Wiseheart

I'm in Exodus as I read through the Bible in a year, and last night I found something really fun. I've always enjoyed the story about God choosing Bezalel to be the main artisan for the building of the Tabernacle. Coming as I do from a very artistic family, it's very validating to see in black and white among the many words of The Word the Lord God of the universe providing and soliciting creativity. And not just creativity— art! At it's best.
“And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats' hair.” (Exo 35:25-26)
Simple word study here out of the margin of my study Bible. “Skillful” there at the beginning of the verse means literally “woman wise of heart.” Then it talks about hearts “stirred,” which literally means “lifted [them] up in wisdom.” Verse 35 continues the theme. “He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.” (Exo 35:35) “Skill” here means “wisdom of heart.” Again in chpt 36:1-2 “wisdom” is translated skill, etc.
What struck me is that a.) it does take wisdom to make art. Contrary to popular or personal opinion it's not something that can only be intuited. But b.) notice it is wisdom of the heart, not the brain. We artists (and that's everyone since we are all made in God's image) must have wise hearts as we create. The word wisdom in this case is “chokmâh”— “in good sense”. Heart (“lêb”) is defined as “A form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything: - + care for, comfortably, consent, X considered, courag [-eous], friend [-ly], ([broken-], [hard-], [merry-], [stiff-], [stout-], double) heart ([-ed]), X heed, X I, kindly, midst, mind (-ed), X regard ([-ed)], X themselves, X unawares, understanding, X well, willingly, wisdom.”
I've already started on a logo for WISEHEart Productions.