Exodus 35:34

Summary

The verse states that the ability "to teach" was placed in the heart of an unnamed "he" (referring back to Bezalel from the preceding verses) and also in Oholiab son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan. The Hebrew presents this as a completed divine action lodged specifically in the "heart" of these two craftsmen.

Key words

• horot ("to teach", H3384B) — Hiphil infinitive, a causative form meaning "to cause to know" or "to instruct"; it is the object of what has been "put" into the heart.
• natan ("he has put/given", H5414H) — Qal perfect, third person masculine singular; marks a completed action, "he put" or "he gave," with the subject (commonly understood as YHWH from the wider context) left grammatically implicit in this clause since no explicit subject noun appears here.
• lev ("heart", H3820A) — masculine singular noun in construct form ("heart of"), combined with the suffix -o ("his") in item 7, yielding "his heart" — the Hebrew organ associated with intention, skill, and inner faculty.
• hu' ("he", H1931) — independent personal pronoun, used here to re-emphasize the subject who received this ability, standing apart from the verb.
• ben ("son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct noun, forming the patronymic "Oholiab son of Ahisamach."

What the text says

The Hebrew clause opens with the conjunction u- ("and") attached to the infinitive le-horot ("to teach"), which functions as the direct object of the verb natan ("he has put"). This word order — infinitive object before the finite verb — places syntactic emphasis on the act of teaching itself as the thing granted. The verb natan is in the Qal perfect, indicating a completed action, but the clause contains no explicit subject noun; the identity of the giver is understood from the broader narrative context rather than stated grammatically in this verse.

The phrase be-libbo ("in his heart") uses the construct noun lev ("heart") with the third-person suffix, locating the granted ability within an internal faculty rather than describing it as external knowledge. The pronoun hu' ("he") then reintroduces the recipient explicitly, followed by ve-Oholiav ("and Oholiab"), joining a second beneficiary to the same grant. Both men are identified through patronymic and tribal construct chains: "son of" (ben) and "tribe of" (via mateh, construct form), which anchor the individuals within kinship and tribal identity structures typical of Biblical Hebrew genealogical notices.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew name "Oholiab" ('Oholi'av) as Ἐλιάβ ("Eliab") — a shorter form lacking the initial element found in the Hebrew name. The Vulgate preserves a closer transliteration, "Ooliab," matching more closely the Hebrew consonantal structure than the LXX's rendering.