Exodus 31 King James Version (KJV)
31 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel 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 all manner of workmanship,
4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
7 The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,
8 And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,
9 And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,
10 And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office,
11 And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Commentary
Craftsmen for the work (31:1-11)
In building the tabernacle, the craftsmen were to follow strictly the God-given plan, but they still had plenty of opportunity to use their creative abilities. The power of God’s Spirit worked through human intelligence and ability. At the same time people had to remember that natural ability was not enough for the service of God. His Spirit was necessary in guiding the craftsmen so that everything might be in accordance with his purposes (31:1-6)
This combination of obedience and initiative in the work of the craftsmen applied not just to the tabernacle itself. It applied also to the priests’ clothing, the anointing oil and the incense (7-11).
The tabernacle and its services were similar enough to other ancient structures and religious practices for the Israelite people to understand them readily. Yet they were different enough to impress upon them the uniqueness of Yahweh and the faith by which they served him.
The weekly day of rest (31:12-18)
People might have thought that, because the tabernacle was a sacred structure, they could work on it on the Sabbath day. God reminded them to keep the weekly Sabbath as a holy day of rest. This rest was part of God’s plan for preserving the holiness of his people (12-17).
God then gave Moses the ten basic commandments of the covenant engraved on stone as he had promised (see 24:12; cf. Deut 10:4). Having received God’s instructions for his people, Moses went down from the mountain to put them into practice (18).