וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רְא֛וּ קָרָ֥א יְהוָ֖ה בְּשֵׁ֑ם בְּצַלְאֵ֛ל בֶּן־אוּרִ֥י בֶן־ח֖וּר לְמַטֵּ֥ה יְהוּדָֽה׃
און משה האָט געזאָגט צו די קינדער פֿון ישׂראל: זעט, גאָט האָט גערופֿן מיטן נאָמען בצַלאֵל דעם זון פֿון אורי דעם זון פֿון חורן, פֿון שבֿט יהודה.
Rashi
חור HUR was the son the Miriam (Sotah 11b; cf. Rashi on Exodus 24:14).
Kli Yakar
“Behold, God has called by name Bezalel.” Moses said, “See and pay careful attention to their names, for God has called Bezalel by name. From the beginning, God gave them names that indicate they were created for this purpose — to be engaged in the sacred work. For Bezalel is derived from ‘betzal El’ [in the shadow of God], hinting that he would build the Tabernacle and the Ark, which would be a dwelling place for the Divine Presence that comes under its shadow, as it is written He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1). And it is written He shall lie between my breasts (Song of Songs 1:13). Our Sages explained that the Holy One, blessed be He, would constrict His Presence between the two poles of the Ark and between the two cherubim who cover their wings over the face of the cover. And the covering [sekakh] relates to shade [tzel], for they were the ‘shadow of God,’ as it were.
Evidence for this is that in all the work of the Tabernacle it is written ”and he made“ without mentioning Bezalel, but regarding the Ark it is written and Bezalel made the Ark. All this proves that he was called ”betzal El“ [in the shadow of God] because of the Ark.
Son of Uri — this refers to the light [or] of the Torah, for he would build a place for the Torah, which is light.
Son of Hur — this indicates that it was proper to bring him near to this sacred work more than others, since Hur, his grandfather, sacrificed his life during the incident of the Golden Calf, which caused the breaking of the Tablets. According to our Sages (Sanhedrin 7a), they killed Hur.
Of the tribe of Judah — which is compared to a lion cub, and the Temple is called ”Ariel“ [lion of God]. Just as a lion is wider in front and narrower behind, so too the Tabernacle was wider in front and narrower behind. This teaches that the place of the Divine Presence does not depend on expansiveness, for the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, how much less this house. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose a narrow place for His Presence to teach that He is not limited to any space, and for the honor of Israel He compromised His own honor by establishing Himself in a place. Nevertheless, He chose a narrow place for Himself, and this is sufficient as a prompt for the enlightened.
Evidence for this is that in all the work of the Tabernacle it is written ”and he made“ without mentioning Bezalel, but regarding the Ark it is written and Bezalel made the Ark. All this proves that he was called ”betzal El“ [in the shadow of God] because of the Ark.
Son of Uri — this refers to the light [or] of the Torah, for he would build a place for the Torah, which is light.
Son of Hur — this indicates that it was proper to bring him near to this sacred work more than others, since Hur, his grandfather, sacrificed his life during the incident of the Golden Calf, which caused the breaking of the Tablets. According to our Sages (Sanhedrin 7a), they killed Hur.
Of the tribe of Judah — which is compared to a lion cub, and the Temple is called ”Ariel“ [lion of God]. Just as a lion is wider in front and narrower behind, so too the Tabernacle was wider in front and narrower behind. This teaches that the place of the Divine Presence does not depend on expansiveness, for the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, how much less this house. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose a narrow place for His Presence to teach that He is not limited to any space, and for the honor of Israel He compromised His own honor by establishing Himself in a place. Nevertheless, He chose a narrow place for Himself, and this is sufficient as a prompt for the enlightened.
Siftei Chakhamim
He was Miriam’s son. Rashi is answering the question: Why does the Torah trace Betzalel back only as far as Chur? Alternatively, why does it not say, “Betzalel, son of Uri, of the tribe of Yehudah”? Rashi answers that Chur was the son of Miriam, who was a prophetess — and that is why Betzalel merited all this [honor].