In Exodus chapters 25 – 30 God commands Moses about building the Tabernacle and its furnishings. In Exodus 31:2 God designates Bezalel as the man who will perform the work.
Bezalel is mentioned only a few times in the entire Bible. Let’s examine those verses and a couple of statements in the Gemara to learn about Bezalel.
In some translations his name is spelled Bezaleel, but I will be using Bezalel in this article.
Bezalel Designated
In Exodus 31 God designates Bezalel, then in Exodus 35 Moses tells the people of Israel about him.
Chapter 31
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2. See, I have called by name: Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in every kind of workmanship.
Chapter 35
30. And Moses said to the people of Israel, See, the Lord has called by name: Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31. And He has filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in every kind of workmanship.
Exodus 31:2 Explained
Rashi inserts a couple of words to interpret the verse. “I have called by name to perform my work: Bezalel …”
We could have interpreted this verse to mean that God had spoken to Bezalel. Rashi teaches us that God is telling Moses that He has designated Bezalel to perform the work of building the Tabernacle and all of its furnishings.
Exodus 31:3 Explained
Here is Rashi’s explanation of Bezalel’s traits.
wisdom – what a person hears from others and learns.
understanding – a new thing that a person understands on his own from what he previously learned.
knowledge – divine inspiration.
Exodus 35:30 Explained
Rashi adds one more detail about Bezalel here.
Hur – he was the son of Miriam.
This means that Bezalel is a great-grandson of Miriam and Caleb (see Rashi on Exodus 24:14).
Why does the Torah use the word “see” when Bezalel is introduced?
Rabbi Hirsch explains that “see” in Exodus 31:2 and 35:30 indicates that Moses and the Jewish people are to use their judgment to determine if Bezalel is an appropriate choice to build the Tabernacle.
Rabbi Hirsch mentions that Ramban points out that Bezalel and the other craftsmen who built the Tabernacle were raised in Egyptian slavery. To leave Egypt with the needed artistic skills could only be an act of Divine providence.
God filled Bezalel with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. A person without these traits could still be a talented artist. Bezalel needed these traits to properly fulfill the spiritual intentions of the Tabernacle.
Building the Tabernacle
Moses and the people accepted that Bezalel was the proper man to build the Tabernacle.
1. Then, Bezalel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all kinds of work for the service of the sanctuary, did according to all that the Lord had commanded.
2. And Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, every one whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it.
The materials needed for the construction were gathered and the work began.
Bezalel is next mentioned by name in relation to making the Ark.
1. And Bezalel made the ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
And Bezalel made – because he applied himself to the work more than the rest of the wise men, it is called after his name [Rashi].
Others were also doing the work, but from Exodus 36:10 until 38:20 only Bezalel is named. The fashioning of the garments for the priests (Exodus 39) is attributed both to Bezalel and unnamed others. In that chapter the verses use the plural pronoun “they” rather than the singular “he.”
Rabbi Hirsch suggests that even though the pronoun “he” is used frequently in these chapters, that does not mean the work was done by Bezalel. Bezalel made the ark with his own hands since “it is the principal object for which the whole sacred Dwelling Place was erected.” But with the other objects he probably limited himself to overseeing the work.
What Does Bezalel Mean?
The Tabernacle and its furnishings were completed in Exodus 38. Then there is a bit of a summary of what had been done to that point:
22. And Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses.
Rashi notices the unusual wording of Exodus 38:22.
The verse does not say “as Moses commanded Bezalel” rather it says as “the Lord commanded Moses.” Rashi explains that Bezalel understood things that God told to Moses, even those things that Moses had not shared with Bezalel.
Rashi gives an example of what happened. According to Jewish tradition, Moses commanded Bezalel to build the furnishings of the Tabernacle and then build the structure.
Bezalel suggested to Moses that the normal order to do things is to build a house and then to furnish it. Moses accepted what Bezalel said and added that in fact God had told him to follow that order in the building process.
Moses then said to Bezalel, it seems that you were “in God’s shadow” [Hebrew: b’tzel El – suggesting that the name Bezalel is a combination two Hebrew words].
Bezalel in the Rest of the Bible
Exodus 38:22 is the last time Bezalel is mentioned by name in Exodus.
The next place we find the name Bezalel is Ezra 10:30. It’s clear from the context that this is a man who lived about one thousand years later.
Bezalel is mentioned in the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 2:20, but no new details about his life are added.
The last mention of Bezalel in the Bible is in 2 Chronicles:
5. And the bronze altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; and Solomon and the congregation sought to it.
The altar that Bezalel built stood the test of time and was still in use nearly 500 years later, during the reign of Solomon.
How Old was Bezalel?
The Torah does not reveal Bezalel’s age. However, the Gemara derives his age from hints in the genealogies.
Now, how old was Bezalel when he made the Tabernacle? Thirteen years, for it is written, “And all the wise men, that did all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made.” (Exodus 36:4)
The words “every man” are the translation of the Hebrew “ish ish.” A Jewish boy is not called “ish” until he reaches the age of 13.
There is also an idea that the repetition (ish ish) implies that he had just recently turned 13 years old.
However, Rabbi Steinsaltz (commentary on Sanhedrin) understands the Gemara to mean that Bezalel was at least 13 years old, but may have been older.
Why did God Choose Bezalel?
Bezalel was introduced as a man that God filled with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
There’s an implication in this idea that God could have chosen anyone for this task. So why choose Bezalel?
I want to suggest two related reasons why God made this choice.
Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which the heavens and earth were created.
It is written here, “And He has filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge” (Exodus 35:31).
And it is written elsewhere, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens” (Proverbs 3:19).
And it is also written, “By His knowledge the depths were broken up” (Proverbs 3:20).
Our world was created by God using the traits of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. God filled Bezalel with these same traits.
Bezalel was then able to wield these traits in a manner that came close to mirroring God’s creative actions. Thus he was able to build the Tabernacle that hints at the heavens and the earth.
God said the Tabernacle would become the place where He would dwell among the Jewish people (Exodus 25:8). To fulfill this lofty ideal required more than just a physical structure. It needed to be built will all of the proper intentions.
God filled Bezalel with the traits mentioned above. Then, combined with his unique personality, Bezalel was able to build the Tabernacle with the required intentions.
That’s my first suggestion for why Bezalel was chosen.
My second suggestion is that he was chosen because he was young. Whether we accept that he was literally only 13 years old or not, there is no doubt that the Gemara means he was a young man.
No one would expect a young man to have the skills and maturity to accomplish such a tremendous task.
Bezalel’s youth and inexperience help us realize and understand that Divine providence was behind what he accomplished.
Perhaps the the z’chus of Miriam was involved. She was associated with providing water, which was physical nourishment to the Jewish people. Therefore her son It was Bezalel, by building the Tabernacle, became associated with what would provide spiritual nourishment to them. Miriam helped them stay alive physically, and her son helped them stay alive spiritually, during their time in the Sinai.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. For the record, Bezalel is Miriam’s great-grandson. I suppose you meant “son” in the general sense of the word.
I like your suggestion of Bezalel’s role in providing “spiritual nourishment” to the Jewish people.
There is an idea in Jewish tradition that Hur, Bezalel’s grandfather, was murdered by the people who were intent on worshiping the Golden Calf. I saw a suggestion that God appointing Bezalel to build the Tabernacle served as a partial atonement for that sin. I did not have time to pursue that idea further, so I didn’t include it in the article.