Parshas Vayakhel (5776)

The Lineage of Bezalel

The Torah writes (Exodus 35:30):

And Moses said unto the children of Israel: ‘See, the LORD hath called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

Rashi (ibid) adds:

Hur was the son of Miriam

Rashi's source is the Talmud (Sanhedrin 69b) which also adds several facts:

• Bezalel was 13 at the time he was picked
• His father was Caleb son of Jephunneh
• His mother is Miriam, thus making him Moses's great-nephew
• Caleb was 26 at the time Bezalel was born

The Talmud (Sotah 11b) also adds:

• Caleb was the son of Hezron, son of Peretz, son of Judah (son of Jacob) [see Ibn Ezra (Exodus 31:2) who disagrees, see also Josh Waxman's parshablog here and here]
• Caleb was the stepson of Kenaz, whom Caleb's mother married after Caleb was born to Hezron

The Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 40:4) writes that he had six names:

• Bezalel
• Re'ei
• Shuval
• Yachas
• Achumi
• Lachad

Midrash haGadol (Numbers 11:26) states that Bezalel was the one who suggested to Moses the idea of picking the Sanhedrin through a lottery

Daas Zkenim (Exodus 31:2) explains why his grandfather, Hur, is mentioned:

The reason why the Torah mentions also the grandfather of Betzalel, whereas in the case of his assistant, Oholiov, it mentions only his father, (verse 6) is that Chur had died a martyr’s death in opposing the Israelites‘ dancing around the golden calf. The major function of the Tabernacle was to atone for that sin. This is why his name is mentioned here in connection with the Tabernacle.

(Incidentally one of the kings of Midian was also called Hur, see Numbers 31:8 and Joshua 13:21)


[Published at parshapeople.blogspot.com / Comments welcome to parsha-people@publishyoursefer.com]