Exodus 31:2

Summary

The verse opens a divine speech in which the speaker directs attention to a specific individual, Bezalel, identified by his patrilineal descent (son of Uri, son of Hur) and his tribal affiliation, Judah. The construction emphasizes a deliberate, personal act of designation "by name."

Key words

• re.'Eh ("see", H7200I) — qal imperative, masculine singular; a direct command demanding attention, opening the speech with an imperative appeal to the listener.
• ka.Ra.ti ("I have called", H7121G) — qal perfect, first person singular; the perfect aspect marks the calling as a completed, settled act prior to the moment of speaking.
• Shem ("name", H8034) — masculine singular noun, preceded by the preposition ve ("by", H9003), forming the phrase "by name," indicating specificity of the one designated rather than a general or anonymous selection.
• ben- ("[the] son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct noun, used twice in the verse to link Bezalel to his father Uri and his grandfather Hur, establishing a genealogical chain.
• ma.Teh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular construct noun, governing the name Yehudah ("Judah", H3063G) and situating Bezalel within a specific tribal identity.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence begins with the imperative re.'Eh ("see"), a verb form that functions as a rhetorical device to draw the addressee's focus before the main statement is delivered. This is followed by ka.Ra.ti ("I have called"), a first-person qal perfect verb. The perfect aspect in Biblical Hebrew typically denotes a completed action, so the calling is presented as an accomplished fact rather than an action in progress.

The phrase be-Shem ("by name") modifies the verb of calling, specifying that the designation is personal and named rather than generic. The following string of construct nouns — ben- ... ben- ... — builds a three-generation genealogy: Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur. Hebrew construct chains of this type link nouns without an explicit possessive marker, relying on word order and the construct form itself to signal the "of" relationship. The final construct, ma.Teh Yehudah ("tribe of Judah"), attaches Bezalel's identity to a tribal group, closing the verse with geographic/social placement rather than further genealogy.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ka.Ra.ti ("I have called") with ἀνακέκλημαι ("I have summoned/called back"), a middle-voice perfect verb, differing slightly in voice from the Hebrew active qal perfect. The Vulgate uses vocavi ("I have called"), closely matching the Hebrew's active perfect sense. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation renders ka.Ra.ti as "he escogido personalmente" ("I have personally chosen"), introducing the concept of "choosing," which is an interpretive expansion beyond the base meaning "to call" (H7121G) found in the Hebrew text. Additionally, SBLIBRE describes Hur as Bezalel's "nieto" ("grandson"), making explicit the generational relationship that the Hebrew construct chain (ben...ben...) leaves in chain form without the interpretive label "grandson."