Uri (son of Hur)

Biblical Record

Uri appears in Scripture only in the genealogy attached to the name of his son Bezalel, not through any deeds of his own. Whenever the text introduces Bezalel, it describes him as the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

• Exodus 31:2: Uri is mentioned when God names Bezalel to Moses as the one who is to build the tabernacle: "Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah."
• Exodus 35:30: Moses announces to the people of Israel that Bezalel has been called.
• Exodus 38:22: Uri is named again in the statement that Bezalel made all that the Lord had commanded.
• 1 Chronicles 2:20: The genealogy of the descendants of Judah records, "And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel." According to the preceding verse (1 Chronicles 2:19), Hur was born to Caleb the son of Hezron and Ephrath.
• 2 Chronicles 1:5: The bronze altar at Gibeon in the time of Solomon is described as the altar "that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made."

The text does not say what Uri did or when he lived.

Significance in Scripture

The name Uri serves as a genealogical link identifying the family within the tribe of Judah from which Bezalel came. Naming a person's father and grandfather when introducing someone entrusted with an important task, such as building the tabernacle, reflects the Old Testament practice of making a person's lineage and affiliation clear. Uri is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Questions

• The identity of Hur: Many interpreters identify Bezalel's grandfather Hur with the Hur who, together with Aaron, held up Moses' hands in Exodus 17:10–12, and with the Hur who was placed in charge of the people alongside Aaron in Exodus 24:14. The text, however, does not explicitly state that they are the same person.
• Later traditions: Jewish tradition and the writings of Josephus are reported to contain accounts linking Hur to Moses' sister Miriam. Because this material does not appear in the biblical text, it should be kept distinct from the biblical record.
• Others of the same name: Scripture mentions other men named Uri. Uri the father of Geber, one of Solomon's officers (1 Kings 4:19), and Uri the porter who had married a foreign wife after the return from exile (Ezra 10:24) are different people from the subject of this article. In addition, the Caleb of 1 Chronicles 2 is the son of Hezron and is generally distinguished from Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

In the Korean Church

Uri is rarely treated on his own in Korean church preaching or Sunday school. He is usually mentioned only in passing, as part of the genealogy, when Bezalel's family background is explained in the course of introducing Bezalel and Oholiab. Because the New Korean Revised Version and the Korean Revised Version spell this man's name with the same letters as the Korean first-person plural pronoun uri ("we" or "our"), it is often noted that the name is hard to recognize as a personal name when searching or reading the Bible.