1 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Moses, H4872 Hew H6458 thee two H8147 tables H3871 of stone H68 like unto the first: H7223 and I will write H3789 upon these tables H3871 the words H1697 that were in the first H7223 tables, H3871 which thou brakest. H7665
2 And be ready H3559 in the morning, H1242 and come up H5927 in the morning H1242 unto mount H2022 Sinai, H5514 and present H5324 thyself there to me in the top H7218 of the mount. H2022
3 And no man H376 shall come up H5927 with thee, neither H408 let any man H376 be seen H7200 throughout all the mount; H2022 neither let the flocks H6629 nor herds H1241 feed H7462 before H4136 that mount. H2022
4 And he hewed H6458 two H8147 tables H3871 of stone H68 like unto the first; H7223 and Moses H4872 rose up early H7925 in the morning, H1242 and went up H5927 unto mount H2022 Sinai, H5514 as the LORD H3068 had commanded H6680 him, and took H3947 in his hand H3027 the two H8147 tables H3871 of stone. H68
5 And the LORD H3068 descended H3381 in the cloud, H6051 and stood H3320 with him there, and proclaimed H7121 the name H8034 of the LORD. H3068
6 And the LORD H3068 passed by H5674 before him, H6440 and proclaimed, H7121 The LORD, H3068 The LORD H3068 God, H410 merciful H7349 and gracious, H2587 longsuffering, H750 H639 and abundant H7227 in goodness H2617 and truth, H571
7 Keeping H5341 mercy H2617 for thousands, H505 forgiving H5375 iniquity H5771 and transgression H6588 and sin, H2403 and that will by no means H5352 clear H5352 the guilty; visiting H6485 the iniquity H5771 of the fathers H1 upon the children, H1121 and upon the children's H1121 children, unto the third H8029 and to the fourth H7256 generation.
8 And Moses H4872 made haste, H4116 and bowed his head H6915 toward the earth, H776 and worshipped. H7812
9 And he said, H559 If now I have found H4672 grace H2580 in thy sight, H5869 O Lord, H136 let my Lord, H136 I pray thee, go H3212 among H7130 us; for it is a stiffnecked H7186 H6203 people; H5971 and pardon H5545 our iniquity H5771 and our sin, H2403 and take us for thine inheritance. H5157
10 And he said, H559 Behold, I make H3772 a covenant: H1285 before all thy people H5971 I will do H6213 marvels, H6381 such as have not been done H1254 in all the earth, H776 nor in any nation: H1471 and all the people H5971 among H7130 which thou art shall see H7200 the work H4639 of the LORD: H3068 for it is a terrible thing H3372 that I will do H6213 with thee.
11 Observe H8104 thou that which I command H6680 thee this day: H3117 behold, I drive out H1644 before H6440 thee the Amorite, H567 and the Canaanite, H3669 and the Hittite, H2850 and the Perizzite, H6522 and the Hivite, H2340 and the Jebusite. H2983
12 Take heed H8104 to thyself, lest thou make H3772 a covenant H1285 with the inhabitants H3427 of the land H776 whither thou goest, H935 lest it be for a snare H4170 in the midst H7130 of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy H5422 their altars, H4196 break H7665 their images, H4676 and cut down H3772 their groves: H842
14 For thou shalt worship H7812 no other H312 god: H410 for the LORD, H3068 whose name H8034 is Jealous, H7067 is a jealous H7067 God: H410
15 Lest thou make H3772 a covenant H1285 with the inhabitants H3427 of the land, H776 and they go a whoring H2181 after H310 their gods, H430 and do sacrifice H2076 unto their gods, H430 and one call H7121 thee, and thou eat H398 of his sacrifice; H2077
16 And thou take H3947 of their daughters H1323 unto thy sons, H1121 and their daughters H1323 go a whoring H2181 after H310 their gods, H430 and make H2181 thy sons H1121 go a whoring H2181 after H310 their gods. H430
17 Thou shalt make H6213 thee no molten H4541 gods. H430
18 The feast H2282 of unleavened bread H4682 shalt thou keep. H8104 Seven H7651 days H3117 thou shalt eat H398 unleavened bread, H4682 as I commanded H6680 thee, in the time H4150 of the month H2320 Abib: H24 for in the month H2320 Abib H24 thou camest out H3318 from Egypt. H4714
19 All that openeth H6363 the matrix H7358 is mine; and every firstling H6363 among thy cattle, H4735 whether ox H7794 or sheep, H7716 that is male H2142.
20 But the firstling H6363 of an ass H2543 thou shalt redeem H6299 with a lamb: H7716 and if thou redeem H6299 him not, then shalt thou break his neck. H6202 All the firstborn H1060 of thy sons H1121 thou shalt redeem. H6299 And none shall appear H7200 before H6440 me empty. H7387
21 Six H8337 days H3117 thou shalt work, H5647 but on the seventh H7637 day H3117 thou shalt rest: H7673 in earing time H2758 and in harvest H7105 thou shalt rest. H7673
22 And thou shalt observe H6213 the feast H2282 of weeks, H7620 of the firstfruits H1061 of wheat H2406 harvest, H7105 and the feast H2282 of ingathering H614 at the year's H8141 end. H8622
23 Thrice H6471 H7969 in the year H8141 shall all your men children H2138 appear H7200 before H6440 the Lord H113 GOD, H3068 the God H430 of Israel. H3478
24 For I will cast out H3423 the nations H1471 before H6440 thee, and enlarge H7337 thy borders: H1366 neither shall any man H376 desire H2530 thy land, H776 when thou shalt go up H5927 to appear H7200 before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 thrice H6471 H7969 in the year. H8141
25 Thou shalt not offer H7819 the blood H1818 of my sacrifice H2077 with leaven; H2557 neither shall the sacrifice H2077 of the feast H2282 of the passover H6453 be left H3885 unto the morning. H1242
26 The first H7225 of the firstfruits H1061 of thy land H127 thou shalt bring H935 unto the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 thy God. H430 Thou shalt not seethe H1310 a kid H1423 in his mother's H517 milk. H2461
27 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Moses, H4872 Write H3789 thou these words: H1697 for after the tenor H6310 of these words H1697 I have made H3772 a covenant H1285 with thee and with Israel. H3478
28 And he was there with the LORD H3068 forty H705 days H3117 and forty H705 nights; H3915 he did neither eat H398 bread, H3899 nor drink H8354 water. H4325 And he wrote H3789 upon the tables H3871 the words H1697 of the covenant, H1285 the ten H6235 commandments. H1697
29 And it came to pass, when Moses H4872 came down H3381 from mount H2022 Sinai H5514 with the two H8147 tables H3871 of testimony H5715 in Moses' H4872 hand, H3027 when he came down H3381 from the mount, H2022 that Moses H4872 wist H3045 not that the skin H5785 of his face H6440 shone H7160 while he talked H1696 with him.
30 And when Aaron H175 and all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 saw H7200 Moses, H4872 behold, the skin H5785 of his face H6440 shone; H7160 and they were afraid H3372 to come nigh H5066 him.
31 And Moses H4872 called H7121 unto them; and Aaron H175 and all the rulers H5387 of the congregation H5712 returned H7725 unto him: and Moses H4872 talked H1696 with them.
32 And afterward H310 all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 came nigh: H5066 and he gave them in commandment H6680 all that the LORD H3068 had spoken H1696 with him in mount H2022 Sinai. H5514
33 And till Moses H4872 had done H3615 speaking H1696 with them, he put H5414 a vail H4533 on his face. H6440
34 But when Moses H4872 went in H935 before H6440 the LORD H3068 to speak H1696 with him, he took H5493 the vail H4533 off, H5493 until he came out. H3318 And he came out, H3318 and spake H1696 unto the children H1121 of Israel H3478 that which he was commanded. H6680
35 And the children H1121 of Israel H3478 saw H7200 the face H6440 of Moses, H4872 that the skin H5785 of Moses' H4872 face H6440 shone: H7160 and Moses H4872 put H7725 the vail H4533 upon his face H6440 again, H7725 until he went H935 in to speak H1696 with him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 34
Commentary on Exodus 34 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
When Moses had restored the covenant bond through his intercession (Exodus 33:14), he was directed by Jehovah to hew out two stones, like the former ones which he had broken, and to come with them the next morning up the mountain, and Jehovah would write upon them the same words as upon the first,
(Note: Namely, the ten words in Ex 20:2-17, not the laws contained in Exodus 34:12-26 of this chapter, as G
On this manifestation of mercy, Moses repeated the prayer that Jehovah would go in the midst of Israel. It is true the Lord had already promised that His face should go with them (Exodus 33:14); but as Moses had asked for a sign of the glory of the Lord as a seal to the promise, it was perfectly natural that, when this petition was granted, he should lay hold of the grace that had been revealed to him as it never had been before, and endeavour to give even greater stability to the covenant. To this end he repeated his former intercession on behalf of the nation, at the same time making this confession, “For it is a stiff-necked people; therefore forgive our iniquity and our sin, and make us the inheritance.” Moses spoke collectively, including himself in the nation in the presence of God. The reason which he assigned pointed to the deep root of corruption that had broken out in the worship of the golden calf, and was appropriately pleaded as a motive for asking forgiveness, inasmuch as God Himself had assigned the natural corruption of the human race as a reason why He would not destroy it again with a flood (Genesis 8:21). Wrath was mitigated by a regard to the natural condition. - נחל in the Kal , with an accusative of the person, does not mean to lead a person into the inheritance, but to make a person into an inheritance; here, therefore, to make Israel the possession of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:26, cf. Zechariah 2:12). Jehovah at once declared (Exodus 34:10) that He would conclude a covenant, i.e., restore the broken covenant, and do marvels before the whole nation, such as had not been done in all the earth or in any nation, and thus by these His works distinguish Israel before all nations as His own property (Exodus 33:16). The nation was to see this, because it would be terrible; terrible, namely, through the overthrow of the powers that resisted the kingdom of God, every one of whom would be laid prostrate and destroyed by the majesty of the Almighty.
To recall the duties of the covenant once more to the minds of the people, the Lord repeats from among the rights of Israel, upon the basis of which the covenant had been established (ch. 21-23), two of the leading points which determined the attitude of the nation towards Him, and which constituted, as it were, the main pillars that were to support the covenant about to be renewed. These were, first , the warning against every kind of league with the Canaanites, who were to be driven out before the Israelites (Exodus 34:11-16); and, secondly , the instructions concerning the true worship of Jehovah (Exodus 34:17-26). The warning against friendship with the idolatrous Canaanites (Exodus 34:11-16) is more fully developed and more strongly enforced than in Exodus 23:23. The Israelites, when received into the covenant with Jehovah, were not only to beware of forming any covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan (cf. Exodus 23:32-33), but were to destroy all the signs of their idolatrous worship, such as altars, monuments (see Exodus 23:24), and asherim , the idols of Astarte, the Canaanitish goddess of nature, which consisted for the most part of wooden pillars (see my Comm. on 1 Kings 14:23), and to worship no other god, because Jehovah was called jealous, i.e., had revealed Himself as jealous (see at Exodus 20:5), and was a jealous God. This was commanded, that the Israelites might not suffer themselves to be led astray by such an alliance; to go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice to them, to take part in their sacrificial festivals, or to marry their sons to the daughters of the Canaanites, by whom they would be persuaded to join in the worship of idols. The use of the expression “go a whoring” in a spiritual sense, in relation to idolatry, is to be accounted for on the ground, that the religious fellowship of Israel with Jehovah was a covenant resembling the marriage tie; and we meet with it for the first time, here, immediately after the formation of this covenant between Israel and Jehovah. The phrase is all the more expressive on account of the literal prostitution that was frequently associated with the worship of Baal and Astarte (cf. Leviticus 17:7; Leviticus 20:5-6; Numbers 14:33, etc.). We may see from Numbers 25:1. how Israel was led astray by this temptation in the wilderness.
The true way to worship Jehovah is then pointed out, first of all negatively, in the prohibition against making molten images, with an allusion to the worship of the golden calf, as evinced by the use of the expression מסּכה אלהי , which only occurs again in Leviticus 19:4, instead of the phrase “gods of silver and gold” (Exodus 20:23); and then positively, by a command to observe the feast of Mazzoth and the consecration of the first-born connected with the Passover (see at Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:11, and Exodus 13:12), also the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21), the feasts of Weeks and Ingathering, the appearance of the male members of the nation three times a year before the Lord (Exodus 34:22, see at Exodus 23:14-17), together with all the other instructions connected with them (Exodus 34:25, Exodus 34:26). Before the last, however, the promise is introduced, that after the expulsion of the Canaanites, Jehovah would enlarge the borders of Israel (cf. Exodus 23:31), and make their land so secure, that when they went up to the Lord three times in the year, no one should desire their land, sc., because of the universal dread of the might of their God (Exodus 23:27).
Moses was to write down these words, like the covenant rights and laws that had been given before (Exodus 24:4, Exodus 24:7), because Jehovah had concluded the covenant with Moses and Israel according to the tenor of them. By the renewed adoption of the nation, the covenant in ch. 24 was eo ipso restored; so that no fresh conclusion of this covenant was necessary, and the writing down of the fundamental conditions of the covenant was merely intended as a proof of its restoration. It does not appear in the least degree “irreconcilable,” therefore, with the writing down of the covenant rights before Knobel ).
Exodus 34:28
Moses remained upon the mountain forty days, just as on the former occasion (cf. Exodus 24:18). “ And He (Jehovah) wrote upon the tables the ten covenant words ” (see at Exodus 34:1).
Exodus 34:29-35
The sight of the glory of Jehovah, though only of the back or reflection of it, produced such an effect upon Moses' face, that the skin of it shone, though without Moses observing it. When he came down from the mountain with the tables of the law in his hand, and the skin of his face shone אתּו בּדבּרו , i.e., on account of his talking with God, Aaron and the people were afraid to go near him when they saw the brightness of his face. But Moses called them to him, - Viz. first of all Aaron and the princes of the congregation to speak to them, and then all the people to give them the commandments of Jehovah; but on doing this (Exodus 34:33), he put a veil upon (before) his face, and only took it away when he went in before Jehovah to speak with Him, and then, when he came out (from the Lord out of the tabernacle, of course after the erection of the tabernacle), he made known His commands to the people. But while doing this, he put the veil upon his face again, and always wore it in his ordinary intercourse with the people (Exodus 34:34, Exodus 34:35). This reflection of the splendour thrown back by the glory of God was henceforth to serve as the most striking proof of the confidential relation in which Moses stood to Jehovah, and to set forth the glory of the office which Moses filled. The Apostle Paul embraces this view in 2 Corinthians 3:7., and lays stress upon the fact that the glory was to be done away, which he was quite justified in doing, although nothing is said in the Old Testament about the glory being transient, from the simple fact that Moses died. The apostle refers to it for the purpose of contrasting the perishable glory of the law with the far higher and imperishable glory of the Gospel. At the same time he regards the veil which covered Moses' face as a symbol of the obscuring of the truth revealed in the Old Testament. But this does not exhaust the significance of this splendour. The office could only confer such glory upon the possessor by virtue of the glory of the blessings which it contained, and conveyed to those for whom it was established. Consequently, the brilliant light on Moses' face also set forth the glory of the Old Covenant, and was intended both for Moses and the people as a foresight and pledge of the glory to which Jehovah had called, and would eventually exalt, the people of His possession.