶת (kussemet, “grain”).

[28:26]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”