Exodus 38:23

Summary

The verse identifies Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, as the associate craftsman working alongside the person named in the preceding verses (traditionally Bezalel, though not named here). It describes his skills as an engraver, a designer, and an embroiderer working with dyed threads and fine linen.

Key words

• cha.Rash ("an engraver", H2796) — a masculine singular noun denoting a craftsman who cuts or carves materials such as wood, stone, or metal.
• cho.Shev ("a skillful worker", H2803G) — a qal participle, literally "the one devising/planning," describing ongoing skilled activity rather than a fixed title.
• ro.Kem ("a worker in colors", H7551) — another qal participle, "the one embroidering," parallel in form to cho.Shev, indicating continuous craft activity.
• to.La.'at ("[the] scarlet stuff of", H8438B) — a feminine singular noun in construct state, linking it grammatically to ha.Shani ("the scarlet", H8144) to form the compound expression "scarlet stuff of scarlet [dye]."
• ben- ("[the] son of", H1121A) — a construct-form noun that binds Oholiab to his father's name, Ahisamach, establishing genealogical identification.

What the text says

The sentence opens with ve'itto ("and with him"), a prepositional phrase with pronominal suffix that ties this verse to a preceding one, indicating Oholiab's role as companion or associate to someone already mentioned. The core of the verse is a chain of identifications: Oholiab is named, then defined by patronymic (ben Achisamach, "son of Ahisamach"), then by tribal affiliation (le.matteh-Dan, "of the tribe of Dan"), each using construct-state nouns that create a tight genealogical and geographic anchoring.

The three occupational terms — charash ("engraver"), choshev ("skillful worker"), and roqem ("worker in colors") — combine a plain noun with two qal participles. The participial forms grammatically frame the latter two skills as active, ongoing practices ("the one devising," "the one embroidering") rather than static professional titles, a nuance not distinguished in translations that render all three simply as parallel nouns ("engraver, designer, embroiderer").

The materials list — techelet ("violet stuff", H8504), argaman ("purple", H0713), tola'at ha-shani ("scarlet stuff of scarlet", H8438B + H8144), and shesh ("fine linen", H8336B) — is introduced by repeated prepositions ba- / u-ve- ("in the... and in..."), each material governed by its own preposition, producing a rhythmic list structure. The phrase tola'at ha-shani is a construct chain literally meaning "scarlet-worm-stuff of the scarlet [color]," reflecting the source of the dye (a scale insect) fused with the color term.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew and the Vulgate both name Oholiab, his father, and his tribe, matching closely. The LXX text provided (Swete) diverges substantially in content: rather than naming Oholiab, it describes the making of altar vessels ("all the vessels of the altar, its fire-pan, base, bowls, and bronze flesh-hooks"), showing that the Greek text at this verse position addresses different subject matter than the Hebrew and Vulgate. The Vulgate adds descriptive material not explicit in the Hebrew construct chain, such as calling him artifex lignorum egregius ("an outstanding craftsman of wood"), specifying "wood" where the Hebrew charash ("engraver") does not specify a material.