1Moses is commanded to prepare new tables, and to go up again to the top of the mount. 4The name of the Lord is there proclaimed before him. 8Moses entreateth God to go with the people. 10God maketh a covenant with them, in which he restraineth idolatry; and 18, 21, 22, 23, 25repeateth certain duties before prescribed. 27Moses continueth in the mount forty days, and by God's command writeth upon the tables the ten commandments. 29On his return his face shineth, and he covereth it with a vail.
1AND the LORD saida unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
a Deut. 10:1.
2And be ready 1in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the 2top of the mount.
1 This is the second time that Moses was upon Mount Sinai, continuing each time forty days and forty nights there.
2 Hebr. head.
3Andb3no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neitherc let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
b Exod. 19:12.
3 When Moses went up into the mount the first time, there were with him Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, together with seventy more of the elders of Israel, but now they have become ill-smelling before the Lord by reason of the idolatry they had committed with the golden calf.
c Exod. 19:13.
4¶And he hewedd two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
d shape by cutting or chopping*
5And the LORD descended in the 4cloud, and stood with him there, and 5proclaimed the name of the LORD.
4 Namely, that cloud, which was a sure token of the presence of the Lord.
5 Namely, the Lord, see Exod. 33:19.
6Ande the LORD passed by before him, and 6proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, 7longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and 8truth,
e Exod. 33:19.
6 Namely, the Lord.
7 Hebr. long of wrathfulness, that is, slow to anger, not hasty to execute His wrath; so Num. 14:18; Eccl. 7:8, etc. The contrary hereof is, short of wrathfulness, that is, hasty and prone to wrath, Prov. 14:17.
8 See Gen. 24:27.
7Keepingf mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and 9that will by no means clear the guilty; visitingg the iniquity 10of the fathers 11upon the children, and upon the children’s children, 12unto the third and to the fourth generation.
f Exod. 20:6; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:10; Psalm 86:15; 103:8; 145:8.
9 Hebr. Who, holding guiltless, does not hold guiltless.
g Jer. 32:18.
10 Namely, wicked and ungodly parents.
11 Namely, if they imitate the wicked footsteps of their fathers.
12 Or, in the third and in the fourth, Exod. 20:5; Deut. 5:9.
8And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, 13let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thineh inheritance.
13 Namely, with the cloudy pillar, conducting and refreshing us thereby.
h Lev. 25:38; Psalm 28:9; 33:12; Zech. 2:12.
10¶And he said, Behold, Ii make a covenant: beforej all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do 14with thee.
i Deut. 5:2.
j Joshua 10:12, 13.
14 O Israel. Other, with thee, O Moses.
1115Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.16
15 Here now follows the conditions of the covenant which God requires of the people.
16 Understand in addition the Girgashites.
12Takek heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
k Exod. 23:32; Num. 33:51; Deut. 7:2.
13But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their 17groves:
17 Namely, those, in which they did commit idolatry.
14Forl thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
l Exod. 20:5.
15Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go 18a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
18 Namely, by committing idolatry which is called spiritual whoredom, Jer. 3:9. See Lev. 17 on verse 7.
16And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, andm their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
m 1 Kings 11:2.
17Thou shalt make thee no 19molten gods.
19 Understand hereby likewise the painted, pictured, hewn, cut and carved gods. Here the molten ones are expressed by name, in regard of the molten calf which they had worshipped.
18 ¶ 20The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, inn the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
20 See Exod. 13:6.
n Exod. 12:15; 23:15.
1921Allo that openeth the matrixpis mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, 22whether ox or sheep, that is male.
21 Hebr. all opening of the matrix, that is, every firstborn, see Exodus 13.
o Exod. 13:2; 22:29; Ezek. 44:30.
p womb
22 Hebr. opening of the ox, that is, of the cows or large animals, and of cattle.
20Butq the firstling of an 23ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break 24his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. Andr none shall appear before me 25empty.
q Exod. 13:13.
23 Or, she-ass. The ass, whether he or she, was not permitted be offered in sacrifice, being unclean.
24 Or, behead it; or, cut its neck through.
r Exod. 23:15; Deut. 16:16.
25 That is, without a gift or present; what was given to the priests was accounted as given to God Himself.
21¶Sixs days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earingt time and in harvest 26thou shalt rest.
s Exod. 20:9.
t ploughing
26 Namely, on the Sabbath Day.
22¶And thou shalt 27observe 28the feastu of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the 29feast of ingathering 30at the year's end.
27 Hebr. do; and so likewise Exod. 31:16 and Deut. 16:1.
28 Understand here the feast of Pentecost, which was celebrated seven weeks after the Passover, Lev. 23:15; Acts 2:1.
u Exod. 23:16.
29 That is, at the time when thy fruits are all gathered in by thee, and brought home out of the field.
30 Hebr. revolution of the year. Other, when the year is ended.
23¶Thrice in the year shall allv your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
v Exod. 23:17; Deut. 16:16.
24For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
25Thouw shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with 31leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
w Exod. 23:18.
31 That is, as long as there is any leavened bread in thy house.
2632The firstx of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thouy shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
32 That is, the beginnings of the first fruits, as in Exod. 23:19.
x Exod. 23:19; Deut. 26:2.
y Exod. 23:19; Lev. 22:27; Deut. 14:21.
27And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for 33after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
33 Hebr. according to the mouth of these words.
28Andz he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat 34bread, nor 35drink water. Andaa36he wrote upon the tables the 37words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
z Exod. 24:18; Deut. 9:9, 18.
34 By the word bread is understood all manner of food.
35 By the word water is understood all manner of drink.
aa Exod. 31:18; 34:1; Deut. 4:13.
36 Namely, the Lord, as verse 1 and Deut. 10:2 plainly show. That God charges Moses in verse 27, is to be understood of his writing it into the book of the law, as Exod. 17:14, but not that he would write the law into the two tables of stone.
37 That is, the Ten Commandments; as Gal. 5:14.
29¶And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his faceab38shone 39while he talked with him.
ab 2 Cor. 3:7.
38 That is, was casting forth beams, like unto the sun. The Hebrew verb is derived from a word signifying horns; and thence came the mistake of painting Moses with horns.
39 Or, since He (namely, the Lord) had spoken with him. Or, because He had, etc.
30And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they 40were afraid to come nigh him.
40 It seems that at first they did not know him perfectly, but supposed it was an angel that appeared to them.
31And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and 41all the rulers of the congregation 42returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
41 Or, princes, governors, rulers.
42 Knowing him now better by his voice.
32And 43afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
43 Namely, when the rulers and elders of the people had first been with Moses, and they had seen Moses communing with them.
33And till Moses had done speaking with them, heac put a vail on his face.
ac 2 Cor. 3:7, 13.
34But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
3544And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak 45with him.
44 Moses let the people see the luster of his face, that they might give his words so much the more credit; and afterwards he put the cover on again, when he was to speak with them that they would not turn away from, or seek to avoid him.
45 Namely, with God.