Bezalel

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• Origin: Hebrew בְּצַלְאֵל
• Meaning: “in the shadow of God; under the protection of God.”
• Gender: masculine
• Pronunciation Eng: beh-ZAH-lel

The name is borne in Exodus 31:1-6 by the chief artisan assigned by Moses to build the Tabernacle, Ark of the Covenant, priests’ vestments and other equipment with the assistance of Aholiab. In Exodus 31:1, he is listed as the son of Uri.

The name itself is believed to share a similar etymological construction with the Akkadian male names ina-ṣilli-Bēl and ina-ṣilli-Nabu (in the shadow of Baal or Nabu).

The name has always been used in the Jewish diaspora in Europe and the Middle East. It was borne by the 16th-century Ottoman rabbi and talmudist Bezalel Ashkenazi, and it was the name of the father of the Maharal of Prague,(Judah Loew ben Bezalel circ. 17th-century).

The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design & the Jewish art movement known as the Bezalel School both take their name from the character in the Bible.

Among Russian-Jews, Vasily would have been used as a Russified form, though the names do not share an etymological relationship.

Other forms include:

• Bezaleël (Dutch)
• Bezalel (English, German)
• Béséléel (French)
• Beseleel Βεσελεήλ (Greek)
• Bezaleèl (Italian)
• Becalel (Polish)
• Besaliel (Portuguese)
• Veseleíl Веселеи́л (Russian)
• Becalél’, Becal’ї́l Бецале́ль, Бецал’ї́л (Ukrainian)

Sources

• https://www.behindthename.com/name/bezalel/submitted
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezalel
• http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3239-bezalel
• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bezalel
• https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02526d.htm