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Exodus 35 Bible study: Whoever is of a willing heart
Before any building, Moses sets the Sabbath first, and one Hebrew word, mela'khah, names both the work that stops on the Sabbath and the work of the tabernacle. The chapter says "willing" again and again, and sets no amount. Women spun with their own hands, and Bezalel and Oholiab were filled with wisdom and given the heart to teach (35:34).
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“The children of Israel brought a free will offering to the LORD; every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by Moses.”
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“When Moses gathers the people to begin the tabernacle, the first thing he speaks about is the Sabbath.”
Is that in Exodus 35, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The Sabbath comes first
When the LORD gave Moses the plans on the mountain, the last thing he spoke of was the Sabbath: "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD" (31:15). Now Moses gathers the people to start building, and the Sabbath is the first thing he says: "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD" (35:2). Then comes a line found nowhere else in Exodus: "You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day" (35:3). In Hebrew, the "work" that stops on the Sabbath (35:2) is mela'khah, the same word the chapter uses for "the work of the Tent of Meeting" (35:21) and "all the work, which the LORD had commanded" (35:29). The text adds no comment. It simply sets the day of rest before the work of building.
Where it leads to Jesus
She gave all she had
Exodus 35:29leads toMark 12:43-44
Exodus 35 sets no amount. It asks for gifts from "whoever is of a willing heart" (35:5), and "every man and woman whose heart made them willing" brought "a free will offering to the LORD" (35:29). Jesus sat by the temple treasury: "Many who were rich cast in much" (Mark 12:41), and "A poor widow came and she cast in two small brass coins" (Mark 12:42). He told his disciples, "this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury" (Mark 12:43), "for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on" (Mark 12:44). Luke tells it too (Luke 21:1-4). Jesus doesn't cite Exodus 35, so this link is a reading: some hear in his words a way of weighing a gift that, like this chapter, doesn't go by its size; others read them as his lesson at the treasury, without a link to this chapter.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Exodus 35
That was a taste
The rest of Exodus 35 is waiting in Favor
- Willing, again and again
- Women who spun
- Filled, and given to teach
- Commanded, then done
- More than enough, and a cheerful giver
- Bezalel's work, remembered
- 10 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Exodus 35 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
נָדִיבnadivsay na-DEEV
Brown-Driver-Briggs gives "inclined, generous, noble", and "incited, inclined, willing"; Strong's, "from 5068; properly, voluntary, i.e. generous". Its first use in the Hebrew Bible is here: "Whoever is of a willing heart" (35:5). It comes once more in Exodus, in "as many as were willing-hearted" (35:22). It comes from the verb of the LORD's first call for gifts, "everyone whose heart makes him willing" (25:2). Elsewhere it often names a person of rank (Strong's: "as noun, a grandee"). David prays with it: "Uphold me with a willing spirit" (Psalm 51:12).
For your group
Exodus 35 Bible study questions
- 1"Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it." Think of something you gave gladly, not because you had to. What made it glad?
- 2Before any building, Moses spoke about rest. Is there something good you're so busy doing that rest keeps getting pushed aside? What would stopping look like this week?
- 3Bezalel and Oholiab were given skill and the heart to teach it. Who taught you something that shaped your faith, and what could you pass on to someone else?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 35 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home