Illustration created for this project.
Bezalel
The skilled artisan filled with God's Spirit to design and build the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 2
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 1
Family & lineage
Tribe & people
BibleOf the tribe of Judah.
Exodus 31:2
Life, role & deeds
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersJosephus retells the appointment of Bezalel (Greek Beseleel) as the divinely gifted artisan of the Tabernacle, though his account is a first-century paraphrase dependent on the Torah rather than an independent witness.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 3.6.1 (3.104), trans. H. St. J. Thackeray, Loeb Classical Library 242 (1930); appointment of Beseleel as artisan of the Tabernacle, a retelling of the Torah, not independent evidence.
Name & titles
ScholarlyBezalel (Bĕtsalʾēl) is transparently 'in the shadow/protection of God' (bĕ-tsēl ʾĒl), a fitting name for the master craftsman entrusted with the sanctuary.
Hebrew onomastics: be- ('in') + tsēl ('shadow, shelter') + ʾĒl ('God').
Where in scripture
ExodusFamily
In art
