Commentari biblici

God having in the foregoing chapter intimated to Moses his reconciliation to Israel, here gives proofs of it, proceeding to settle his covenant and communion with them. Four instances of the return of his favour we have in this chapter:—I. The orders he gives to Moses to come up to the mount, the next morning, and bring two tables of stone with him, Ex 34:1-4. II. His meeting him there, and the proclamation of his name, Ex 34:5-9. III. The instructions he gave him there, and his converse with him for forty days together, without intermission, Ex 34:10-28. IV. The honour he put upon him when he sent him down with his face shining, Ex 34:29-35. In all this God dealt with Moses as a public person, and mediator between him and Israel, and a type of the great Mediator.

Moses is commanded to hew two tables similar to the first, and bring them up to the mount, to get the covenant renewed, Exodus 34:1-3. He prepares the tables and goes up to meet the Lord, Exodus 34:4. The Lord descends, and proclaims his name Jehovah, Exodus 34:5. What this name signifies, Exodus 34:6, Exodus 34:7. Moses worships and intercedes, Exodus 34:8, Exodus 34:9. The Lord promises to renew the covenant, work miracles among the people, and drive out the Canaanites, etc., Exodus 34:10, Exodus 34:11. No covenant to be made with the idolatrous nations, but their altars and images to be destroyed, Exodus 34:12-15. No matrimonial alliances to be contracted with them, Exodus 34:16. The Israelites must have no molten gods, Exodus 34:17. The commandment of the feast of unleavened bread, and of the sanctification of the first-born, renewed, Exodus 34:18-29; as also that of the Sabbath, and the three great annual feasts, Exodus 34:21-23. The promise that the surrounding nations shall not invade their territories, while all the males were at Jerusalem celebrating the annual feasts, Exodus 34:24. Directions concerning the passover, Exodus 34:25; and the first-fruits, Exodus 34:26. Moses is commanded to write all these words, as containing the covenant which God had now renewed with the Israelites, Exodus 34:27. Moses, being forty days with God without eating or drinking, writes the words of the covenant; and the Lord writes the ten commandments upon the tables of stone, Exodus 34:28. Moses descends with the tables; his face shines, Exodus 34:29. Aaron and the people are afraid to approach him, because of his glorious appearance, Exodus 34:30. Moses delivers to them the covenant and commandments of the Lord; and puts a veil over his face while he is speaking, Exodus 34:31-33, but takes it off when he goes to minister before the Lord, Exodus 34:34, Exodus 34:35.

INTRODUCTION TO Exodus 34

In this chapter Moses has orders to hew two tables of stone, that God might write on them the ten commands, and bring them up with him to the mount, Exodus 34:1 where the Lord proclaimed his name, and caused his glory and his goodness to pass before him, Exodus 34:5 when Moses took this favourable opportunity that offered to pray for the people, that God would forgive their sin, and go along with them, Exodus 34:8 upon which he made a covenant with them, which on his part was to do wonders for them, and drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before them; and on their part, that they should have no confederacy and communion with these nations, and shun their idolatry, and everything that might lead unto it, Exodus 34:10 and he repeated several laws before given, and urged the observance of them, which Moses was to acquaint the people with, Exodus 34:18 and after a stay of forty days and forty nights on the mount, he came down with the two tables of the law; and the skin of his face shone so bright, that the people of Israel were afraid to come nigh him, and therefore he put a vail over his face while he conversed with them, Exodus 34:28.

Chapters 32–34

The Episode of the Golden Calf, and incidents arising out of it, or mentioned in connexion with it.

The narrative of these chapters, read from a purely religious point of view, is remarkably beautiful and impressive; a striking picture is given not only of Moses’ affection and noble self-devotion for his people, but also of the long intercession by which (cf. Genesis 18) he at last succeeds in winning from Jehovah Israel’s forgiveness, His promise again to be with His people, and the vision of His moral glory for himself. But ‘the connexion between its different parts, and the progress of the narrative, is often so imperfect and so far from clear’ (Di.) that to the historical student it presents problems and difficulties which are not readily solved. As Di. points out, ‘the want of connexion both backwards and forwards is most remarkable in Exodus 33:7-11 : why the Tent of Meeting is here suddenly introduced, is not explained, and can only be conjectured, and v. 12 goes on as if vv. 7–11 or vv. 4–11 were not there at all. The connexion between Exodus 34:9-10 is also imperfect: it is surprising in v. 9 to find Jehovah entreated to go with the people, when He has already in Exodus 33:14-16 promised to do so; and it is also surprising that Exodus 34:10 is no direct answer to the entreaty of v. 9. Even in ch. 32, where the narrative wears the appearance of being more consistent, it is remarkable that the questions put to Aaron in vv. 21–24 lead to nothing further, that in spite of the punishment inflicted in v. 27 f. further punishment is threatened in v. 34b, and that while in v. 35 a punishment is described vaguely, it does not read like the punishment threatened just before in v. 34b. Further, while in P the erection of the Tent of Meeting is not described till ch. 40, in Exodus 33:7-11 there appears, as already in regular use, a tent, called by precisely the same name. The angel of Jehovah, again, is in Exodus 33:3; Exodus 33:5 represented as distinct from, and exclusive of, Jehovah Himself, whereas in Exodus 23:20 he appears as His full and sufficient representative. The covenant of Exodus 34:10-27 is described as if it were one made for the first time; neither v. 10 nor v. 27 suggests that it is a second, or new, covenant. The laws in Exodus 34:10-26 are mostly identical verbally with a particular section of those contained in chs. 21–23’: what is the relation subsisting between the two recensions, and how is the repetition to be explained? It must be evident that all these difficulties and inconsistencies are due simply to the amalgamation—and sometimes the imperfect amalgamation—of different sources: they are lessened, though they can hardly be said to disappear, when these sources are recognized and disengaged from one another. Details will be better considered in the notes on the separate chapters, Exodus 34:29-35 belongs clearly to P: the rest of the three chapters is due principally to J, or the compiler of JE, but parts belong to E. The excerpts from J and E are also in several cases plainly incomplete at the beginning or the end, so that details or explanations are missing which can only be supplied by conjecture.

Moses is commanded to hew two tables of stone, like those which he had broken, and to take them up the mount to Jehovah, vv. 1–5. Proclamation of Jehovah’s moral character in the promised theophany, vv. 6–8. Moses again entreats Jehovah to forgive His people’s sin, and to go with them to Canaan, v. 9 [and receives the promise that He will do so, Exodus 33:14-16]. Establishment of a covenant with Israel, vv. 10–28. How Moses’ face shone, when he came down from conversing with Jehovah on the mountain, vv. 29–35.

Vv. 29–35 have all the marks of belonging to P; but the analysis of vv. 1–28 presents great difficulties. If these verses be read carefully, it will be seen that one thing is commanded, and another done. In vv. 1–4 Moses is commanded to prepare and take up the mountain two tables of stone like those which he had broken: Jehovah will then write upon them the words which were upon the first tables (i.e. the Decalogue of Exodus 20). In v. 10, however, Jehovah declares that He is about to make a covenant: a number of regulations which Israel is to observe are given (vv. 11–26): Moses is then told to write these words, for they are the basis of the covenant (v. 27); and (v. 28b) he does write upon the tables ‘the words of the covenant, the ten words.’ It is true, as Di. observes, Moses is not in v. 27 told to write the words on the tables, so that, in itself, the intention of the command might be that he was to write them on a scroll for his own use: if this were the case, it would of course leave the way open for understanding the ‘words of the covenant’ in v. 28 of the Decalogue of Exodus 20. In view, however, of the connexion in which vv. 27, 28 now stand, it seems most unnatural to distinguish the covenant of v. 28 from the covenant of v. 27; or to understand the ‘he’ in ‘and he wrote’ in v. 28b, of any one but the ‘he’ (twice) in v. 28a, i.e. of Moses. The contradiction therefore remains: in v. 1 it is said that Jehovah will write upon the tables the Decalogue of Exodus 20; in v. 28 it is said that Moses wrote the ‘words of the covenant’ given in vv. 11–26.

There are also other difficulties. As was pointed out on p. 347, there is nothing in the terms of Exodus 34:10; Exodus 34:27 to suggest that a renewal of the covenant is contemplated; and in addition to this, as Dr McNeile well argues, a fresh body of laws (vv. 11–26) is not required: ‘a covenant having been formed (Exodus 24:7 f.), and based upon laws which are given earlier in the book (Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33), and then having been broken by sin, all that can conceivably be required is repentance and forgiveness. The original covenant laws must unalterably hold good.’ Vv. 1–4 should in fact be followed consistently not by the wholly different laws contained in vv. 11–26, but—as they are followed after the quotation in Deuteronomy 10:1-3—by such words as, ‘And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten words (i.e. the Decalogue of Exodus 20), … and Jehovah gave them unto’ Moses (Deuteronomy 10:4).

It is plain, from what has been said, that the representation in Exodus 34:1-28 is not throughout consistent with itself. The following considerations will shew how critics generally—Di., for instance, not less than Wellh.; cf. EB. ii. 1444—suppose that the inconsistencies arose. The laws on worship contained in Exodus 34:12-26 are evidently nothing but a different recension of laws on the same subject embedded in the Book of the Covenant, esp. in Exodus 23:12; Exodus 23:15-19 : here, in J, they appear as the laws on the basis of which the covenant is—not renewed, but—established for the first time (vv. 10, 27), just as in E (in its present form) the laws contained in the Book of the Covenant form the basis on which the covenant is established (Exodus 24:7 f.). J’s original narrative in Exodus 34:1-5; Exodus 34:10-28, in other words, describes really the first establishment of the covenant, and formed originally the sequel in J to Exodus 19:20-25 (see on Exodus 24:1): it is a parallel to E’s account of the establishment of the covenant preserved in Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33, Exodus 24:3-8 : there was no room for it immediately beside E’s account of the same event: but it was retained by the compiler, and placed by him where it now stands, immediately after the account of the people’s forgiveness and re-instatement in Jehovah’s favour, where it has in consequence the appearance of the renewal of the covenant which had been broken. The inconsistencies have arisen from the imperfect adjustment of the two narratives, the narrative of the re-writing of the tables which had been broken, and that of the (re-) establishment of the covenant. If we omit from vv. 1, 4 the clauses marked in the analysis, we shall find that we have in vv. 1–5, 10–28, a consistent account of Moses ascending the mountain with two tables of stone, of his receiving from Jehovah the laws which were to form the basis of the covenant (vv. 10, 27), and of his writing these laws upon the tables (v. 28). By the insertion from E—who, as he described (Exodus 32:19) the breaking of the tables, will also naturally have described how they were replaced—of the two clauses in vv. 1, 4 a narrative describing how Moses ascended the mountain to receive the laws of vv. 10–26 was transformed into one describing how he ascended the mountain to receive the Decalogue of Exodus 20, which Jehovah promises that He will re-write. But the wording of v. 28b was not altered so as to adjust it properly to the new sense of vv. 1–4; and hence the inconsistency between v. 28 and vv. 1–4.

One more point remains to be noticed. v. 28b—understood in the sense which the context naturally imposes—speaks of the ‘words of the covenant’ (i.e. the words on which the covenant of vv. 10, 27 is based) as ‘ten words’; and hence Göthe (in 1773), Wellhausen (independently: see Compos. des Hex.2 p. 328), and others have supposed that there stood originally in vv. 11–26 ten regulations, which have since been added to by later hands, forming—in contrast to the ‘moral Decalogue’ of Exodus 20—a ‘ritual Decalogue,’ which according to the writer of v. 28 was inscribed upon the two tables, and formed the basis of the covenant. As there are more regulations than ten in vv. 11–26, of course the ‘ten’ in question can be differently constituted: Wellh. (l.c. p. 331: so Bä. p. xlvi) supposes them to have consisted of vv. 14a, 17, 18a, 19a, 22a, 22b, 25a, 25b, 26a, 26b. In view of the close connexion subsisting between v. 27 and v. 28 those who argue in this manner can hardly be blamed. It is however open to question whether ‘the ten words’ are an original part of the text of v. 28: they may be a harmonizing addition, intended (in spite of the inconsistency which it involves) to identify the ‘words’ written upon the tables with the Decalogue of Exodus 20. But, whether they were ten or more, it certainly seems that, according to the writer of vv. 27, 28, the ritual regulations of vv. 10–26 were—like the ‘moral Decalogue’ of E—written upon stone tables. The argument for this view of the chapter is clearly and forcibly presented in the Interpreter, Oct. 1908, p. 6 ff.

Ex 34:1-35.

THE TABLES ARE RENEWED.

1. the like unto the first--God having been reconciled to repentant Israel, through the earnest intercession, the successful mediation of Moses, means were to be taken for the restoration of the broken covenant. Intimation was given, however, in a most intelligible and expressive manner, that the favor was to be restored with some memento of the rupture; for at the former time God Himself had provided the materials, as well as written upon them. Now, Moses was to prepare the stone tables, and God was only to retrace the characters originally inscribed for the use and guidance of the people.

Hew thee - The former tables are called "the work of God;" compare Exodus 32:16.

The words - See Exodus 34:28.

Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first - In Exodus 32:16 we are told that the two first tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God; but here Moses is commanded to provide tables of his own workmanship, and God promises to write on them the words which were on the first. That God wrote the first tables himself, see proved by different passages of Scripture at the end of Exodus 32 (Exodus 32:35 (note)). But here, in Exodus 34:27, it seems as if Moses was commanded to write these words, and in Exodus 34:28 it is said, And he wrote upon the tables; but in Deuteronomy 10:1-4 it is expressly said that God wrote the second tables as well as the first.

In order to reconcile these accounts let us suppose that the ten words, or ten commandments, were written on both tables by the hand of God himself, and that what Moses wrote, Exodus 34:27, was a copy of these to be delivered to the people, while the tables themselves were laid up in the ark before the testimony, whither the people could not go to consult them, and therefore a copy was necessary for the use of the congregation; this copy, being taken off under the direction of God, was authenticated equally with the original, and the original itself was laid up as a record to which all succeeding copies might be continually referred, in order to prevent corruption. This supposition removes the apparent contradiction; and thus both God and Moses may be said to have written the covenant and the ten commandments: the former, the original; the latter, the copy. This supposition is rendered still more probable by Exodus 34:27 itself: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words (that is, as I understand it, a copy of the words which God had already written); for After The Tenor (על פי al pi According To The Mouth) of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." Here the original writing is represented by an elegant prosopopoesia, or personification, as speaking and giving out from its own mouth a copy of itself. It may be supposed that this mode of interpretation is contradicted by Exodus 34:28 : And He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant; but that the pronoun He refers to the Lord, and not to Moses, is sufficiently proved by the parallel place, Deuteronomy 10:1-4 : At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first - and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables - and I hewed two tables of stone as at the first - And He wrote on the tables according to the first writing. This determines the business, and proves that God wrote the second as well as the first tables, and that the pronoun in Exodus 34:28 refers to the Lord, and not to Moses. By this mode of interpretation all contradiction is removed. Houbigant imagines that the difficulty may be removed by supposing that God wrote the ten commandments, and that Moses wrote the other parts of the covenant from Exodus 34:11 to Exodus 34:26, and thus it might be said that both God and Moses wrote on the same tables. This is not an improbable case, and is left to the reader's consideration. See Clarke's note on Exodus 34:27.

There still remains a controversy whether what are called the ten commandments were at all written on the first tables, those tables containing, according to some, only the terms of the covenant without the ten words, which are supposed to be added here for the first time. "The following is a general view of this subject. In Exodus 20 the ten commandments are given; and at the same time various political and ecclesiastical statutes, which are detailed in chapters 21, 22, and 23. To receive these, Moses had drawn near unto the thick darkness where God was, Exodus 20:21, and having received them he came again with them to the people, according to their request before expressed, Exodus 20:19 : Speak thou with us - but let not the Lord speak with us, lest we die, for they had been terrified by the manner in which God had uttered the ten commandments; see Exodus 20:18. After this Moses, with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders, went up to the mountain; and on his return he announced all these laws unto the people, Exodus 24:1-3, etc., and they promised obedience. Still there is no word of the tables of stone. Then he wrote all in a book, Exodus 24:4, which was called the book of the covenant, Exodus 24:7. After this there was a second going up of Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, Exodus 24:9, when that glorious discovery of God mentioned in Exodus 24:10, Exodus 24:11 took place. After their coming down Moses is again commanded to go up; and God promises to give him tables of stone, containing a law and precepts, Exodus 24:12. This is the first place these tables of stone are mentioned; and thus it appears that the ten commandments, and several other precepts, were given to and accepted by the people, and the covenant sacrifice offered, Exodus 24:5, before the tables of stone were either written or mentioned." It is very likely that the commandments, laws, etc., were first published by the Lord in the hearing of the people; repeated afterwards by Moses; and the ten words or commandments, containing the sum and substance of the whole, afterwards written on the first tables of stone, to be kept for a record in the ark. These being broken, as is related Exodus 32:19, Moses is commanded to hew out two tables like to the first, and bring them up to the mountain, that God might write upon them what he had written on the former, Exodus 34:1. And that this was accordingly done, see the preceding part of this note.

And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Out of the cloudy pillar, at the door of the tabernacle, where he had been conversing with him in the most friendly manner, as related in the preceding chapter:

hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; of the same form, and of the same dimensions, and it may be of the same sort of stone, which perhaps was marble, there being great plenty of that kind on Mount Sinai. Now Moses being ordered to hew these tables, whereas the former were the work of God himself, as well as the writing, shows that the law was to be the ministration of Moses, and be ordained in the hand of him as a mediator, who had been praying and interceding for the people; and as a token of the reconciliation made, the tables were to be renewed, yet with some difference, that there might be some remembrance of their crime, and of their loss by it, not having the law on tables of stone, which were the work of God, but which were the work of man:

and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest; the writing of these was by the Lord himself, as the former, shows that the law itself was of God, though the tables were hewn by Moses, and that he would have it known and observed as such; and the same being written on these tables, as on the former, shows the unchangeableness of the law of God, as given to the people of Israel, that he would have nothing added to it, or taken from it; and the writing of it over again may have respect to the reinscribing it on the hearts of his people in regeneration, according to the tenor of the new covenant: the phrase, "which thou brakest", is not used as expressing any displeasure at Moses for that act of his, but to describe the former tables; and the breaking of them might not be the effect of passion, at least of any criminal passion, but of zeal for the glory of God, and the honour of his law, which was broken by the Israelites, and therefore unworthy of it; and might be according to the counsel of the divine will, and the secret direction of his providence.