Exodus 24:12

24:12 ¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets ²  with ³  the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” ⁴ 

Exodus 28:21

28:21 The stones are to be for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to the number of ⁵  their names. Each name according to the twelve tribes is to be like ⁶  the engravings of a seal.

Exodus 28:1

The Clothing of the Priests

28:1 ⁷ “And you, bring near ⁸  to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests ⁹  – Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

Exodus 18:1

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ¹⁰ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ¹¹  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ¹² 

Psalms 111:2-4

111:2 The Lord’s deeds are great,

eagerly awaited ¹³  by all who desire them.

111:3 His work is majestic and glorious, ¹⁴ 

and his faithfulness endures ¹⁵  forever.

111:4 He does ¹⁶  amazing things that will be remembered; ¹⁷ 

the Lord is merciful and compassionate.

[24:12]  ¹ sn Now the last part is recorded in which Moses ascends to Yahweh to receive the tablets of stone. As Moses disappears into the clouds, the people are given a vision of the glory of Yahweh.

[24:12]  ² sn These are the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments would be written. This is the first time they are mentioned. The commandments were apparently proclaimed by God first and then proclaimed to the people by Moses. Now that they have been formally agreed on and ratified, they will be written by God on stone for a perpetual covenant.

[24:12]  ³ tn Or “namely”; or “that is to say.” The vav (ו) on the noun does not mean that this is in addition to the tablets of stone; the vav is explanatory. Gesenius has “to wit”; see GKC 484-85 §154.a, n. 1(b).

[24:12]  ⁴ tn The last word of the verse is לְהוֹרֹתָם (lÿhorotam), the Hiphil infinitive construct of יָרָה (yarah). It serves as a purpose clause, “to teach them,” meaning “I am giving you this Law and these commands in order that you may teach them.” This duty to teach the Law will be passed especially to parents (Deut 6:6-9, 20-25) and to the tribe of Levi as a whole (Deut 33:9-10; Mal 2:1-9).

[28:21]  ⁵ tn For clarity the words “the number of” have been supplied.

[28:21]  ⁶ tn The phrase translated “the engravings of a seal” is an adverbial accusative of manner here.

[28:1]  ⁷ sn Some modern scholars find this and the next chapter too elaborate for the wilderness experience. To most of them this reflects the later Zadokite priesthood of the writer’s (P’s) day that was referred to Mosaic legislation for authentication. But there is no compelling reason why this should be late; it is put late because it is assumed to be P, and that is assumed to be late. But both assumptions are unwarranted. This lengthy chapter could be divided this way: instructions for preparing the garments (1-5), details of the apparel (6-39), and a warning against deviating from these (40-43). The subject matter of the first part is that God requires that his chosen ministers reflect his holy nature; the point of the second part is that God requires his ministers to be prepared to fulfill the tasks of the ministry, and the subject matter of the third part is that God warns all his ministers to safeguard the holiness of their service.

[28:1]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperative of the root קָרַב (qarav, “to draw near”). In the present stem the word has religious significance, namely, to present something to God, like an offering.

[28:1]  ⁹ tn This entire clause is a translation of the Hebrew לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִי (lÿkhahano-li, “that he might be a priest to me”), but the form is unusual. The word means “to be a priest” or “to act as a priest.” The etymology of the word for priest, כֹּהֵן (kohen), is uncertain.

[18:1]  ¹⁰ sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.

[18:1]  ¹¹ tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.

[18:1]  ¹² sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).

[111:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “sought out.”

[111:3]  ¹⁴ tn For other uses of the Hebrew phrase וְהָדָר-הוֹד (hod-vÿhadar, “majesty and splendor”) see 1 Chr 16:27; Job 40:10; Pss 21:5; 96:6; 104:1.

[111:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “stands.”

[111:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).

[111:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”