Exodus34
New King James Version
1And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.
2So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain.
3And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”
4So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
8So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
9Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
10And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
11Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
12Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
13But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images
14(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
15lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice,
16and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
17“You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
18“The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19“All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep.
20But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. “And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
22“And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.
23“Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel.
24For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.
26“The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
28So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.
30So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
31Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them.
32Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
33And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded.
35And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 34.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The tables of the law renewed. (1–4). The name of the Lord proclaimed, The entreaty of Moses. (5–9). God's covenant. (10–17). The festivals. (18–27). The vail of Moses. (28–35).
vv1-4
When God made man in his own image, the moral law was written in his heart, by the finger of God, without outward means. But since the covenant then made with man was broken, the Lord has used the ministry of men, both in writing the law in the Scriptures, and in writing it in the heart. When God was reconciled to the Israelites, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them. Even under the gospel of peace by Christ, the moral law continues to bind believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the commands of it. The first and the best evidence of the pardon of sin, and peace with God, is the writing the law in the heart.
vv5-9
The Lord descended by some open token of his presence and manifestation of his glory in a cloud, and thence proclaimed his NAME; that is, the perfections and character which are denoted by the name JEHOVAH. The Lord God is merciful; ready to forgive the sinner, and to relieve the needy. Gracious; kind, and ready to bestow undeserved benefits. Long-suffering; slow to anger, giving time for repentance, only punishing when it is needful. He is abundant in goodness and truth; even sinners receive the riches of his bounty abundantly, though they abuse them. All he reveals is infallible truth, all he promises is in faithfulness. Keeping mercy for thousands; he continually shows mercy to sinners, and has treasures, which cannot be exhausted, to the end of time. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; his mercy and goodness reach to the full and free forgiveness of sin. And will by no means clear the guilty; the holiness and justice of God are part of his goodness and love towards all his creatures. In Christ's sufferings, the Divine holiness and justice are fully shown, and the evil of sin is made known. God's forgiving mercy is always attended by his converting, sanctifying grace. None are pardoned but those who repent and forsake the allowed practice of every sin; nor shall any escape, who abuse, neglect, or despise this great salvation. Moses bowed down, and worshipped reverently. Every perfection in the name of God, the believer may plead with Him for the forgiveness of his sins, the making holy of his heart, and the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom.
vv10-17
The Israelites are commanded to destroy every monument of idolatry, however curious or costly; to refuse all alliance, friendship, or marriage with idolaters, and all idolatrous feasts; and they were reminded not with idolaters, and all idolatrous feats; and they were reminded not to repeat the crime of making molten images. Jealously is called the rage of a man, Pr 6:34; but in God it is holy and just displeasure. Those cannot worship God aright, who do not worship him only.
Key Words
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
פָּסַל: to carve, whether wood or stone
שְׁנַיִם: two; also (as ordinal) twofold
לוּחַ: probably meaning to glisten; a tablet (as polished), of stone, wood or metal
אֶבֶן: a stone
רִאשׁוֹן: first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun)
כָּתַב: to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
Cross References
Exodus 34Moses is commanded to hew two new tables of stone like the first, parallel to Deuteronomy 10:1.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Paul refers to the glory of Moses' shining face as the glory of the passing dispensation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Paul explains that Moses put a veil over his face so Israel could not look to the end.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Paul contrasts the glory of the ministration of death written on stones with the Gospel's glory.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Moses appeals directly to this proclamation of the Name of the Lord for pardoning Israel.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Direct parallel reciting God's attributes of mercy, forgiveness, and visiting iniquity.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeats the Second Commandment prohibition of idolatry and the description of God's holy jealousy.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Moses recalls his second forty-day fast of intercession for Israel's sin.
Supported by JFB
Confirms that God wrote the Ten Commandments on the second set of stone tables.
Supported by JFB
When Moses went in before the Lord, he took the veil off, typifying turning to the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfillment of God's promise to make His goodness pass before Moses and proclaim His Name.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Prohibition of making covenants with Canaan's inhabitants to prevent them from becoming a snare.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Command to completely overthrow idolatrous altars and shatter their sacred pillars/groves.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Express prohibition against intermarrying with the Canaanites, lest they turn Israel to false gods.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Direct reference to God's law sanctifying all the firstborn males and firstlings to Himself.
Supported by John Calvin
Specific instruction on redeeming the firstling of an ass with a lamb, or breaking its neck.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Commands unleavened bread with the Passover sacrifice as the memorial bread of affliction.
Supported by John Calvin
Identical covenant mandate regarding firstfruits and the prohibition against seething a kid in its mother's milk.
Repeats the prohibition against boiling a young goat in its mother's milk.
Repetition of strict boundaries set around Sinai to preserve holiness and prevent unauthorized approach.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Echoes the identical confession of God as full of compassion, gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Moses pleads for God's presence to go among them, following up the previous chapter's dialogue.
Supported by JFB
Confirms the command that none shall appear before the Lord empty at the three feasts.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel command requiring all males to appear before the Lord three times a year.
Reiterates the three annual national pilgrim feasts for all Hebrew males.
Parallel prohibition against offering sacrifice with leaven or leaving Passover fat until morning.
Jesus' face shines like the sun at His Transfiguration, fulfilling and surpassing Moses' reflected glory.
Compares this forty-day period on the mount with Moses' first forty-day stay.