What Does Exodus 31:3 Mean in the King James?

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

Exodus 31:3 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Hebrew word for spirit also means breath and wind, so the skill in Bezalel’s hands is joined to God’s living breath.

THE MEANING

Your capacity to make takes shape as wisdom, understanding, and knowledge fill you with God’s breath. Understanding becomes visible in the skilled work of your hands.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that spiritual life and practical skill belong to separate worlds.

THE ROOT

רוּחַ

ruach

GROWS FROM

רוח

r-w-ḥ

Breath, moving air, or wind.

Ruach holds breath, wind, and spirit in one word. The verse’s gift is not an abstract force detached from life: God’s breath fills Bezalel and becomes evident in his work.

ALSO GROWS

ruach: Wind or moving air.

רוּחַ

This sense keeps the image of God’s active, moving presence close to the verse’s gift.

ruchot: Winds or spirits; the plural form of ruach.

רוּחוֹת

The plural carries the same joined sense of moving air and spirit that English renders with separate words.

חָכְמָה

chokhmah

GROWS FROM

חכם

ḥ-k-m

To be wise or skilled.

Chokhmah can describe wisdom that knows how to do something, not only wisdom as an idea. Here it appears alongside workmanship, so insight reaches the hands as craft.

ALSO GROWS

ḥakham: Wise or skilled.

חָכָם

This form shows that wisdom can describe a quality of practical ability as well as judgment.

ḥakham: To be wise or become skilled.

חָכַם

The verb makes wisdom an enacted capacity, fitting the work that follows in the verse.

תְּבוּנָה

tevunah

GROWS FROM

בין

b-y-n

To discern or distinguish.

The root behind understanding also appears in the Hebrew word for “between.” Understanding involves noticing distinctions and relations, the kind of perception that lets skilled work take shape.

ALSO GROWS

bin: To understand or discern.

בִּין

This verb shows understanding as active perception rather than stored information.

bein: Between or among.

בֵּין

The shared root links understanding with discerning how things differ and relate.

THE PATTERN

God’s breath takes form in people as distinct capacities that become visible in their work.

And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;

Exodus 35:31 · KJVThe same gifts of breath, wisdom, and understanding appear as the source of skilled making.

And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Isaiah 11:2 · KJVGod’s spirit is named as the source of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

1 Corinthians 12:11 · KJVDifferent capacities emerge through the same Spirit, each taking its own form.

THE THREAD

And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Isaiah 11:2 · KJV

The same Hebrew word, ruach, joins spirit with breath and wind in both verses. Isaiah also gathers spirit, wisdom, understanding, and knowledge together, showing the same source-and-capacity pattern.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us