Exodus 34

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 Exo 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.

Exodus 34:1-5

1–5. Moses is commanded to hew two tables of stone, similar to those which he had broken (Exodus 32:19), and bring them up Sinai to Jehovah. The former tables are said (Exodus 32:16) to have been themselves God’s handiwork: in the new tables only the writing is to be His.

Exodus 34:2

2. be ready] Cf. Exodus 19:10. station thyself for me] The same word as in Exodus 33:21. the top of the mount] Exodus 19:20, Exodus 24:17.

Exodus 34:3

3. The precautions are similar to those taken in Exodus 19:12 f. before] rather, in front of, i.e. on the slopes in front of the mountain, towards its foot. As was pointed out on p. 347, the historical retrospect in Deuteronomy 9:8-29 is based largely upon Exodus 32, and contains numerous verbal excerpts from it; and a comparison of Deu 10:1-3 with Exodus 34:1; Exodus 34:4 makes it practically certain that in the text of Exo 34:1; Exodus 34:4 which lay before the author of Dt., there was mention of the ark as made at this time by Moses. Here is the text of Deu 10:1-3, with the words excerpted from Exodus 34:1-2; Exodus 34:4 printed in italics:—‘(Deuteronomy 10:1) At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me to the mount, and make thee an ark of wood; (2) that I may write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. (3) And I made an ark of acacia-wood; and I hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and I went up to the mount; and the two tables were in my hand.’ Thus in Dt. Moses is instructed to make, and actually does make, the ark, before ascending the mount the second time to receive the tables of stone (Exodus 34:4); whereas in Ex. the command to make the ark is both given to Bezalel and executed by him, after Moses’ return from the mountain (Exodus 35:30 ff., Exodus 36:2, Exodus 37:1—all passages belonging to P). The two accounts are evidently discrepant: and there can be no reasonable doubt that the notices of the ark contained in the original text of Exo 34:1; Exodus 34:4 were omitted by the compiler, as inconsistent with the more detailed particulars, which he preferred, contained in the narrative of P.

Exodus 34:5

5. and he (Moses) took his stand (cf. v. 2) with him there, and called upon the name of Jehovah] i.e. invoked Him in worship. The marg. must be followed: the subject of the verbs is Moses (see Exodus 33:21). The sequel follows in v. 10. Called upon is lit. ‘called with,’ i.e. used the name in invocation: so Genesis 4:26; Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:4; Genesis 21:33 al.

Exodus 34:6-8

6–8. Description of the theophany promised in Exodus 33:19-23. The theophany consists essentially in a proclamation of the glories of Jehovah’s moral nature, developed with special reference to the occasion giving rise to the theophany, and emphasizing the predominance of the Divine attributes of mercy above those of judgement. Echoes of this great declaration of Jehovah’s moral nature occur frequently in the later literature: Numbers 14:18 (a quotation), Jeremiah 32:18, Nahum 1:3 a, Nehemiah 9:17; Nehemiah 9:31, Joe 2:31, Jonah 4:2, Psalms 86:15; Psalms 103:8; Psalms 111:4 b, Psalms 112:4 b, Psalms 145:8, 2 Chronicles 30:9. It is also probably the source of the explanatory comments on the second commandment in Exodus 20:5 b, Exodus 20:6. Vv. 6–9 are not really connected with their present context: cf. McNeile, 217, 30 (a), 36 Vv. 1a, 2–5, 10–28 form one connected whole (p. 364 f.); and Exodus 33:1; Exodus 33:3-4; Exodus 33:12-13, Exodus 17-23, Exodus 34:6-9, Exodus 33:14-16 (see p. 361) form another.

Exodus 34:7

7. keeping mercy, &c.] hence, with ‘doing’ for ‘keeping,’ Exodus 20:6. forgiving iniquity, &c.] Cf. Micah 7:18. will by no means clear the guilty] so Numbers 14:18, Nahum 1:3 a, Jeremiah 30:11 = Jeremiah 46:28 (EVV., here, ‘will in no wise leave unpunished’). The verb is the one rendered hold guiltless in Exodus 20:7 : see the note there. visiting the iniquity, &c.] See on Exodus 20:5.

Exodus 34:8

8. Moses now reverently does obeisance (cf. Exodus 4:31, Exodus 12:27).

Exodus 34:9

9. stiffnecked] This character of the people (Exodus 32:9, Exodus 33:3; Exodus 33:5) is here made the motive for its being treated with favour and forgiven. for thine inheritance] The thought of Israel being Jehovah’s inheritance occurs in Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:26; Deuteronomy 9:29, and in the Song, Exodus 32:9, but not elsewhere in the earlier books of the Pentateuch.

Exodus 34:10-28

10–28. The (re-)establishment of the covenant, with the laws upon which it is based. The passage belongs in the main to E; but it has probably been enlarged in parts with hortatory additions by the compiler. We have met with some such additions before, in Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33; and they are found elsewhere also in connexion with laws, as in Leviticus 18:1-5; Leviticus 18:24-29; Leviticus 20:22-24 (H), and Deuteronomy 12-26 passim.

Exodus 34:11-26

11–26. The conditions of the covenant, i.e. the laws upon the acceptance of which its establishment depends. The laws themselves seem to have received parenetic additions from the compiler.

Exodus 34:12

12. Take heed to thyself] Also a phrase common in Dt. (Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 4:23, Deuteronomy 6:12 Heb., Deuteronomy 8:11 Heb., Deuteronomy 11:16 al.). lest thou make, &c.] Cf. Exodus 23:32. a snare] i.e. an allurement to ruin: cf. Exodus 23:33 b with the note.

Exodus 34:13

13. The altars and religious emblems of the Canaanites to be utterly destroyed. Cf. Exodus 23:24, with the references; and the almost verbal repetitions in Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3. pillars] or standing-stones: see on Exodus 23:24. Ashηrim] The plur. of Ashηrβh, the sacred wooden (see Deuteronomy 16:21, Judges 6:26) post or column, which stood by the altar in Canaanite places of worship (cf. Judges 6:25-30, by an altar of Baal), and was often by the unspiritual Israelites set up (2 Kings 17:10), or (Deuteronomy 16:21) ‘planted,’ beside the altar of Jehovah. It is often supposed to have been a conventional substitute for a sacred tree; but this is not certain. We have no particulars about the precise size or shape of an Ashηrβh: the two posts, of the form of tree-trunks, resting on a wide base, and surmounted by representations of the full and crescent moon, carved upon a stone from Carthage (Nowack, Arch. ii. 19; Benzinger, Arch. 1p. 381, 2p. 326), might indeed be Ashηrβhs; but we have no evidence that they were. The name Abd-ashirta (‘servant of Ashirta’) in the Tell el-Amarna letters, and the expression ‘finger (oracle) of Ashirta,’ on a cuneiform tablet of c. 1350 found at Taanach (see the writer’s Schweich Lectures, p. 82), seem to indicate that there was an old Semitic goddess Ashηrβh; and if this was the case, the ‘Ashηrβh’ of the OT. was probably her emblem: but the great difference in the Heb. (ΰωψδ and ςωϊψϊ) makes it unlikely that she was the same as the Phoen. ‘Ashtτreth, or the Ass. Ishtar (Benz.

Arch.2[220] 326 f.). On account of their heathen associations, the Ashηrξm, like the maẓ ?ẓ ?ηbβhs (see on Exodus 23:24), were proscribed by the more spiritual Israelites. For other allusions to Ashηrβhs, see Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3 (repetitions of the present prohibition), 1 Kings 14:15; 1 Kings 14:23; 1 Kings 15:13; 1 Kings 16:33, 2 Kings 13:6; 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 23:4; 2 Kings 23:6-7; 2 Kings 23:14-15; and comp. Moore’s art. in EB. s.v. [220] I. Benzinger, Hebr. Archδologie, 1894, ed. 2 (enlarged), 1907.

Exodus 34:14

14. thou shalt not worship any other god] Cf. the plural ‘other gods,’ in Exodus 20:3. ‘Worship’ is lit. bow down (Exodus 20:5), as regularly. whose name is Jealous] on ‘name’ (= ‘character’), see on Exodus 33:19. a jealous God] as Exodus 20:5, where see the note.

Exodus 34:15-16

15, 16. The consequences likely to follow from any alliance with the Canaanites: participation in their rites, and intermarriage with them, leading (v. 16b) to still further idolatry.

Exodus 34:16

16. and thou take, &c.] Intermarriage with Canaanites is forbidden, for the same reason, in Deuteronomy 7:3 f.; cf. Joshua 23:12 (D2[221]), and Judges 3:6 (where disregard of the prohibition is said to have been followed by the same consequences which are here apprehended). [221] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings.

Exodus 34:17

17. Molten gods thou shalt not make thee] Cf. Leviticus 19:4 (H) ‘And molten gods ye shall not make you’; also, for the general thought, Exodus 20:23. Vv. 18–26 agree, for the most part verbally, with Exodus 13:13-14; Exodus 23:12; Exodus 23:15-19. The agreements and differences will be seen most clearly, if the two recensions are printed in parallel columns, with the differences in 34 marked either by italics or, where anything is omitted, by a space in the text. Exodus 23:10-11. (The fallow year.)Exodus 23:12. Six days shalt thou do thy work: but on the seventh day thou shalt desist: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy bondmaid, and the sojourner, may be refreshed.Exodus 34:21. Six days shalt thou labour; but on the seventh day thou shalt desist: in plowing time and in harvest thou shalt desist.Exodus 23:13. And in all things that I have said unto you take ye heed: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard upon thy mouth.Cf. Exodus 34:14 a. For thou shalt not worship any other god.Exodus 23:14. Three times (regβlim) thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.Exodus 23:15 a. The feast of unleavened cakes shalt thou keep.

Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened cakes, according as I commanded thee, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt;Exodus 34:18. The feast of unleavened cakes shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened cakes [Exodus 13:6 a], as I commanded thee, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib thou camest out from Egypt.Exodus 23:12. And thou shalt cause to pass over all that first openeth the womb unto Yahweh: and all that first openeth [the womb], the casting of beasts that thou shalt have, the males (shall be) Yahweh’s:Exodus 34:19. All that first openeth the womb is mine: and all thy cattle that is male, that which first openeth [the womb] of ox and sheep:Exodus 23:13. and all that which first openeth [the womb] of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb [or kid]; and if thou dost not redeem it, thou shalt break its neck: and all the first-born of men among thy sons thou shalt redeem.Exodus 34:20. and that which first openeth [the womb] of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb [or kid]; and if thou dost not redeem it, thou shalt break its neck: all the first-born of thy sons thou shalt redeem.[Cf. Exodus 22:29 b The first-born of thy sons thou shalt give unto me.]Exodus 23:15 b … and none shall appear before me empty.And none shall appear before me empty.Exodus 23:16 … and the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours which thou sowest in the field; and the feast of ingathering at the going out of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labours out of the field.Exodus 34:22.

And the feast of weeks thou shalt hold thee, the firstfruits of wheat harvest; and the feast of ingathering at the close of the year.Exodus 23:17. Three times (pe‘βmim) in the year shall all thy males appear before (ΰμτπι) the Lord Yahweh.Exodus 34:23.

Three times (pe‘βmim) in the year shall all thy males appear before (τπιΰϊ) the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. 24. For I will dispossess nations before thee, and enlarge thy border; and no man shall desire thy land, when thou goest up to appear before (τπιΰϊ) Yahweh thy God, three times in the year.Exodus 23:18. Thou shalt not sacrifice with leavened bread the blood of my sacrifice; neither shall there remain all night the fat of my feast until morning.Exodus 34:25. Thou shalt not slaughter with leavened bread the blood of my sacrifice: neither shall there remain all night unto the morning the sacrifice of the feast of the passover.Exodus 23:19. The first of the firstfruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of Yahweh thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.Exodus 34:26.

The first of the firstfruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of Yahweh thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.These are evidently two recensions of one and the same collection of laws.

Neither can well be throughout in its original order, and later additions have almost certainly been introduced into both, Exodus 34:21 is obviously, where it stands, out of place, and is in a much better position in Exodus 23:12, Exodus 23:12 b and Exodus 34:21 b look like explanatory additions made to the same original law by two different compilers (comp. Exodus 20:11 with Deuteronomy 5:14 last clause, 15). Exodus 23:13 (see note ad loc.) reads like the conclusion of some collection of laws, no longer in its original place. Exodus 23:14; Exodus 23:17 would hardly both stand in a document written by a single hand: probably Exodus 23:17 has been introduced from Exodus 34:23. In Exodus 23:15 the words from Seven days to appear before me empty leave v. 16 without a verb to govern it (in the ||, Exodus 34:22, there is a fresh verb); and have probably been introduced here from Exodus 34:18, Exodus 34:19-20 (to redeem) seems to interrupt the connexion where it stands, and to be interpolated between Exodus 23:15 a and 15b: on the other hand, the first clause of Exo 34:19 seems in form more original than the first clause of Exo 13:12, Exodus 34:24 is pretty clearly a reflection of the compiler. The two recensions are derived evidently from a common original; but we cannot in all cases say how the differences between them arose. For notes upon the passage as a whole, the reader is referred to chs. 13 and 23: it will be sufficient here to comment on the more important expressions peculiar to ch. 34.

Exodus 34:18-20

18. See on Exodus 23:15 a. 19, 20a (to redeem). See on Exodus 13:12-13.

Exodus 34:19

19. and all, &c.] Something must be out of order: since the first born of cattle are included among ‘all that first openeth the womb,’ ‘mine’ cannot logically be the predicate of and all &c. Perhaps (Di.) thou shalt sanctify (Deuteronomy 15:19), or sacrifice, unto me has fallen out after ‘sheep.’ There is a similar inexactness in Exodus 13:12. 20b. appear before me] read probably see my face. See on Exodus 23:15 b.

Exodus 34:21

21. in plowing time, &c.] i.e. even at times when the need of working continuously might seem most urgent. For clause a, see on Exodus 23:12.

Exodus 34:22

22. See on Exodus 23:16. Feast of weeks is a name derived (see Deuteronomy 16:9) from the ‘seven weeks’—the average duration of harvest-time—by which this feast followed the commencement of harvest. The same expression is used in Deuteronomy 16:10; Deuteronomy 16:16, 2 Chronicles 8:13†. hold thee] See on Exodus 12:47. So Deuteronomy 16:13. close] lit. circuit, i.e. completed circuit; Ges. (Thes.) ‘ad (post) decursum anni.’ So Exodus 1 Samuel 1:20 (lit. at the (completed) circuit of days),—also, in all probability, of the feast of weeks at the close of the year (notice in v. 21 ‘the yearly sacrifice,’ lit. the sacrifice of days, of the same feast1[222]): the word occurs also in Psalms 19:6 [Hebrews 7], 2 Chronicles 24:23 †; cf. the cognate verb in Isaiah 29:1 ‘let the feasts go round,’ i.e. complete their circuit. [222] The words ‘that [Heb. and] Hannah conceived’ in v. 20 are almost certainly misplaced, and should stand at the beginning of the verse: ‘And Hannah conceived; and it came to pass, at the close of the days (i.e. of the year), that she bare a son.’

Exodus 34:23

23. appear before] read probably see the face of. See on Exodus 23:17.

Exodus 34:24

24. An ideal picture. The Israelites may feel quite secure in observing these pilgrimages; for their enemies will be dispossessed, and their territory enlarged, so that, even though their men are absent from their homes on pilgrimage, no one will think of invading their land. cast out] dispossess (Judges 11:23 EVV., 24 RV.). The thought as Exodus 23:27 f.; the expression as Deuteronomy 4:38; Deuteronomy 9:4-5; Deuteronomy 11:23; Deuteronomy 18:12 (EVV. in all, drive out, which, however, confuses the word with the different one (gârash) so rendered in v. 11 here),—all with Jehovah as subject. goest up] viz. to Jerusalem, for pilgrimages to which ‘go up’ was the technical expression (1 Kings 12:27-28; Isaiah 2:3; Psalms 122:4).

Exodus 34:25

25. See on Exodus 23:18. In cl. bwhat in Exodus 23:18 is prescribed apparently for all festal sacrifices is here referred specifically to the passover,—‘fat,’ which is not elsewhere mentioned in connexion with the passover, being changed into ‘sacrifice,’ which would refer naturally to the flesh of the lamb eaten at the passover. be left] remain all night (yâlîn), exactly as Exodus 23:18.

Exodus 34:26

26. See on Exodus 23:19.

Exodus 34:27-28

27. These words,—i.e. the commands of vv. 11–26,—are to be written down by Moses; for they constitute the conditions upon which Jehovah establishes His covenant (vv. 10, 27) with Israel. ‘The verse is J’s parallel to Exodus 24:3-8 in E’ (Di.). after the tenor of] The expression used in Genesis 43:7. 28a. And he was there, &c.] viz. after the ascent of the mount described in v. 4, i.e. in the present form of vv. 1–4, Moses second ascent of it, but in their original form, if the view stated on p. 364 be correct, the ascent mentioned in Exodus 24:1-2; Exodus 24:9-11, so that in this case the forty days of J here will be the same as the forty days of E in Exodus 24:18 b. 28b. And he wrote] i.e., in the present context of the words, Moses (see p. 364). Of course it must be admitted that v. 28b may have once stood in a context in which the pronoun would refer naturally to Jehovah: this would be the case, for instance, if it once stood immediately after v. 4, as Deuteronomy 10:4 would suggest (cf. p. 364). the words of the covenant] The ‘words’ of v. 27, i.e. the commands of vv. Exodus 11-26. It is difficult to think that this expression, at least as an original part of J, can have denoted the Decalogue of Exodus 20 : for the Decalogue of Exodus 20 is not in any part of Ex. made the basis of a covenant: this is a representation characteristic of Dt. (Deuteronomy 4:13, Deuteronomy 5:2-3 al.: see pp. 175, 193). the ten commandments] Heb. words: i.e., if the words are part of J, and in their original context, the ‘words,’ or commandments, of vv. 11–26, which, though they are now more, may once have consisted only of ten (the ‘ritual Decalogue,’ p. 365). But it is probable that the words are a later addition, made, on the basis of Deu 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4, after the original wording of the chapter had been modified in vv. 1, 4, so as to make it describe the re-writing of the ‘moral’ Decalogue of Exodus 20 (p. 365); and in this case they will, as in Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4 †, refer to that Decalogue. So Kittel, Bä., McNeile (p. xxxi), al.

Exodus 34:29-35

29–35. The shining of Moses’ face when he came down after God’s converse with him on the mountain. The sequel in P to Exodus 24:15-18 a, Exodus 25:1 to Exodus 31:18 a (Di.).

Exodus 34:31

31. the rulers in the congregation] See on Exodus 16:22.

Exodus 34:32

32. all that, &c.] The directions given in chs. 25–31.

Exodus 34:33-35

33–35. The glow alarmed the Israelites: Moses, therefore, put a veil on his face, which he wore ever afterwards, except when he went in to speak with God, or while he was communicating to the people the Divine message which he had received: in ordinary life the reflexion of the Divine glory upon his face was thus hidden from the people.

Exodus 34:34-35

34, 35. But whenever Moses went in … he would take …; and he would come out, and speak …; and the children of Israel would see …, and Moses would put, &c.] The tenses are throughout frequentative, describing Moses’ habitual practice.