What Does Exodus 35:34 Mean?
And he has set in his heart to instruct, both he and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the staff of Dan.
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 he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.THE KEY
The ability to teach is pictured as something given into the heart, then shared with others.
THE MEANING
God places the capacity to teach in the heart, and what is received inwardly moves outward through shared teaching. The verse presents understanding as something that can take root within one person and become useful to others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the assumption that what is placed within one person is meant to remain private: here, it becomes teaching shared with others.
THE ROOT
לְהוֹרֹת
lehōrōt
GROWS FROM
ירה
To throw or point; in the causative form, to direct or instruct.
“instruct” in this verse is lehōrōt. The word for teaching shares its root with Torah, meaning instruction. Teaching here carries the sense of pointing or directing: what is within the heart becomes guidance another person can receive.
ALSO GROWS
torah: Instruction
תּוֹרָה
Its shared root links teaching with instruction as a way of directing, not merely passing along information.
moreh: Teacher or instructor
מוֹרֶה
This is one who directs or instructs, echoing the role Bezalel and Aholiab share.
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
“set in his heart” in this verse is natan. The verb translated “put” is natan, “give”: what rests in the heart is framed as something given and placed there. Beside the word for teaching, it shows that this inward gift is directed outward to others.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place
נָתַן
This is the verb used for what is placed in the heart.
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
The shared root makes the heart’s capacity to teach resonate with something given.
THE PATTERN
What is placed within the heart becomes a capacity that can be shared through teaching.
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.And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart. And you shall sharpen them to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.And these things you heard from me among many witnesses, place beside steady people who will be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
He pointed me, and said to me, Let your heart grasp my words; guard my commands, and live.The Hebrew word translated “taught” shares the root ירה (yarah) with the teaching word in Exodus. Proverbs joins that instruction to the heart retaining words, echoing how teaching here begins with what is placed within.
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