What Does Exodus 31:6 Mean?
And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the staff of Dan. And in the heart of all the wise of heart I have set wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you.
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 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;THE KEY
The same verb of giving places both a collaborator beside the maker and practical wisdom within the maker.
THE MEANING
Both the collaborator beside the maker and wisdom within the maker are given for the work before you. Aholiab (אָהֳלִיאָב, Oholiav, “tent of my father”) and Ahisamach (אֲחִיסָמָךְ, Ahisamakh, “my brother has supported”) carry dwelling and support in their names. Wisdom is not only an idea to possess; it is a capacity within the heart that becomes making.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief that meaningful work depends only on skill you already possess alone: this verse presents capacity as placed within the heart and support as standing alongside.
THE ROOT
נָתַתִּי
natatti
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, put, or place.
“set” in this verse is natatti. The same Hebrew verb appears twice: it is rendered “given” for Aholiab and “put” for wisdom in the hearts. Hebrew holds the collaborator and the inward skill together as provisions given for the work.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give or place.
נָתַן
This verb form shares the root used twice in the verse, joining the person given alongside the maker with the wisdom placed within.
mattanah: Gift or present.
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root makes clear that what enables the work is received as a gift.
חָכְמָה
chokhmah
GROWS FROM
חכם
ḥ-k-m
To be wise and skillful; practical discernment.
“wise of heart” in this verse is chokhmah. Here wisdom is more than abstract understanding: it is the know-how that shapes materials into the commanded work. The same root describes both wisdom and a skilled, wise person, placing usable craft in the heart before it appears in the work.
ALSO GROWS
chakam: To be wise or act with skill.
חָכַם
This verb shows wisdom as an active capacity, not merely something understood in thought.
chakam: A wise or skilled person.
חָכָם
The verse calls the makers wise-hearted, linking the root’s description of a person directly to the craft they carry out.
אֲחִיסָמָךְ
Ahisamakh
GROWS FROM
סמך
s-m-kh
To support, uphold, or lean upon.
Ahisamach’s name contains this root and means “my brother has supported.” The names around the work echo its structure: wisdom within the maker and support beside the maker.
ALSO GROWS
samakh: To support, lean upon, or uphold.
סָמַךְ
This root within Ahisamach’s name gives the collaborator’s presence the meaning of support.
semikhah: Support or leaning upon.
סְמִיכָה
This related noun makes the name’s note of support visible as an action that holds something up.
THE PATTERN
Skill for meaningful work is received within people and becomes visible in work that serves beyond the self.
And he has filled him with the breath of God, in wisdom, in discernment, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work.But the showing of the breath is given to each one, for what carries us together.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
For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and discernment.The same Hebrew word חָכְמָה (chokhmah, wisdom) appears here and in Proverbs, which names the LORD as its giver. That opens the inward placement in this verse further: wisdom is received and then realized through the work of the hands.
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