What Does Exodus 31:5 Mean?
And in the cutting of stones, to fill them, and in the carving of wood, to work in all manner of work.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.THE KEY
The same Hebrew word names both the stonework and the woodwork, revealing one craft that gives unlike materials a fitting form.
THE MEANING
The verse shows you skilled making at work: stone is cut to fit, timber is carved, and each material is brought into usable form. Wisdom becomes visible in careful shaping, where raw material is brought toward a fitting purpose.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that skilled work with physical materials is separate from sacred work: cutting stone and carving wood belong to the work of the sanctuary.
THE ROOT
חֲרֹשֶׁת
ḥărōšet
GROWS FROM
חרש
ḥ-r-š (ḥāraš): to engrave, carve, or work skillfully into material.
The Hebrew term is repeated for work with stone and wood, so it does not divide the craft by material. Its root joins the act of shaping with the skilled worker, presenting cutting, fitting, and carving as one craft of giving form.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāraš: to engrave, carve, or craft
חָרַשׁ
This verb names the shaping action that the verse shows in stone and timber.
ḥārāš: craftsman, artisan
חָרָשׁ
This noun names the worker whose skill gives material a fitting form.
THE PATTERN
God-given wisdom becomes visible through purposeful work that gives form to material.
And in the cutting of stones, to fill them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of work of design.He was a widow's son of the branch of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a carver in bronze. And he was filled with craft, and with discernment, and with perception to work every work in bronze. And he came to king Solomon, and did all his work.For we are his making, created in the Anointed One, Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that in them we might walk.THE THREAD
And in the cutting of stones, to fill them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of work of design.The same Hebrew craft term appears again for both stonework and woodwork. This echo binds cutting, setting, and carving into one act of shaping, showing that the different materials share a single craft.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us