Bezalel

Bezalel

In Exodus 31:1-6 and chapters 36 to 39, Bezalel, Bezaleel, or Betzalel (Hebrew: בְּצַלְאֵל, Bəṣalʼēl), was the chief artisan of the Tabernacle and was in charge of building the Ark of the Covenant, assisted by Oholiab. The section in chapter 31 describes his selection as chief artisan, in the context of Moses' vision of how God wanted the tabernacle to be constructed, and chapters 36 to 39 recount the construction process undertaken by Bezalel, Oholiab and every gifted artisan and willing worker, in accordance with the vision. Elsewhere in the Bible the name occurs only in the genealogical lists of the Book of Chronicles, but according to cuneiform inscriptions a variant form of the same, "Ṣil-Bēl," was borne by a king of Gaza who was a contemporary of Hezekiah and Manasseh.The name "Bezalel" means "in the shadow [protection] of God." Bezalel is described in the genealogical lists as the son of Uri (Exodus 31:1), the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah (I Chronicles 2:18, 19, 20, 50). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Bezalel has received more than 422,658 page views. His biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 15 in 2019). Bezalel is the 1,764th most popular religious figure (down from 1,478th in 2019).