In discussing the craftsmanship and expertise of Betzalel and Ohaliav — who were instrumental in the construction of the Tabernacle and its associated paraphernalia — the Torah uses the terms charash, choshev, and rokem (Ex. 35:35, 38:23). On the surface, all three terms seem to be synonymous in reference to specific skills and abilities that these two men possessed, but the commentators show the nuances expressed by the use of these three distinct terms. This essay explores those nuances and discusses other words that are etymologically-adjacent to these three words to help gain a better appreciation of what the Torah meant to convey when describing Betzalel and Ohaliav’s talents.
In a somewhat cryptic passage, the Talmud (Yoma 72b) explains that choshev and rokem both refer to sorts of “embroidery,” but that choshev refers to embroidery via weaving which produces “two faces,” while rokem refers to embroidery via stitching which produces “one face.” Rashi (to Yoma 72b, there 26:1, 26:31) explains that the Talmud means that both of these terms refer to a double-sided embroidery: choshev refers to weaving an image (say a lion) on one side of a fabric, weaving another image (say an eagle) on one side of another fabric, and then combining them into a two-plied fabric with different images on each of its sides (a lion and an eagle). On the other hand, rokem refers to the more advanced ability to embroider a symmetrical image into one fabric such that it can be seen in the same way from both sides of the fabric. Maimonides (Laws of Klei HaMikdash 8:15) and Abarbanel (to Ex. 26:1) explain that rokem refers to the ability to embroider an image on one side of a fabric (leaving the other side empty, per Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in Derech Chochmah), while choshev refers to what Rashi explained as rokem. Either way, it is telling that neither the Talmud, nor the above-mentioned commentators, discussed what charash means in relation to all of this.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (to Ex. 26:1) offers a similar explanation that connects REISH-KUF-MEM to REISH-GIMMEL-MEM (via the interchangeability of KUF and GIMMEL) to argue that just as the latter refers to "stoning" a person to death by piling stones upon him, so does the former apply to one who weaves an embroidered fabric in such a way that it appears as though the foreground image was piled on top of its background.
Rabbi Yonah (Marwan) Ibn Janach (990–1050) authored Sefer HaDikduk, which was one of the first studies on the Hebrew language. In his introduction to that work, he explains that he divides this book into two parts, the first is called Sefer HaRikmah (“the Book of Embroidery”) and the second is called Sefer HaShorashim (“the Book of Roots”). While the second part deals exclusively with the etymological/lexical roots of words in the Hebrew language, the first part deals with a wide array of grammatical, orthographic, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and linguistic issues related to the Hebrew language. Ibn Janach writes that because of the wide range of topics discussed in that first part of his book, he called it Sefer HaRikmah in allusion to rikmot ha’adamah, a phrase which referred to botanical gardens in which multiple species were planted, which harkens back to the Biblical concept of rokem, defined as “one who produces fabrics comprised of multiple colors.” Radak (to Judges 5:30, Yechezkel 17:3, and in Sefer HaShorashim) also defines rokem as one who weaves or sews a multicolored textile. [Interestingly, I have been unable to find the phrase rikmot ha’adamah used anywhere else besides Ibn Janach’s introduction. It should be pointed out, though, that Ibn Janach’s work was originally written in Judeo-Arabic and was only later translated in Hebrew.]
Targum Onkelos translates these three words into separate Aramaic terms, rendering charash as uman, choshev as nagar (“carpenter/woodworker” in Modern Hebrew), and rokem as tzayar (“painter” in Modern Hebrew). Although none of these words appear in the Bible, the word uman appears many times in the Mishnah (for example, Bikkurim 3:3, Pesachim 4:6, Kiddushin 4:14, Sanhedrin 3:4, Avodah Zarah 5:7, Erachin 6:3, Taharot 7:3) and has a close relative that appears once in the Bible, aman (Song of Songs 7:2). Machberet Menachem defines an uman as any sort of artisan or craftsman, while Radak (in Sefer HaShorashim) implies that only an expert in his field may be called such.
*For more about the words charash, choshev, and rokem with a discussion of how they differ from each other, check out the full version of this essay online at: http://ohr.edu/this_week/whats_in_a_word/
