He Was One of the Seven Descendants of Adam Called by Various Names

"Bezalel son of Uri" (Exodus 31:2): this is one of seven human beings for whom several names were given. Jesse was given four, Bezalel six, Joshua eight, Elijah four, Moses seven, Mordecai eight, and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah four. Elijah, four. Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat said: he was a man of Jerusalem, and he was of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was among those who sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, and he was from a city of Judah, and his portion lay in two tribes. Five places in Benjamin, as it is written: "And Zela, Eleph, and the Jebusite, that is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kiriath" (Joshua 18:28). And a third part in Judah: "Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad" (Joshua 15:37). "Zenan," because it is a shield (tzinnah). "Hadashah," because the Holy One, blessed be He, will renew (mechadshah) it in the time to come. "Migdal-gad," because from there the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring forth and cut down (megaded) the dwellings and the foundations of the nations of the world. And four names were given to him (in Chronicles), as it is said: "And Yaareshyah and Eliyah and Zichri, the sons of Yeroham" (1 Chronicles 8:27). "Yaareshyah," because at the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry and shakes (mar'ish) His world, Elijah arises and mentions the fathers of the world before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He has mercy. Therefore it is written: "And Yaareshyah and Eliyah and Zichri, the sons of Yeroham," thus four names. Bezalel was given six. And you may trace his lineage as coming from the tribe of Judah in Chronicles, as it is said: "And the sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal" (1 Chronicles 4:1). But surely Hezron was only the grandson of Judah, as it is written: "And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul" (Genesis 46:12). And one verse says: "And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephrathah, then the wife of Hezron, Abiah, bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa" (1 Chronicles 2:24). Now is there a person who dies within another person, that it says "and after the death of Hezron in Caleb"? Rather, what does it mean? When Hezron died, Caleb came to Ephrath, this is Miriam, through whom Israel were fruitful and multiplied. And it is written: "And Azubah died, and Caleb took to himself Ephrath, and she bore him Hur; and Hur begot Uri, and Uri begot Bezalel" (1 Chronicles 2:19-20). "And Reaiah son of Shobal begot Jahath, and Jahath begot Ahumai and Lahad; these are the families of the Zorathites" (1 Chronicles 4:2). "Bezalel," the name his mother, his nation, called him. And the Holy One, blessed be He, called him five names, after the name of the Tabernacle of love. "Reaiah," because the Holy One, blessed be He, showed (her'ah) all Israel that he was prepared from the beginning of creation to make the Tabernacle. "Son of Shobal," because he came to set it up. "Jahath," because he set the dread (chittito) of the Holy One, blessed be He, upon Israel. "Ahumai," because he joined (ichah) Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He. "Lahad," because he established splendor (hod) and majesty in the Tabernacle, which was the glory of Israel. And Rabbi Adda bar Hiyya said: "Lahad," because the lowliest of the tribes was attached to him in the Tabernacle. And which is it? "And with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan" (Exodus 38:23). Rabbi Chanina ben Pazzi said: you have none greater among all the tribes than the tribe of Judah, and you have none lowlier than the tribe of Dan, who was from the handmaids. What is written of him? "And the sons of Dan: Hushim" (Genesis 46:23). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let him come and be joined with him, so that his spirit not be haughty, for great and small are equal before the Holy One, blessed be He. Rabbi Chanina said: let a person never be arrogant in his honor; the Tabernacle was made by these two tribes. And the Temple too they made thus: Solomon from Judah and Hiram from Dan, as it is said: "the son of a widow woman of the tribe of Naphtali" (1 Kings 7:13). And in Chronicles it is written: "the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan" (2 Chronicles 2:13), for his father was of Naphtali and his mother of Dan. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In this world you made a Tabernacle and a Temple that were like a wall; and in the time to come I will build the Temple, and it shall be surrounded by a wall of fire, as it is said: "And I will be to her, says the LORD, a wall of fire" (Zechariah 2:9).