Exodus 35:30--36:2

35:30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen ¹  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, ²  and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft. ³  35:34 And he has put it in his heart ⁴  to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35:35 He has filled them with skill ⁵  to do all kinds of work ⁶  as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are ⁷  craftsmen in all the work ⁸  and artistic designers. ⁹  36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person ¹⁰  in whom the Lord has put skill ¹¹  and ability ¹²  to know how ¹³  to do all the work for the service ¹⁴  of the sanctuary are to do the work ¹⁵  according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

36:2 Moses summoned ¹⁶  Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom ¹⁷  the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him ¹⁸  to volunteer ¹⁹  to do the work,

[35:30]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “to set.”

[35:33]  ³ tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.

[35:34]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”

[35:35]  ⁷ tn Here “They are” has been supplied.

[35:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “doers of all work.”

[35:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “designers of designs.”

[36:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”

[36:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “wisdom.”

[36:1]  ¹² tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”

[36:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to” – “to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.

[36:2]  ¹⁷ tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”

[36:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “whose heart was willing.”

[36:2]  ¹⁹ 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.