Exodus 31

Bezalel and Oholiab

¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship,

⁴to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,

⁵and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship.

⁶Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

⁷the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent,

⁸the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense,

⁹the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base,

¹⁰the finely worked garments—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office—

¹¹the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

The Sabbath and the Stone Tablets

¹²The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹³“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

¹⁴You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

¹⁵Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

¹⁷It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’”

¹⁸When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.

PreviousExodus 30

NextExodus 32

God appoints Bezalel and Oholiab as master craftsmen, filling them with divine wisdom and skill to construct the tabernacle and all its furnishings. The Lord then emphasizes the perpetual importance of Sabbath observance as a covenant sign between himself and Israel, with severe penalties for violation. The chapter concludes with Moses receiving the stone tablets written by God's own finger, marking the completion of the law-giving on Mount Sinai.

Context

This chapter concludes the extensive tabernacle instructions begun in chapter 25, transitioning from divine blueprints to human implementation before the golden calf crisis in chapter 32.

Key Themes

Outline

1-6
Divine Appointment of CraftsmenGod calls Bezalel and Oholiab by name, filling them with his Spirit and wisdom for skilled craftsmanship.
7-11
Scope of the Construction WorkThe craftsmen are commissioned to make all tabernacle furnishings, priestly garments, and sacred implements.
12-17
The Sabbath CovenantGod establishes Sabbath observance as a perpetual sign of the covenant, linking it to creation and requiring strict adherence.
18
The Stone TabletsMoses receives the two tablets of the covenant, written by God's finger, concluding the Sinai revelation.

Bezalel and Oholiab

31:1–31:11

lawinstructionsolemn

God calls Bezalel and Oholiab by name and fills them with divine wisdom and skill to craft all the furnishings and garments for the tabernacle worship.

person_contrast

God's threefold endowment of Bezalel with "wisdom, understanding, and knowledge" mirrors the divine attributes typically reserved for kings and prophets, elevating craftsmanship to sacred calling.

The Sabbath and the Stone Tablets

31:12–31:18

lawinstructionsolemn

God establishes the Sabbath as a perpetual covenant sign with Israel, linking it to creation, and gives Moses the stone tablets written by God's finger.

person_contrast

Moses receives tablets "written with the finger of God" immediately after Sabbath instructions, uniquely linking divine creation rest with the physical manifestation of divine law.

Exodus 31:2

Exodus 38:22lexical

Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Exodus 35:30lexical

Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of th…

1 Chronicles 2:20lexical

Hur became the father of Uri, and Uri became the father of Bezalel.

2 Chronicles 1:5lexical

Moreover the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the LORD’s tabernacle;…

Exodus 31:3

Exodus 35:31lexical

He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship;

1 Kings 7:14lexical

He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was fil…

Proverbs 2:6lexical

For the LORD gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

Exodus 36:1lexical

“Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding to know h…

Proverbs 17:27lexical

He who spares his words has knowledge. He who is even tempered is a man of understanding.

Exodus 31:4

Exodus 35:32lexical

and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,

Exodus 31:5

Exodus 35:33lexical

in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship.

Exodus 31:6

Exodus 38:23lexical

With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer…

Exodus 35:34lexical

He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

Exodus 36:2lexical

Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even everyone whos…

Exodus 36:1lexical

“Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding to know h…

Exodus 31:7

Numbers 7:89lexical

When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy…

Exodus 30:26lexical

You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant,

1 Kings 8:4lexical

They brought up the LORD’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the…

2 Chronicles 5:5lexical

They brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The Levitical priests brou…

Exodus 30:6lexical

You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, wh…

Exodus 31:8

Exodus 30:27lexical

the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

2 Chronicles 13:11lexical

They burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in…

Numbers 3:31lexical

Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they ministe…

Exodus 39:37lexical

the pure lamp stand, its lamps, even the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels, the oil for the light,

Exodus 37:16lexical

He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out,…

Exodus 31:9

Exodus 35:16lexical

the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base;

Exodus 30:28lexical

the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.

Leviticus 8:11lexical

He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to san…

Exodus 39:39lexical

the bronze altar, its grating of bronze, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base,

Exodus 30:18lexical

“You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of M…

Exodus 31:10

Exodus 39:41lexical

the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments o…

Exodus 35:19lexical

the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of…

Exodus 39:1lexical

Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy…

Exodus 40:13lexical

You shall put on Aaron the holy garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the…

Exodus 28:4lexical

These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. The…

Exodus 31:11

Numbers 4:16lexical

“The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal o…

Exodus 37:29lexical

He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

Exodus 39:38lexical

the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent,

Exodus 35:28lexical

with the spice and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

Exodus 35:15lexical

and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door, at the door of t…

Exodus 31:13

Ezekiel 20:20lexical

Make my Sabbaths holy. They shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

Ezekiel 20:12lexical

Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who san…

Genesis 9:12lexical

God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you,…

Exodus 31:14

Leviticus 20:3lexical

I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his off…

Ezekiel 22:8lexical

You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

Ezekiel 22:26lexical

Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the hol…

Exodus 35:2lexical

‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the…

Leviticus 23:3lexical

“‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no k…

Exodus 31:15

Exodus 35:2lexical

‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the…

Leviticus 23:3lexical

“‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no k…

Leviticus 25:4lexical

but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow y…

Exodus 16:23lexical

He said to them, “This is that which the LORD has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake t…

Leviticus 23:24lexical

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn…

Exodus 31:16

Leviticus 24:8lexical

Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually. It is an everlasting covenant on the behalf of t…

Exodus 31:17

Exodus 23:12lexical

“Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and…

Exodus 34:21lexical

“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

Genesis 1:14lexical

God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to…

Genesis 9:12lexical

God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you,…

Exodus 20:11lexical

for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore…

Exodus 31:18

Deuteronomy 9:10lexical

The LORD delivered to me the two stone tablets written with God’s finger. On them were all the words which the LORD spok…

Exodus 34:29lexical

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mo…

Proverbs 7:3lexical

Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Exodus 34:4lexical

He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as…

Exodus 32:15lexical

Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were writt…

Interlinear

Word-by-word original language

v. 1

v. 2

v. 3

v. 4

v. 5

v. 6

v. 7

v. 8

v. 9

v. 10

v. 11

v. 12

v. 13

v. 14

v. 15

v. 16

v. 17

v. 18

Historical Context

Places and events in this chapter

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