
Text -- Exodus 34:8-35 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley: Exo 34:8 - -- Thus he expressed his humble reverence and adoration of God's glory, together with his joy in this discovery God had made of himself, and his thankful...
Thus he expressed his humble reverence and adoration of God's glory, together with his joy in this discovery God had made of himself, and his thankfulness for it. Then likewise he expressed his holy submission to the will of God made known in this declaration, subscribing to his justice as well as mercy, and putting himself and his people Israel under the government of such a God as Jehovah had now proclaimed himself to be. Let this God be our God for ever and ever!

For thy presence is all to our safety and success.

Else we cannot expect thee to go among us.

Wesley: Exo 34:9 - -- Which thou wilt have a particular eye to, and concern for. These things God had already promised Moses; and yet he prays for them, not as doubting the...
Which thou wilt have a particular eye to, and concern for. These things God had already promised Moses; and yet he prays for them, not as doubting the sincerity of God's grants, but as one solicitous for the ratification of them. But it is a strange plea he urges, for it is a stiff - necked people - God had given this as a reason why he would not go along with them, Exo 33:3. Yea, saith Moses, the rather go along with us; for the worse they are, the more need they have of thy presence.

Wesley: Exo 34:9 - -- necked, that he has neither patience nor power enough to deal with them; therefore, Lord, do thou go among us; else they will never be kept in awe; th...
necked, that he has neither patience nor power enough to deal with them; therefore, Lord, do thou go among us; else they will never be kept in awe; thou wilt spare, and bear with them, for thou art God and not man.

Wesley: Exo 34:10 - -- When the covenant was broke, it was Israel that broke it; now it comes to be renewed, it is God that makes it. If there be quarrels, we must bear all ...
When the covenant was broke, it was Israel that broke it; now it comes to be renewed, it is God that makes it. If there be quarrels, we must bear all the blame; if there be peace, God must have all the glory.

Wesley: Exo 34:10 - -- Such as the drying up of Jordan, the standing still of the sun. Marvels indeed, for they were without precedent, such as have not been done in all the...
Such as the drying up of Jordan, the standing still of the sun. Marvels indeed, for they were without precedent, such as have not been done in all the earth; the people shall see, and own the work of the Lord; and they were the terror of their enemies: it is a terrible thing that I will do.

Wesley: Exo 34:11 - -- We cannot expect the benefit of the promises, unless we make conscience of the precepts. The two great precepts are, Thou shalt worship no other gods ...
We cannot expect the benefit of the promises, unless we make conscience of the precepts. The two great precepts are, Thou shalt worship no other gods - A good reason is annexed; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God - As tender in the matters of his worship as the husband is of the honour of the marriage - bed.

Wesley: Exo 34:11 - -- Thou shalt not worship the true God by images. This was the sin they had lately fallen into, which therefore they are particularly cautioned against. ...
Thou shalt not worship the true God by images. This was the sin they had lately fallen into, which therefore they are particularly cautioned against. That they might not be tempted to worship other gods, they must not join in affinity or friendship with those that did.

Wesley: Exo 34:12 - -- It is a sin thou art prone to, and that will easily beset thee; carefully abstain from all advances towards it, make no covenant with the inhabitants ...
It is a sin thou art prone to, and that will easily beset thee; carefully abstain from all advances towards it, make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land - If God in kindness to them drove out the Canaanites, they ought in duty to God not to harbour them: If they espoused their children they would be in danger of espousing their gods. That they might not be tempted to make molten gods, they must utterly destroy those they found, and all that belonged to them, the altars and groves, lest, if they were left standing, they should be brought in process of time either to use them, or to take pattern by them.

Wesley: Exo 34:21 - -- Here is a repetition of several appointments made before, especially relating to their solemn feasts: when they had made the calf they proclaimed a fe...
Here is a repetition of several appointments made before, especially relating to their solemn feasts: when they had made the calf they proclaimed a feast in honour of it; now, that they might never do so again, they are here charged with the observance of the feasts which God had instituted. Thou shalt rest, even in earing - time and in harvest - The most busy times of the year.

Wesley: Exo 34:21 - -- work will prosper the better for the religious observation of the sabbath - day in harvest - time. Hereby we must shew that we prefer our communion wi...
work will prosper the better for the religious observation of the sabbath - day in harvest - time. Hereby we must shew that we prefer our communion with God, before either the business or the joy of harvest.

Wesley: Exo 34:23 - -- children appear - But it might be suggested, when all the males slain every part were gone up to worship in the place that God should chuse, the count...
children appear - But it might be suggested, when all the males slain every part were gone up to worship in the place that God should chuse, the country would he left exposed to the insults of their neighbours; and what would become of the poor women and children? Trust God with them.

Wesley: Exo 34:24 - -- Not only they shall not invade it, but they shall not so much as think of invading it. What a standing Miracle was this, for so many Generations?
Not only they shall not invade it, but they shall not so much as think of invading it. What a standing Miracle was this, for so many Generations?

Wesley: Exo 34:29 - -- This time of his being in the mount he heard only the same he had heard before. But he saw more of the glory of God, which having with open face behel...
This time of his being in the mount he heard only the same he had heard before. But he saw more of the glory of God, which having with open face beheld, he was in some measure changed into the same image. This was a great honour done to Moses, that the people might never again question his mission, or think or speak slightly of him. He carried his credentials in his very countenance, some think as long as he lived, he retained some remainders of this glory, which perhaps contributed to the vigour of his old age; that eye could not wax dim which had seen God, nor that face wrinkle which had shone with his glory.

Wesley: Exo 34:30 - -- It not only dazzled their eyes, but struck such an awe upon them as obliged them to retire. Probably they doubted whether it was a token of God's favo...
It not only dazzled their eyes, but struck such an awe upon them as obliged them to retire. Probably they doubted whether it was a token of God's favour, or of his displeasure.

Wesley: Exo 34:33 - -- This veil signified the darkness of that dispensation; the ceremonial institutions had in them much of Christ and the gospel, but a veil was drawn ove...
This veil signified the darkness of that dispensation; the ceremonial institutions had in them much of Christ and the gospel, but a veil was drawn over it, so that the children of Israel could not distinctly and steadfastly see those good things to come which the law had a shadow of. It was beauty veiled, gold in the mine, a pearl in the shell; but thanks be to God, by the gospel, the veil is taken away from off the old testament; yet still it remains upon the hearts of those who shut their eyes against the light.

Wesley: Exo 34:34 - -- Every veil must be thrown aside when we go to present ourselves unto the Lord. This signified also, as it is explained, 2Co 3:16, that when a soul tur...
Every veil must be thrown aside when we go to present ourselves unto the Lord. This signified also, as it is explained, 2Co 3:16, that when a soul turns to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away, that with open face it may behold his glory.
JFB: Exo 34:9-10 - -- On this proclamation, he, in the overflowing benevolence of s heart, founded an earnest petition for the Divine Presence being continued with the peop...
On this proclamation, he, in the overflowing benevolence of s heart, founded an earnest petition for the Divine Presence being continued with the people; and God was pleased to give His favorable answer to Moses' intercession by a renewal of His promise under the form of a covenant, repeating the leading points that formed the conditions of the former national compact.

JFB: Exo 34:27-28 - -- That is, the ceremonial and judicial injunctions comprehended above (Exo. 34:11-26); while the rewriting of the ten commandments on the newly prepared...
That is, the ceremonial and judicial injunctions comprehended above (Exo. 34:11-26); while the rewriting of the ten commandments on the newly prepared slabs was done by God Himself (compare Deu 10:1-4).

JFB: Exo 34:28 - -- As long as formerly [Exo 24:18], being sustained for the execution of his special duties by the miraculous power of God. A special cause is assigned f...

JFB: Exo 34:29 - -- It was an intimation of the exalted presence into which he had been admitted and of the glory he had witnessed (2Co 3:18); and in that view, it was a ...
It was an intimation of the exalted presence into which he had been admitted and of the glory he had witnessed (2Co 3:18); and in that view, it was a badge of his high office as the ambassador of God. No testimonial needed to be produced. He bore his credentials on his very face; and whether this extraordinary effulgence was a permanent or merely temporary distinction, it cannot be doubted that this reflected glory was given him as an honor before all the people.

JFB: Exo 34:30 - -- Their fear arose from a sense of guilt--the beaming radiance of his countenance made him appear to their awe-struck consciences a flaming minister of ...
Their fear arose from a sense of guilt--the beaming radiance of his countenance made him appear to their awe-struck consciences a flaming minister of heaven.

JFB: Exo 34:33 - -- That veil was with the greatest propriety removed when speaking with the Lord, for every one appears unveiled to the eye of Omniscience; but it was re...
That veil was with the greatest propriety removed when speaking with the Lord, for every one appears unveiled to the eye of Omniscience; but it was replaced on returning to the people--and this was emblematic of the dark and shadowy character of that dispensation (2Co 3:13-14).
Clarke: Exo 34:9 - -- O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us - The original is not יהוה Jehovah , but ××“× ×™ Adonai in both these places, and seems to re...
O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us - The original is not

Clarke: Exo 34:10 - -- I will do marvels - This seems to refer to what God did in putting them in possession of the land of Canaan, causing the walls of Jericho to fall do...
I will do marvels - This seems to refer to what God did in putting them in possession of the land of Canaan, causing the walls of Jericho to fall down; making the sun and moon to stand still, etc. And thus God made his covenant with them; binding himself to put them in possession of the promised land, and binding them to observe the precepts laid down in the following verses, from Exodus 34:11-26 inclusive.

Clarke: Exo 34:13 - -- Ye shall destroy their images - See the subjects of this and all the following verses, to Exo 34:28, treated at large in the notes on Exodus 23 (not...
Ye shall destroy their images - See the subjects of this and all the following verses, to Exo 34:28, treated at large in the notes on Exodus 23 (note).

Clarke: Exo 34:21 - -- In earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest - This commandment is worthy of especial note; many break the Sabbath on the pretense of absolute nece...
In earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest - This commandment is worthy of especial note; many break the Sabbath on the pretense of absolute necessity, because, if in harvest time the weather happens to be what is called bad, and the Sabbath day be fair and fine, they judge it perfectly lawful to employ that day in endeavoring to save the fruits of the field, and think that the goodness of the day beyond the preceding, is an indication from Providence that it should be thus employed. But is not the above command pointed directly against this? I have known this law often broken on this pretense, and have never been able to discover a single instance where the persons who acted thus succeeded one whit better than their more conscientious neighbors, who availed themselves of no such favorable circumstances, being determined to keep God’ s law, even to the prejudice of their secular interests; but no man ever yet ultimately suffered loss by a conscientious attachment to his duty to God. He who is willing and obedient, shall eat the good of the land; but God will ever distinguish those in his providence who respect his commandments.

Clarke: Exo 34:24 - -- Neither shall any man desire thy land - What a manifest proof was this of the power and particular providence of God! How easy would it have been fo...
Neither shall any man desire thy land - What a manifest proof was this of the power and particular providence of God! How easy would it have been for the surrounding nations to have taken possession of the whole Israelitish land, with all their fenced cities, when there were none left to protect them but women and children! Was not this a standing proof of the Divine origin of their religion, and a barrier which no deistical mind could possibly surmount! Thrice every year did God work an especial miracle for the protection of his people; controlling even the very desires of their enemies, that they might not so much as meditate evil against them. They who have God for their protector have a sure refuge; and how true is the proverb, The path of duty is the way of safety! While these people went up to Jerusalem to keep the Lord’ s ordinances, he kept their families in peace, and their land in safety.

Clarke: Exo 34:25 - -- The blood of my sacrifice - That is, the paschal lamb. See Clarke on Exo 23:18 (note).
The blood of my sacrifice - That is, the paschal lamb. See Clarke on Exo 23:18 (note).

Clarke: Exo 34:26 - -- Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’ s milk - See this amply considered Exo 23:19 (note).
Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’ s milk - See this amply considered Exo 23:19 (note).

Clarke: Exo 34:27 - -- Write thou these words - Either a transcript of the whole law now delivered, or the words included from Exo 34:11 to Exo 34:26. God certainly wrote ...
Write thou these words - Either a transcript of the whole law now delivered, or the words included from Exo 34:11 to Exo 34:26. God certainly wrote the ten words on both sets of tables. Moses either wrote a transcript of these and the accompanying precepts for the use of the people, or he wrote the precepts themselves in addition to the ten commandments which were written by the finger of God. See Clarke on Exo 34:1 (note). Allowing this mode of interpretation, the accompanying precepts were, probably, what was written on the back side of the tables by Moses; the ten commandments, what were written on the front by the finger of Jehovah: for we must pay but little attention to the supposition of the rabbins, that the letters on each table were cut through the stone, so as to be legible on each side. See Clarke on Exo 32:15 (note).

Clarke: Exo 34:29 - -- The skin of his face shone - קרן karan , was horned: having been long in familiar intercourse with his Maker, his flesh, as well as his soul, wa...
The skin of his face shone -

Clarke: Exo 34:30 - -- They were afraid to come nigh him - A sight of his face alarmed them; their consciences were still guilty from their late transgression, and they ha...
They were afraid to come nigh him - A sight of his face alarmed them; their consciences were still guilty from their late transgression, and they had not yet received the atonement. The very appearance of superior sanctity often awes the guilty into respect.

Clarke: Exo 34:33 - -- And till Moses had done speaking - The meaning of the verse appears to be this: As often as Moses spoke in public to the people, he put the veil on ...
And till Moses had done speaking - The meaning of the verse appears to be this: As often as Moses spoke in public to the people, he put the veil on his face, because they could not bear to look on the brightness of his countenance; but when he entered into the tabernacle to converse with the Lord, he removed this veil, Exo 34:34. St. Paul, 2Co 3:7, etc., makes a very important use of the transactions recorded in this place. He represents the brightness of the face of Moses as emblematical of the glory or excellence of that dispensation; but he shows that however glorious or excellent that was, it had no glory when compared with the superior excellence of the Gospel. As Moses was glorious in the eyes of the Israelites, but that glory was absorbed and lost in the splendor of God when he entered into the tabernacle, or went to meet the Lord upon the mount; so the brightness and excellence of the Mosaic dispensation are eclipsed and absorbed in the transcendent brightness or excellence of the Gospel of Christ. One was the shadow, the other is the substance. One showed Sin in its exceeding sinfulness, together with the justice and immaculate purity of God; but, in and of itself, made no provision for pardon or sanctification. The other exhibits Jesus, the Lamb of God, typified by all the sacrifices under the law, putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself, reconciling God to man and man to God, diffusing his Spirit through the souls of believers, and cleansing the very thoughts of their hearts by his inspiration, and causing them to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The one seems to shut heaven against mankind, because by the law was the knowledge, not the cure, of Sin; the other opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The former was a ministration of death, the latter a dispensation of life. The former ministered terror, so that even the high priest was afraid to approach, the people withdrew and stood afar off, and even Moses, the mediator of it, exceedingly feared and trembled; by the latter we have boldness to enter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus, who is the end of the law for righteousness - justification, to every one that believeth. The former gives a partial view of the Divine nature; the latter shows God as he is
"Full orbed, in his whole round of rays complete.
The apostle farther considers the veil on the face of Moses, as being emblematical of the metaphorical nature of the different rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation, each covering some spiritual meaning or a spiritual subject; and that the Jews did not lift the veil to penetrate the spiritual sense, and did not look to the end of the commandment, which was to be abolished, but rested in the letter or literal meaning, which conferred neither light nor life
He considers the veil also as being emblematical of that state of intellectual darkness into which the Jewish people, by their rejection of the Gospel, were plunged, and from which they have never yet been recovered. When a Jew, even at the present day, reads the law in the synagogue, he puts over his head an oblong woolen veil, with four tassels at the four corners, which is called the taled or thaled. This is a very remarkable circumstance, as it appears to be an emblem of the intellectual veil referred to by the apostle, which is still upon their hearts when Moses is read, and which prevents them from looking to the end of that which God designed should be abrogated, and which has been abolished by the introduction of the Gospel. The veil is upon their hearts, and prevents the light of the glory of God from shining into them; but we all, says the apostle, speaking of believers in Christ, with open face, without any veil, beholding as in a glass the glory of God, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord; 2Co 3:18. Reader, dost thou know this excellence of the religion of Christ? Once thou wert darkness; art thou now light in the Lord? Art thou still under the letter that killeth, or under the Spirit that giveth life? Art thou a slave to sin or a servant of Christ? Is the veil on thy heart, or hast thou found redemption in his blood, the remission of sins? Knowest thou not these things? Then may God pity, enlighten, and save thee!
Calvin: Exo 34:8 - -- 8.And Moses made haste, and bowed his head This haste shews that Moses was astounded when he first beheld the brightness; for thus does God, when He ...
8.And Moses made haste, and bowed his head This haste shews that Moses was astounded when he first beheld the brightness; for thus does God, when He reveals Himself, immediately ravish the godly into such admiration of Him, that there is no time for delay. 384 This prayer follows, that God would journey with His people, and bear with their frowardness; for, since God had said that He could not possibly dwell with so stiff-necked and intractable a people, Moses proposes the remedy, viz., after he has confessed that the people are of a hardened and stubborn spirit, he still expresses a hope of their safety, if God will be pitiful in sparing them. What follows is worthy of observation, “that thou mayest possess us;†385 for the copula has the force of the causal particle, as if he had said, That God could not enjoy the inheritance He had chosen, unless by pardoning their sins. And surely so it is; for such is man’s frailty, that they would straightway fall from grace were they not reconciled to God. Nor was this spoken only of this ancient people, but refers also to us; for, in order that God should possess us too, it is needful that our sins should be constantly pardoned, as this embassy, according to Paul, daily resounds in the Church. (2Co 5:20.) Consequently, not only does the origin of our salvation flow from gratuitous adoption, but its continual progress even to the end can only be accomplished by God’s freely reconciling us to Himself.

Calvin: Exo 34:10 - -- 10.And he said, Behold, I make a covenant It is not specified with whom God would make the covenant. Some interpreters, 386 therefore, supply the nam...
10.And he said, Behold, I make a covenant It is not specified with whom God would make the covenant. Some interpreters, 386 therefore, supply the name of Moses, and this they seem to do on probable grounds, especially since it is added at the end of the verse “the work 387 that I will do with thee.†But, inasmuch as Moses stipulated in the name of all, the meaning comes to the same thing, if we read, I will make a covenant openly with the whole people. By this promise, then, God, as it were, entirely restored the Israelites, for He declares that He will deal so marvellously in the discomfiture of the nations, as to prove that He is the peculiar God of that people; and this was to distinguish them from other nations, according to the prayer of Moses. he says that they shall all be eye-witnesses of this, that, being thus at length convinced by their own senses, they might sincerely and faithfully submit themselves to his dominion.

Calvin: Exo 34:11 - -- Exo 34:11.Observe that which I command thee Although these supplements belong alike to the First and Second Commandment, still it was fit to postpone ...
Exo 34:11.Observe that which I command thee Although these supplements belong alike to the First and Second Commandment, still it was fit to postpone them to this place; because in them God applied a remedy to all external and manifest superstitions, which might easily have insinuated themselves had they not been anticipated in good time. All will run eagerly into idolatry, even though there be none to impel us from without; but where the ungodly act upon us also like fans, and this must needs be the case, when the people of God entangle themselves in their society, this disease is increasingly inflamed. And truly the closer our familiarity is with them, it is like a yoke, whereby they draw others with them. In order then that the people, when they entered the land, might preserve themselves pure and thoroughly devoted to God, care must be taken lest they should contract pollution from other nations; and therefore God would have all the inhabitants of Canaan utterly destroyed, lest they should entice His elect people to their errors and the worship of false gods. He here interdicts two kinds of covenant with them, lest there should be any public or private alliance between them; and then commands that all should be slain without mercy. As regards the public covenant, it was forbidden for a special cause, that the sons of Abraham should mix themselves with the reprobate; because they would have thus deprived themselves of the lawful inheritance which God had destined for them; nor would the face of the land have been renewed by the removal of all defilements. Since then in His just judgment God had long ago determined to destroy these nations, it was not lawful for the children of Abraham to rescind the divine decree, or to make any alteration in it.
If therefore any one should insist too literally on this passage to prove the unlawfulness of making any contract with the ungodly, because God forbade it of old, he will not reason soundly, since God does not now command us to execute vengeance by putting all the wicked to death; nor is a certain country assigned to the Church in which it may dwell apart and have dominion. Still I do not deny that what was enjoined upon the ancient people, in some degree has reference to us; nay, we must carefully remark what I lately adverted to, that those, who voluntarily unite themselves with the ungodly, impose as it were a yoke on themselves to draw them to destruction. And in fact Paul embraced in this comparison all the grounds upon which unbelievers insinuate themselves into familiarity with us, to ensnare us by their corrupting influence. (2Co 6:14) As much as possible, therefore, must all ties of connection be rather broken, than that by union with God’s enemies 301 we should allow ourselves to be drawn away from Him by their allurements; for they will always be attempting, by all the artifices they can, to make a divorce between us and God. Besides, if we desire faithfully to serve God, there ought to be a perpetual quarrel between us and them. God then would have us not only separate ourselves from open communion with them, but since we are too much given to depravity, He also commands us to fly from all the snares which might gradually induce us to participate in their sins. But inasmuch as Paul justly reminds us, that if we are not permitted to have any dealings with unbelievers, we must “needs go out of the world,†(1Co 5:10,) it is proper for us to distinguish between the contracts which associate us with them and those which do not at all diminish our liberty.
As long as we live among unbelievers, we cannot escape those dealings with them which relate to the ordinary affairs of life; but if we approach nearer, so that a greater intimacy should arise, we open the door as it were to Satan. Such are alliances between kings and nations, and marriages amongst private persons; and therefore Moses laid down rules respecting them both for the ancient people. And although our condition now-a-days is more free, still we are warned that all temptations are to be avoided which might give occasion to this evil. It is notorious that men are too apt to be led away by the blandishments of their wives; and also, that men in their power compel their wives to obedience. Those, therefore, who mix with idolaters, knowingly and wilfully devote themselves to idols. The same thing happens as to alliances; for men are ashamed in them to betray any marks of disrespect. Thus, to please the king of Syria, Ahaz raised an altar in the temple like that at Damascus. (2Kg 16:10.) Thus while the Jews desired to gratify the Assyrians, they imitated their superstitions. In a word, it, is a most uncommon case that the religion of those should remain unaffected who seek to curry favor with the ungodly. But that they may cleave more earnestly to their duty, the danger I have spoken of is declared; otherwise such rejoinders as these would have been straightway in their mouths: “Although my wife is altogether averse from true piety, still I will stand firm; although my husband is not subject to God, yet I will never decline from the true course; although religion is not dear to our allies, still it shall not cease to be sacredly held in honor amongst ourselves.†God 302 therefore interferes betimes, and declares that they will not be so magnanimous in resistance, when once they have opened the window to the evil. He adds, too, another evil, i.e., that the sacred land would be thus profaned; for, although the Israelites should be separated from the impieties of the Gentiles, still it was not excusable to allow them to have altars in that land in which God had chosen a sanctuary for Himself. Yet at the same time Moses warns them that it could scarcely be but that this association would involve the Israelites also. When he says, then, “lest they go a whoring after their gods, and one call thee,†he means that the Israelites would be like panders, if under cover of their covenant, and for the sake of preserving their good-will, they gave the Gentiles permission to exercise their superstitions; and also that this would be a snare to grosser sin; since whilst they feared to give offense, they would not refuse to go to their feasts, and thus would be partakers of their guilt. Literally, it is, “Lest perhaps thou strike a covenant, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and call thee,†which words may be thus paraphrased, so as to depend on the foregoing prohibition: “Lest it should happen, after you shall have made a covenant, that they should go a whoring,†etc.; or thus, “By no means make a covenant, because they will go a whoring after their idols, and when they shall offer sacrifices will call thee.†The meaning, however, will amount to the same; for he mentions the two worst results of their unlawful covenant, i.e., that these unbelieving nations will pollute the land, and under pretext of kindness will corrupt God’s people. But in order that they may be more earnest and courageous in their duty, the promise is added, that they shall be victorious over these nations. This was almost incredible, that wanderers and exiles as they were, they should easily and quickly be enabled to gain possession of so many lands; therefore God takes away all doubt, and thus commands the Israelites to obey His dominion at the end of this war, which they shall feel that they have waged successfully under His auspices. Wherefore he convicts them of ingratitude if they shall dare to relax any of that severity which He requires; as if He had said, Since these nations far excel you in numbers, and strength, and warlike equipments, it will plainly appear that you have not conquered them by your own power; it will therefore be more than iniquitous that the war, which shall be concluded under my guidance alone, and by my hand, should be finished in opposition to my will, and that you should be the disposers of that victory which I have gratuitously conferred upon you. The discrepancy is easily reconciled, that Moses should only enumerate six nations in Exodus, and add a seventh in Deuteronomy; for often he only names the Canaanites or Amorites, yet comprising by synecdoche all the rest.

Calvin: Exo 34:19 - -- 19.All that openeth the matrix is mine He here defines what the offering was to be, viz., that they should redeem their children as well as the uncle...
19.All that openeth the matrix is mine He here defines what the offering was to be, viz., that they should redeem their children as well as the unclean animals at a price; but that they should bring into the tabernacle whatsoever could be offered in sacrifice. But God would not have their own sons consecrated to Him, because He had chosen the tribe of Levi, as we shall see elsewhere; they were therefore to remain free and in their own power after a pecuniary compensation. In the same way, unclean animals might be applied to domestic purposes, viz., after God’s price had been paid, since to Him they belonged, and He claimed them for Himself. But if any should not put so high a value on an ass or other unclean animal, the Law commanded that its neck should be broken; for otherwise it would have been sacrilege to reap profit from God’s property, or, what is the same, to transfer to their private use what God had adjudged to Himself.

Calvin: Exo 34:28 - -- 28.And he was there with the Lord forty days The number of forty days is repeated, in order that the second Tables might have no less credit than the...
28.And he was there with the Lord forty days The number of forty days is repeated, in order that the second Tables might have no less credit than the first; for we have stated that Moses was withdrawn from the common life of men, that he might bring the Law, as it were, from heaven. If he had only been kept a few days in the mount, his authority would not have been ratified by so conspicuous a miracle; but the forty days obtained full credit for his mission, so that the people might know that he was sent by God; inasmuch as the endurance of a fast for so long a period exceeded the capacity of human nature. Wherefore, in order that the majesty of the Law might be indubitable, its minister was invested with angelic glory; and hence he expressly records that “he did neither eat bread, nor drink watch†since it was requisite that he should be distinguished from other mortals, in order that his official character might be unquestionable. Now, it must be borne in mind, that this was not a mere fast of temperance or sobriety, but of special privilege, whereby exemption from the infirmity of the flesh was vouchsafed to Moses for a time, in order that his condition might be different from the rest of the human race. For neither did he feel any hunger, nor did he struggle with any longing for food, nor desire meat and drink any more than one of the angels. Therefore this instance of abstinence was never alleged as an example by the Prophets, nor did any one attempt to imitate what they all knew to be by no means accorded to them. I except Elijah, who, being sent to revive the Law, when it was almost lost, like a second Moses, abstained also from eating and drinking for forty days. The reason for the fast of Christ was similar, (Mat 4:2;) for, in order to acquire full credit for tits Gospel, He desired to make it manifest that He was by no means inferior to Moses in this particular. Wherefore, 388 the less excusable is that error, which sprang from gross ignorance, when all, without exception, endeavored to rival the Son of God in their annual fast, as if a new promulgation of the Gospel was entrusted to them. For neither did Christ fast forty day’s more than once in His life; nor during the whole of that time, as it is clearly specified, did he experience hunger; and His heavenly Father separated Him from communion with men, when He was preparing Himself to undertake the office of teacher.

Calvin: Exo 34:29 - -- 29.And it came to pass when Moses came down Another remarkable honor given to the Law is here narrated, viz., that the brightness of the heavenly glo...
29.And it came to pass when Moses came down Another remarkable honor given to the Law is here narrated, viz., that the brightness of the heavenly glory appeared in the face of Moses; for it is said that his face gave forth rays, or was irradiated. The word is derived from
After Paul has shewn the genuine object of this brightness, viz., that the Law should be glorious, he proceeds further, and shews that it was a presage of the future blindness which awaited the Jews. (2Co 3:13.) He begins, therefore, by saying, that although the Law was only a dead letter, and the ministration of death, yet it was graced with its own peculiar glory; and then adds what is accidental, that there was a vail before the face of Moses, because it would be the case that the Jews would not be able to see what is the main thing in the Law, nor to pay attention to its true end; and so it actually is, that since the coming of Christ, their senses have been blinded, and the vail is upon them, until Moses shall be 390 turned by them to Christ, who is the soul of the Law. But, since now in the Gospel God presents Himself with open face, we must take care that the prince of this world does not darken our minds, but rather that we may be transformed from glory to glory.
Defender -> Exo 34:27
Defender: Exo 34:27 - -- Note God's emphasis on His words. The principle of verbal inspiration is evident here. Even though Moses wrote the words, it was God who gave them."
Note God's emphasis on His words. The principle of verbal inspiration is evident here. Even though Moses wrote the words, it was God who gave them."
TSK -> Exo 34:8; Exo 34:9; Exo 34:10; Exo 34:11; Exo 34:12; Exo 34:13; Exo 34:14; Exo 34:15; Exo 34:16; Exo 34:17; Exo 34:18; Exo 34:19; Exo 34:20; Exo 34:21; Exo 34:22; Exo 34:23; Exo 34:24; Exo 34:25; Exo 34:26; Exo 34:27; Exo 34:28; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:30; Exo 34:31; Exo 34:32; Exo 34:33; Exo 34:34; Exo 34:35

TSK: Exo 34:9 - -- If now : Exo 33:13, Exo 33:17
let my Lord : Exo 33:14-16; Mat 28:20
stiffnecked : Exo 32:9, Exo 33:3-5; Isa 48:4
pardon : Num 14:19; Psa 25:11
take us...

TSK: Exo 34:10 - -- I make : Exo 24:7, Exo 24:8; Deu 4:13, Deu 5:2, Deu 5:3, Deu 29:12-14
I will do marvels : Deu 4:32-37, Deu 32:30; Jos 6:20, Jos 10:12, Jos 10:13; 2Sa ...
I make : Exo 24:7, Exo 24:8; Deu 4:13, Deu 5:2, Deu 5:3, Deu 29:12-14
I will do marvels : Deu 4:32-37, Deu 32:30; Jos 6:20, Jos 10:12, Jos 10:13; 2Sa 7:23; Psa 77:14, Psa 78:12; Psa 147:20
a terrible : Deu 10:21; Psa 65:5, Psa 66:3, Psa 66:5, Psa 68:35, Psa 76:12, Psa 106:22, Psa 145:6; Isa 64:3; Jer 32:21

TSK: Exo 34:11 - -- Observe : Deu 4:1, Deu 4:2, Deu 4:40, Deu 5:32, Deu 6:3, Deu 6:25, Deu 12:28, Deu 12:32, Deu 28:1; Mat 28:20; Joh 14:21
I drive : Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17, E...

TSK: Exo 34:12 - -- Take heed : Exo 23:32, Exo 23:33; Deu 7:2; Jdg 2:2
lest : Deu 7:16; Jos 23:12, Jos 23:13; Jdg 2:3, Jdg 8:27; Psa 106:36

TSK: Exo 34:13 - -- ye shall : Exo 23:24; Deu 7:5, Deu 7:25, Deu 7:26, Deu 12:2, Deu 12:3; Jdg 2:2, Jdg 6:25; 2Ki 18:4, 2Ki 23:14; 2Ch 31:1, 2Ch 34:3, 2Ch 34:4
images : H...

TSK: Exo 34:14 - -- worship : Exo 20:3-5; Deu 5:7; Mat 4:10
whose : Exo 34:5-7, Exo 33:19; Isa 9:6, Isa 57:15
jealous God : Exo 20:5; Deu 5:24, Deu 6:15, Deu 29:20, Deu 3...

TSK: Exo 34:15 - -- make : Exo 34:10, Exo 34:12, Exo 23:32; Deu 7:2
whoring : Lev 17:7, Lev 20:5, Lev 20:6; Num 15:39; Deu 31:16; Jdg 2:17; Psa 73:27; Jer 3:9; Ezr 6:9; H...

TSK: Exo 34:16 - -- Num 25:1, Num 25:2; Deu 7:3, Deu 7:4; 1Ki 11:2-4; Ezr 9:2; Neh 13:23, Neh 13:25; 2Co 6:14-17


TSK: Exo 34:18 - -- Exo 12:15-20, Exo 13:4, Exo 13:6, Exo 13:7, Exo 23:15; Lev 23:6; Deu 16:1-4; Mar 14:1; Luk 22:1; Act 12:3


TSK: Exo 34:20 - -- firstling : Exo 13:10; Num 18:15
lamb : or, kid
All the : Exo 13:15; Num 3:45-51
none : Exo 23:15; Deu 16:16; 1Sa 9:7, 1Sa 9:8; 2Sa 24:24

TSK: Exo 34:21 - -- Six : Exo 20:9-11, Exo 23:12, Exo 35:2; Deu 5:12-15; Luk 13:14, Luk 23:56
earing : Gen 45:6; Deu 21:4; 1Sa 8:12; Isa 30:24
Six : Exo 20:9-11, Exo 23:12, Exo 35:2; Deu 5:12-15; Luk 13:14, Luk 23:56

TSK: Exo 34:22 - -- feast of weeks : Exo 23:16; Num. 28:16-31, 29:12-39; Deu 16:10-15; Joh 7:2; Act 2:1
year’ s end : Heb. revolution of the year
feast of weeks : Exo 23:16; Num. 28:16-31, 29:12-39; Deu 16:10-15; Joh 7:2; Act 2:1
year’ s end : Heb. revolution of the year

TSK: Exo 34:23 - -- Thrice : Exo 23:14, Exo 23:17; Deu 16:16; Psa 84:7
the God : Gen 32:28, Gen 33:20

TSK: Exo 34:24 - -- I will : Exo 34:11, Exo 23:27-30, Exo 33:2; Lev 18:24; Deu 7:1; Psa 78:55, Psa 80:8
enlarge : Exo 23:31; Deu 12:20, Deu 19:8; 1Ch 4:10
desire : Gen 35...

TSK: Exo 34:25 - -- leaven : Exo 12:20, Exo 23:18; Deu 16:3; 1Co 5:7, 1Co 5:8
be left : Exo 12:10, Exo 23:18, Exo 29:34; Lev 7:15; Num 9:12

TSK: Exo 34:26 - -- first : Exo 23:19; Deu 26:2, Deu 26:10; Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10; Mat 6:33; 1Co 15:20; Jam 1:18
seethe : Exo 23:19; Deu 14:21

TSK: Exo 34:27 - -- Write : Exo 17:14, Exo 24:4, Exo 24:7; Deu 31:9
I have : Exo 34:10; Deu 4:13, Deu 31:9

TSK: Exo 34:28 - -- forty days : Exo 24:18; Deu 9:9, Deu 9:18, Deu 9:25
he wrote : Exo 34:1, Exo 31:18, Exo 32:16; Deu 4:13, Deu 10:2-4; 2Co 3:7
commandments : Heb. words

TSK: Exo 34:29 - -- am 2513, bc 1491, An, Ex, Is, 1, Elul
Two tables : Exo 32:15
wist : Exo 16:15; Jos 2:4, Jos 8:14; Jdg 16:20; Mar 9:6, Mar 14:40; Luk 2:49; Joh 5:13; A...
am 2513, bc 1491, An, Ex, Is, 1, Elul
Two tables : Exo 32:15
wist : Exo 16:15; Jos 2:4, Jos 8:14; Jdg 16:20; Mar 9:6, Mar 14:40; Luk 2:49; Joh 5:13; Act 12:9, Act 23:5
the skin : Mat 17:2; Luk 9:29; Act 6:15; 2Co 3:7-9, 2Co 3:13; Rev 1:16, Rev 10:1
face shone : As the original word



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes: Exo 34:9 - -- This yearning struggle after assurance is like the often-repeated utterance of the heart, when it receives a blessing beyond its hopes, "can this be...
This yearning struggle after assurance is like the often-repeated utterance of the heart, when it receives a blessing beyond its hopes, "can this be real?"


Barnes: Exo 34:12-27 - -- The precepts contained in these verses are, for the most part, identical in substance with some of those which follow the Ten Commandments and are r...
The precepts contained in these verses are, for the most part, identical in substance with some of those which follow the Ten Commandments and are recorded in "the Book of the covenant"(Exo. 20\endash 23; see Exo 24:7).
Cut down their groves - This is the first reference to what is commonly known as grove-worship. The original word for "grove"in this connection
An expansion of Exo 34:12. The unfaithfulness of the nation to its covenant with Yahweh is here for the first time spoken of as a breach of the marriage bond. The metaphor is, in any case, a natural one, but it seems to gain point, if we suppose it to convey an allusion to the abominations connected with pagan worship, such as are spoken of in Num 25:1-3.
See Exo 20:9; Exo 23:12. There is here added to the commandment a particular caution respecting those times of year when the land calls for most labor. The old verb "to ear"(i. e. to plow) is genuine English.
Neither shall any man desire etc. - Intended to encourage such as might fear the consequences of obeying the divine law in attending to their religious duties. Compare Pro 16:7.

Barnes: Exo 34:29 - -- The two tables of testimony - Compare Exo 31:18. The skin of his face shone - Compare Mat 17:2. The brightness of the Eternal Glory, thou...
The two tables of testimony - Compare Exo 31:18.
The skin of his face shone - Compare Mat 17:2. The brightness of the Eternal Glory, though Moses had witnessed it only in a modified manner Exo 33:22-23, was so reflected in his face, that Aaron and the people were stricken with awe, and feared to approach him until he gave them words of encouragement.
The word translated "shine"is closely connected with a word translated "horn"; and hence, the Latin version and others have rendered the verb "to be horned."From this rendering of the word has arisen the popular representation of Moses with horns on his forehead; e. g. in Michaelangelo’ s statue at Rome.

Barnes: Exo 34:33-35 - -- Paul refers to this passage as showing forth the glory of the law, though it was but a "ministration of condemnation,"and was to be done away, in or...
Paul refers to this passage as showing forth the glory of the law, though it was but a "ministration of condemnation,"and was to be done away, in order to enhance the glory of the gospel, "the ministration of the spirit,"which is concealed by no veil from the eyes of believers, and is to last forever 2Co 3:7-15.
When rather than until should be supplied. Moses did not wear the veil when he was speaking to the people, but when he was silent. See Exo 34:35.
Moses went in - i. e. to the tent of meeting.
Poole: Exo 34:9 - -- It is a stiff-necked people , and therefore need thy glorious and powerful presence to rule them. Or rather,
though it be a stiff-necked people , as ...
It is a stiff-necked people , and therefore need thy glorious and powerful presence to rule them. Or rather,
though it be a stiff-necked people , as thou sayest, yet forsake them not. The Hebrew particle chi oft signifies though , as Exo 5:11 Isa 44:6 .
Take us for thine inheritance , i.e. deal with us as men do with their inheritances, dwell among us, protect us, improve us.

Poole: Exo 34:10 - -- Behold, I make a covenant , i.e. I do hereby renew my covenant with thy people which they had violated and voided by their sin. But the shortness of t...
Behold, I make a covenant , i.e. I do hereby renew my covenant with thy people which they had violated and voided by their sin. But the shortness of the phrase, there being no mention here of any with whom this covenant is made or renewed, and the following words, make it more probable that this covenant is nothing but a solemn promise or engagement that God will do the thing which here follows. And the word covenant is oft used for a mere promise, as Gen 9:9 , &c.; Lev 24:8 Num 18:19 25:12 .
It is a terrible thing that I will do with thee ; either,
1. By thy ministry, as that phrase is sometimes used, as 1Co 15:10 . Or,
2. In the midst of thee, i.e. of thy people, as Exo 34:11 , before thee , i.e. before thy people. This I prefer, because the next verse explains this of such things as were not done by Moses’ s ministry, nor in his time, but afterwards.

Poole: Exo 34:13 - -- Which at first were used by good men for their devotion, as Gen 21:33 ; but afterwards being horribly abused to superstition and idolatry, were by G...
Which at first were used by good men for their devotion, as Gen 21:33 ; but afterwards being horribly abused to superstition and idolatry, were by God, s command to be destroyed.

Poole: Exo 34:14 - -- Whose name is Jealous ; who hath made himself known by, and glories in that name, The jealous God, who cannot endure any competitor or corrival; whe...
Whose name is Jealous ; who hath made himself known by, and glories in that name, The jealous God, who cannot endure any competitor or corrival; whereas the false and puny gods of the heathens were contented with multitudes of partners. So this is properly said to be the name of God, whereby he is known and distinguished from all other gods.

Poole: Exo 34:15 - -- A covenant , for cohabitation, or to suffer them quietly to live among you, whom you should drive out.
Go a whoring , i.e. commit idolatry, which is ...
A covenant , for cohabitation, or to suffer them quietly to live among you, whom you should drive out.
Go a whoring , i.e. commit idolatry, which is oft called and compared to spiritual whoredom. See Jer 2 Jer 3 Eze 16 .
And thou eat of his sacrifice to wit of the parts or remainders of his sacrifice, whereby thou wilt partake with him in an idolatrous worship; because such feasts were a part of the worship offered to the idol, and were accompanied with solemn benedictions and thanksgivings to the idol. See Num 25:2 Psa 106:28 Eze 18:6 Eze 22:9 1Co 10:20 Rev 2:20 .

Poole: Exo 34:17 - -- Nor graven, nor any other, as it plainly appears both from the nature of the things, and from many parallel scriptures; but he mentions molten, beca...
Nor graven, nor any other, as it plainly appears both from the nature of the things, and from many parallel scriptures; but he mentions molten, because their late idol was of that kind.

Poole: Exo 34:19 - -- Heb. And (for that is , as the particle and is oft used; the words following here, and Exo 34:20 , being a particular explication of the general ...
Heb. And (for that is , as the particle and is oft used; the words following here, and Exo 34:20 , being a particular explication of the general sentence in the beginning of this verse)
all thy cattle which (a particle oft understood)
shall be born male , (as it is also explained Exo 13:12 ) the
opening , or,
whatsoever (to wit, of the male kind)
openeth the matrix (which word is fitly understood out of the former member; which is very usual) of ox or ( and put for or , as it is oft done) sheep .

Poole: Exo 34:20 - -- Either without a gift to me, so it is a precept; or without benefit to himself, so it is a promise. See Exo 23:15 .
Either without a gift to me, so it is a precept; or without benefit to himself, so it is a promise. See Exo 23:15 .

Poole: Exo 34:21 - -- Which times are expressed, because the great profit and seeming necessity of working at that time was likely to be a powerful temptation to make men...
Which times are expressed, because the great profit and seeming necessity of working at that time was likely to be a powerful temptation to make men break the sabbath.

Poole: Exo 34:22 - -- The feast of weeks , i.e. which is numbered by weeks being just seven weeks after the passover, whence it is called pentecost , i.e. the fiftieth day...
The feast of weeks , i.e. which is numbered by weeks being just seven weeks after the passover, whence it is called pentecost , i.e. the fiftieth day, to wit, after the passover. See Lev 23:15 25:8 .
The first-fruits of wheat harvest ; so this is a designation of the time and business of the feast of weeks.
The feast of ingathering , to wit, of the fruits of the earth.
The year’ s end ; so it was in regard of the jubilee and civil contracts.

Poole: Exo 34:24 - -- I will cast out the nations ; so thou shalt have no intestine enemy to do time or thine mischief. This God promised to do, but upon condition of Israe...
I will cast out the nations ; so thou shalt have no intestine enemy to do time or thine mischief. This God promised to do, but upon condition of Israel’ s discharge of their duty in following God in this work of driving them out, which they neglecting, it was not fully done.
Neither shall any man desire thy land ; I will not only tie their hands, that they shall make no invasion upon you, but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprise, which it was very easy for God to effect many ways.

Poole: Exo 34:26 - -- First of the first-fruits ; thou shalt not delay to do this, but shalt bring the very first of them. Or, the first-fruits , even the first-fruits of...
First of the first-fruits ; thou shalt not delay to do this, but shalt bring the very first of them. Or, the first-fruits , even the first-fruits of thy land ; which limitation seems here conveniently added, because they were not bound to bring thither all their first-fruits, to wit, those of their own bodies, their children.

Poole: Exo 34:27 - -- Object .
God saith, I will write , Exo 34:1 .
Answ . 1. Moses was to write the ritual precepts mentioned here above, God wrote the moral law.
2. M...
Object .
God saith, I will write , Exo 34:1 .
Answ . 1. Moses was to write the ritual precepts mentioned here above, God wrote the moral law.
2. Moses wrote what he wrote in a book; see Exo 24:7 ; but what was written upon the tables of stone was written by God himself, not by Moses, who had no graving instruments with him in the mount, and could not without them write upon the stone.

Poole: Exo 34:28 - -- He was there forty days and forty nights ; as he had been before, being now to renew the broken covenant. This forty days’ fast of his is mentio...
He was there forty days and forty nights ; as he had been before, being now to renew the broken covenant. This forty days’ fast of his is mentioned four times, Exo 24:18 , and here, and Deu 9:18 10:10 , but it is evident it was performed but twice, as the occasion of it happened only twice.
He wrote , not Moses, but the Lord, as appears from Exo 24:1 , and from De 10 , the relative pronoun being here referred to the remoter antecedent, of which there are many instances, as Gen 10:12 1Sa 21:14 27:8 Psa 99:6 .

Poole: Exo 34:29 - -- Quest . Why now, and not when he came down from God before?
Answ .
1. Because now he obtained what he did not before, to wit, a glimpse of the Divin...
Quest . Why now, and not when he came down from God before?
Answ .
1. Because now he obtained what he did not before, to wit, a glimpse of the Divine glory, which, though but very transient, left its print upon his face.
2. Now it was more necessary than before, to procure the greater honour to Moses, and to the law, 2Co 3:7,8,11 , because of the late horrid Violation and contempt of them, which the Israelites had fallen into.

Poole: Exo 34:31 - -- Unto him , to the tabernacle, which was still at a distance from the camp, though afterwards, God being reconciled, it was set up in the camp, Exo 40:...
Unto him , to the tabernacle, which was still at a distance from the camp, though afterwards, God being reconciled, it was set up in the camp, Exo 40:34 .
Haydock: Exo 34:9 - -- ( For it, &c.) If thou do not support me, I shall not be able to govern. (Haydock) ---
Possess us. Take us for thy peculiar inheritance. (Menoc...
( For it, &c.) If thou do not support me, I shall not be able to govern. (Haydock) ---
Possess us. Take us for thy peculiar inheritance. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 34:10 - -- Covenant . The first had been made void by idolatry. (Calmet) ---
Notwithstanding the former threats, (chap. xxxiii. 3,) God here promises new bene...
Covenant . The first had been made void by idolatry. (Calmet) ---
Notwithstanding the former threats, (chap. xxxiii. 3,) God here promises new benefits. (Worthington)

Haydock: Exo 34:11 - -- Observe, O my people, (Menochius) you who shall serve under Josue, when these promises shall be fulfilled. (Haydock) ---
The Septuagint add the Ge...
Observe, O my people, (Menochius) you who shall serve under Josue, when these promises shall be fulfilled. (Haydock) ---
The Septuagint add the Gergesite to the list of people who should be expelled. But Lyranus thinks they are omitted in Hebrew, because they had already retired before the approach of the Hebrews. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 34:13 - -- Statues. Septuagint have, "pillars," and subjoin after groves, (unless it be another translation, as Grabe insinuates) "you shall burn with fire t...
Statues. Septuagint have, "pillars," and subjoin after groves, (unless it be another translation, as Grabe insinuates) "you shall burn with fire the graven things of their gods."

Jealous. Like a husband, He will watch all your motions.

Haydock: Exo 34:15 - -- Covenant. The same word occurs here, as (ver. 12,) in Hebrew and Septuagint. (Haydock) ---
It relates chiefly to contracts of marriage, which God ...
Covenant. The same word occurs here, as (ver. 12,) in Hebrew and Septuagint. (Haydock) ---
It relates chiefly to contracts of marriage, which God forbids the faithful to enter into with the Chanaanites, and with other idolatrous nations, lest they should follow their example. Solomon is reprehended for transgressing this law, (3 Kings xi. 1,) and such marriages are called abominations. (1 Esdras ix. 1.; x. 2, 10.; Josephus) But if any of those people became converts, the reason of the prohibition ceased. Hence a captive woman might be married, (Deuteronomy xxi. 11,) and Salmon took Rahab to wife. If Samson and Esther married with heathens, it might be done by God's dispensation, for weighty reasons. (Tirinus) ---
Fornication. On account of the dissolute behaviour of those idolater, their worship is often condemned under this name, Jeremias ii. and iii.; Ezechiel xvi. (Calmet) ---
Sacrificed, and thus thou be drawn into a participation in his guilt. The other laws are here repeated from chap. xxiii. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 34:16 - -- Son. The Chaldean and Septuagint add, "nor give any of thy daughters to their sons;" or, joining this verse with the 15th, the Septuagint say, "make...
Son. The Chaldean and Septuagint add, "nor give any of thy daughters to their sons;" or, joining this verse with the 15th, the Septuagint say, "make no covenant....lest they commit fornication after their gods....and call thee and thou eat....and thou take of thier daughters wives for thy sons, and thou wilt give some of thy daughters to their sons, and thy daughters shall go fornicating after their gods." The most imminent dangers attend those women, who have infidel husbands. (Haydock) ---
The intention of Moses, and the custom of the Hebrews, justly reprobated such marriages. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 34:18 - -- New corn. Hebrew, Abib; the name of the month Nisan, which corresponds with our March and April.
New corn. Hebrew, Abib; the name of the month Nisan, which corresponds with our March and April.

Haydock: Exo 34:21 - -- Reap; when the most urgent necessity might seem to authorize labour. (Haydock)
Reap; when the most urgent necessity might seem to authorize labour. (Haydock)

Haydock: Exo 34:22 - -- Harvest. Pentecost. ---
Laid in, at the feast of tabernacles, in September. (Menochius) ---
The Septuagint have, "the feast of gathering, in the...
Harvest. Pentecost. ---
Laid in, at the feast of tabernacles, in September. (Menochius) ---
The Septuagint have, "the feast of gathering, in the middle of the (sacred) year." The greatest solemnity of the Passover is mentioned, ver. 18. (Haydock)

Haydock: Exo 34:24 - -- In wait. Hebrew and Septuagint, "shall desire." (Calmet) ---
God engages to protect their land. (Menochius)
In wait. Hebrew and Septuagint, "shall desire." (Calmet) ---
God engages to protect their land. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 34:25 - -- Sacrifice of the paschal lamb, to which the Chaldean properly restrains this verse. (Calmet)
Sacrifice of the paschal lamb, to which the Chaldean properly restrains this verse. (Calmet)

Dam. Chaldean, "thou shalt not eat flesh with milk." See chap. xxiii. 19.

Haydock: Exo 34:28 - -- Wrote. God wrote on the tables, as he had promised, ver. 1. (Calmet) ---
Moses recorded all in this book, as he was ordered, ver. 27. St. Cyprian...
Wrote. God wrote on the tables, as he had promised, ver. 1. (Calmet) ---
Moses recorded all in this book, as he was ordered, ver. 27. St. Cyprian (de Sp. S.) and St. Augustine (q. 186,) infer, however, from this text, that the second tables had not the same honour as the first. The contrary appears from Deuteronomy x. 4, He (God) wrote....as before. Estius, Calmet, and Menochius think the forty days here mentioned, were those which Moses spent with God to obtain the people's pardon, and the law, at the same time. See chap. xxxii. 35. He continued all that time without meat or sleep, by the power of God, who supports Enoch and Elias in the vigour of health without corporal sustenance. Salien., A. 2544, in which year of the world he fixes the death of Job, the great prophet of the Gentiles.

Haydock: Exo 34:29 - -- Horned. That is, shining, and sending forth rays of light like horns. (Challoner) ---
Septuagint, "encircled with glory." St. Paul (2 Corinthians...
Horned. That is, shining, and sending forth rays of light like horns. (Challoner) ---
Septuagint, "encircled with glory." St. Paul (2 Corinthians iii. 7,) says, the Hebrews could not look steadfastly at the face of Moses, on account of the glory of his countenance. Hence, he was forced to have a veil, which, the apostle observes, was not taken off from the old law till Christ appeared. The Jews and heretics still read the law and the gospel with a veil over their eyes and heart, without understanding them, as they are hidden to those who perish, 2 Corinthians iv. 3. The Jews are much enraged at some Christians, who have represented Moses with horns, as if, they say, he were a devil, or his wife an adulteress. (Stacchus and Drusius.) ---
Hebrew, "his skin was radiant" all over his face. These rays commanded respect and awe from the people, who had before said contemptuously, Moses---the man, (chap. xxxii. 1,) as they shewed that God was with him. They had not appeared before, though he had often conversed with the Lord: but now, having seen the glorious vision, they adhered to him during the remainder of his life, particularly when he enforced the obligations of the law to the people. (Haydock) ---
The Arabs make their hair stand up like little horns, when they are about 40 years old. (Patric. ii. 4. Navig.) Homer mentions the like custom, and Diomed laughs at Paris calling him the pretty-horned. (Iliad xi.) Many of the ancient heroes and gods are represented with horns, particularly Bacchus, whose history reminds us of many particulars, which belong to Moses. He was born or educated in the confines of Egypt, was exposed on the waters, in a box; had two mothers, and very beautiful. While his army enjoyed the light, the Indians were in darkness. He was preceded by a pillar, had women in his train, dried up rivers with his thyrsus or wand, which had crawled, like a serpent, &c. (Huet. &c.) St. Epiphanius (her. 55,) says the Idumeans adored Moses. Their idol is called Choze by Josephus, (Antiquities xviii. 11,) which may be derived from Chus, the ancestor of Sephora, as Bacchus and Iacchus may denote "the son Bar, or the god Chus," Jah-Chus, who was adored in Arabia; so that Moses, Choze, and Bacchus, probably mean the same person. Chus peopled that part of Arabia where the Hebrews sojourned, Numbers xii. 1. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 34:33 - -- And having, &c. At first, he spoke uncovered. (Menochius) ---
The Protestants insert the word till in Italics, to insinuate that Moses spoke wit...
And having, &c. At first, he spoke uncovered. (Menochius) ---
The Protestants insert the word till in Italics, to insinuate that Moses spoke with a veil on, as St. Paul mentions; (Haydock) and Calmet would translate, "for Moses had ceased to address the people, and had put a veil upon his face," as soon as he perceived that they could not bear the blaze of his countenance. This he did out of modesty, that they might not be afraid of coming to speak freely to him, (Jansenius) though it was also mysterious, as St. Paul remarks. For even until this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart, (2 Corinthians iii. 15,) as it is upon that of heretics, who cannot see the church. (St. Augustine in Psalm xxx.) (Worthington)
Gill -> Exo 34:8; Exo 34:9; Exo 34:10; Exo 34:11; Exo 34:12; Exo 34:13; Exo 34:14; Exo 34:15; Exo 34:16; Exo 34:17; Exo 34:18; Exo 34:19; Exo 34:20; Exo 34:21; Exo 34:22; Exo 34:23; Exo 34:24; Exo 34:25; Exo 34:26; Exo 34:27; Exo 34:28; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:30; Exo 34:31; Exo 34:32; Exo 34:33; Exo 34:34; Exo 34:35
Gill: Exo 34:8 - -- And Moses made haste,.... Perceiving the voice ceased, and the Lord was passing on, lest he should be gone, and he lose the favourable opportunity he ...
And Moses made haste,.... Perceiving the voice ceased, and the Lord was passing on, lest he should be gone, and he lose the favourable opportunity he had:
and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped; threw himself prostrate upon it, and in the most humble manner put up his requests to God, which are expressed in the following verse; he gladly laid hold on this opportunity to use his interest with God for the people of Israel, and to improve the proclamation of grace and mercy, in the forgiveness of sins, now made; which encouraged his faith and hope to draw nigh with a holy boldness, and use freedom with him, and yet with an awe of his majesty, with reverence and godly fear.

Gill: Exo 34:9 - -- And he said, if now I have found grace in thy sight,.... Or "seeing now", for he could have no doubt upon his mind but that he had found grace and fav...
And he said, if now I have found grace in thy sight,.... Or "seeing now", for he could have no doubt upon his mind but that he had found grace and favour in the sight of God, since he had caused his goodness and glory to pass before him, and made such a proclamation of his grace and mercy to him; but he takes it for granted, and improves it, and argues upon it, as follows:
O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go amongst us; as the Lord had signified as if he would not go among them, but leave them to the conduct of a created angel; and Moses had before prayed that his presence or face might go with them, Exo 33:3 and now having some fresh tokens of the favour and good will of God towards him, renews his request with great earnestness and importunity, entreating the Lord Jehovah the Father, that Moses's Lord Jehovah the Son, the Angel of God's presence, in whom his name was, might go with them, as he had said he should:
for it is a stiffnecked people; and therefore have need of such an one to be with them, to rule and govern them, to restrain and keep them within due bounds; or "though m it is a stiffnecked people"; for this is the reason given by the Lord why he would not go among them, Exo 33:3 wherefore Moses prays that he would go, notwithstanding this; he owns the character of them was just, yet humbly prays that God would nevertheless vouchsafe his presence:
and pardon our iniquity, and our sin; which he had the greater reason to hope he would, since he had just proclaimed his name, a God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin; and, the more to gain his suit, makes himself a party concerned, calling the sin committed, "our iniquity, and our sin"; even his among the rest, who had found grace in the sight of God, and therefore entreats others might also, since they were all sinners, and there was forgiveness with him:
and take us for thine inheritance; to possess and enjoy, protect and defend, cultivate and improve, keep and preserve for ever.

Gill: Exo 34:10 - -- And he said, behold, I will make a covenant,.... Or renew the covenant before made the people had broke; which on his part was, that he would, as Mose...
And he said, behold, I will make a covenant,.... Or renew the covenant before made the people had broke; which on his part was, that he would, as Moses had entreated, forgive the sin of the people, go along with them, and introduce them into the land of Canaan, and drive out the inhabitants of it before them; and, on their part, that they should avoid idolatry, and everything that led unto it, particularly making covenants, and entering into alliances with the idolatrous nations cast out:
before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; both in their passage through the wilderness, and entrance into Canaan's land, and the conquest of that; such as the earth opening its mouth and swallowing alive Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and was a new thing God created; the smiting of the rock at Kadesh, from whence flowed waters abundantly; the healing of such as were bit by fiery serpents through looking at a serpent of brass; Balaam's ass speaking, and reproving the madness of the prophet; the division of the waters of Jordan; the fall of the walls of Jericho at the sound of rams' horns; the sun and moon standing still, until the Lord had avenged himself of his enemies:
and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord; for it should be visible, as the above things were, and plainly appear to be the Lord's doing, and not man's, being above the power of any created being to perform:
for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee; Aben Ezra restrains this to Moses's person, and interprets this of the wonderful shining of the skin of his face, when he came down from the mount, which made the children of Israel afraid to come nigh him; and of his vigorous constitution at the time of his death, when his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated, contrary to the nature of ancient persons: but it is better to understand it of the ministry of Moses, and of the awful things that God would do by him; or rather of the people of Israel, among whom, and for whose sake, God would do such things as should cause a panic among the nations all around them; particularly what he did for them to Og king of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites, on account of which terror fell, as on the king of Moab, so on the inhabitants of Canaan; see Num 21:33 Jos 2:9.

Gill: Exo 34:11 - -- Observe thou that which I command thee this day,.... Which words are either said to Moses personally, as Aben Ezra thinks, as a direction to him to ob...
Observe thou that which I command thee this day,.... Which words are either said to Moses personally, as Aben Ezra thinks, as a direction to him to observe what had been said to him, and declare them to the children of Israel; or rather to the children of Israel, and respect the commands which are afterwards delivered out to be observed by them in the following verses; and what is expressed in the next clause is such as was not done by the ministry of Moses, nor in his time:
behold, I drive out before thee; not before Moses, but the people of Israel:
the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; six nations are only mentioned, though there were seven, the Girgashites being omitted, because either they left the land before, as some think, or because they at once submitted; they are added in the Septuagint version.

Gill: Exo 34:12 - -- Take heed to thyself,.... This is said not to Moses, but to the people of Israel, as a caution to them when they should enter the land of Canaan, and ...
Take heed to thyself,.... This is said not to Moses, but to the people of Israel, as a caution to them when they should enter the land of Canaan, and possess it:
lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest: enter into a league and alliance, to live friendly and amicably, and support and assist each other against the common enemy; whereas they were to smite the seven nations and destroy them, and show them no mercy, Deu 7:1.
lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee; be the means of drawing them into the same sinful practices with themselves, especially into idolatrous ones, and so of bringing ruin and destruction on them.

Gill: Exo 34:13 - -- But ye shall destroy their altars,.... On which they had sacrificed to their idols; since, if they were allowed to continue, they might be temptations...
But ye shall destroy their altars,.... On which they had sacrificed to their idols; since, if they were allowed to continue, they might be temptations to offer sacrifice thereon, contrary to the command of God:
break their images: of gold or silver, wood or stone, which they made for themselves, and worshipped as deities; seeing if these continued, the sight of them might lead to the worship of them, and so bring under the divine displeasure, as a breach of the command of God given them:
and cut down their groves; which were clusters of trees, where they had their temples and their idols, and did service to them, and where, besides idolatry, many impurities were committed. Such places were originally used by good men for devotion, being shady and solitary, but when abused to superstitious and idolatrous uses, were forbidden. It is said n, the word for "grove" is general, and includes every tree they serve, or plant, for an idol.

Gill: Exo 34:14 - -- For thou shall worship no other god,.... Than the Lord their God, the one only living and true God, which was the first command given to the people of...
For thou shall worship no other god,.... Than the Lord their God, the one only living and true God, which was the first command given to the people of Israel, and binding upon all men:
for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God; his name and nature answer to one another; he admits of no rival or competitor in worship; he will not give his glory to another god, or one so called, nor his praise to graven images; and in this he is distinguished from all nominal and fictitious gods, who have many joined with them, and are rivals of them, which gives them no concern, because insensible; but it is otherwise with the Lord, who knows the dishonour done him, and resents it, and is as jealous of any worship being given to another, as the husband is of the honour of his marriage bed; for idolatry is spiritual adultery, as is suggested in the following verse.

Gill: Exo 34:15 - -- Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,.... A marriage covenant, taking their daughters in marriage to their sons, and "vice versa...
Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,.... A marriage covenant, taking their daughters in marriage to their sons, and "vice versa", as the following words show; here the caution is to be understood and the words supplied from Exo 34:12 and inserted and connected thus, "take heed to thyself, lest thou make", &c.
and they go a whoring after their gods; that is, the inhabitants of the land, and particularly those with whom the Israelites made a covenant, and entered into a marriage relation with, and perhaps on this condition, that they would abstain from idolatry; and yet, contrary to the obligation they laid themselves under, lust after their idols, and commit spiritual fornication or adultery with them, which is explained by the next clause:
and do sacrifice unto their gods; such as the first institutors of their idolatry enjoined, and their ancestors had observed, and were according to the rites and customs of the country:
and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; invite to eat of what remained, that was offered to the idol: hence it appears, that having feasts at sacrifices, and eating things offered to idols in a festival way, are very ancient practices; see 1Co 10:27.

Gill: Exo 34:16 - -- And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons,.... That is, marry them to them, which explains what is meant by making a covenant with them, entering...
And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons,.... That is, marry them to them, which explains what is meant by making a covenant with them, entering into such a near relation, and joining families, and thus intermixing with one another:
and their daughters go a whoring after their gods; the worship of whom they have been trained up in from their infancy, and therefore hanker after them, and commit whoredom in a spiritual sense with them:
and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods; by the means of tempting and drawing them into idolatrous practices, as the wives of Solomon were a snare to him.

Gill: Exo 34:17 - -- Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. Made of a melted liquid, whether gold, or silver, or brass, poured into a mould; and though graven images are not...
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. Made of a melted liquid, whether gold, or silver, or brass, poured into a mould; and though graven images are not mentioned, they are included, a part being put for the whole, as appears not only from the injunction to break images in general, whether graven or molten, Exo 34:13 but from the second command, which expressly forbids the making and worshipping of them; but "molten" ones are particularly mentioned, because it is probable they were chiefly such the Canaanites worshipped, and especially, because the calf the Israelites had lately made and worshipped was a molten one.

Gill: Exo 34:18 - -- The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep,.... Which was instituted at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and on that account, and then observ...
The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep,.... Which was instituted at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and on that account, and then observed, Exo 12:15 and afterwards repeated, and the month expressed in which they were to keep it, and the reason of it, as it here follows; see Gill on Exo 13:15.

Gill: Exo 34:19 - -- All that openeth the matrix is mine,.... Or "the womb", and therefore to be sanctified, and set apart for his use: this also was declared, and the law...

Gill: Exo 34:20 - -- Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem,.... This goes along with the former; see Gill on Exo 13:13,
and none shall appear before me empty; at ...

Gill: Exo 34:21 - -- Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest,.... This is the law of the seventh day sabbath, which is after repeated, to fix it i...
Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest,.... This is the law of the seventh day sabbath, which is after repeated, to fix it in the minds and memories of the people, see Exo 20:10 and here it is added, which has not been mentioned before:
in earing and in harvest thou shall rest; that is, in the time of ploughing, and in the time of reaping and gathering in the harvest, which are both very busy seasons; the rest of the sabbath was not to be violated; such sort of works, though they might require haste and expedition, yet the sabbath was not to be broken on account of them: this is the common sense of the law, as it is understood; but Maimonides o gives another sense from their doctors, who say, it is forbidden to plough in the sixth year what cannot be reaped but in the seventh; and so likewise that it is forbidden to reap on the seventh year, that of which profit may be had on the eighth year, and this is founded on what the Scripture says, Exo 34:21 "in earing", &c. and they say, that here ploughing and harvest are not to be understood of the seventh day, because this is included in the general rule, "thou shalt not do any work"--they say, of that which is ploughed, whose reaping or harvest is forbidden, is the ploughing at the evening of the seventh year, and at the going out of the seventh; and know this, that the evening of the seventh is the sixth year, and the going out of the seventh is the eighth year, and so Jarchi on the text observes, that some of their Rabbins say, this is to be understood of the ploughing of the seventh year, the seventh year entering, and the harvest of the seventh year, at the going out of it; so that as there is a seventh day of rest, there is a year in which ploughing and harvest are forbidden; but there are others, he says, who say the text speaks only of the sabbath.

Gill: Exo 34:22 - -- And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks,.... The feast of Pentecost, called the feast of weeks, because seven sabbaths or weeks, or fifty days, were...
And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks,.... The feast of Pentecost, called the feast of weeks, because seven sabbaths or weeks, or fifty days, were to be reckoned from the day in the passover feast, on which the sheaf of the wave offering was brought, Lev 23:15 and which was also called the feast
of the first fruits of wheat harvest, to distinguish it from the barley harvest, at the time of the passover, when a sheaf of barley was the wave offering to the Lord; but at this two loaves or cakes of fine wheaten flour were brought as the first fruits of the wheat harvest, see Lev 23:17.
and the feast of ingathering at the year's end; which was the feast of tabernacles, called the feast of ingathering, because at this time all the fruits of the earth, the corn, wine, and oil, and all others were gathered in; and this was at the close of the old year, and at the beginning of the new, according to the ancient account, which made Tisri or September the first month in the year; See Gill on Exo 23:16.

Gill: Exo 34:23 - -- Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God,.... At the three above mentioned feasts; see Gill on Exo 23:17 here it is a...
Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God,.... At the three above mentioned feasts; see Gill on Exo 23:17 here it is added:
the God of Israel; who had chosen them to be his special people, had redeemed them out of Egypt, and done great things for them since; had made a covenant with them, and had now renewed that covenant with them, and was their covenant God, and they his people, and so were under great obligations to present themselves unto him at the times appointed by him.

Gill: Exo 34:24 - -- For I will cast out the nations before thee,.... Who are particularly mentioned, Exo 34:11 and therefore they need not be in any fear of them, when th...
For I will cast out the nations before thee,.... Who are particularly mentioned, Exo 34:11 and therefore they need not be in any fear of them, when they should go up to the appointed place, and appear before the Lord; for to this they were not obliged, until they were come into the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants driven out before them:
and enlarge thy borders; so that as they should have no enemies within them, to hinder and molest them, or discourage and deter them from attendance on the Lord at such set times, so they would be set at a great distance from them, that they should have nothing to fear from them; and should it be objected that at such times, when only women and children were left at home, and their borders were defenceless, it would be a proper opportunity for their enemies to invade them, it is further promised:
neither, shall any man desire thy land; though it is a desirable land; and their neighbours, and especially the old inhabitants of it, envied the happiness of the Israelites, and could not but wish it was in their possession; yet God, who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can direct their thoughts, and turn the inclinations of their minds, and influence their affections, and engage them with other objects, promises that they should not think of an invasion of them, or have their minds, and the desires and affections of their hearts, in the least turned that way at these seasons, whatever they might have at other times; even
when thou shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in a year; at the feasts before mentioned, which was a most wonderful display of the power and providence of God.

Gill: Exo 34:25 - -- Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven,.... That is, not kill the passover, while there was any leaven in their houses; so the Tar...
Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven,.... That is, not kill the passover, while there was any leaven in their houses; so the Targum of Jonathan; see Gill on Exo 23:18.
neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of passover be left unto the morning; neither any of the flesh, nor of the fat of the passover lamb: if any were left, it was to be burnt, see Exo 12:10.

Gill: Exo 34:26 - -- The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring,.... This, and another law in this verse, concerning not seething a kid in his mother's milk...

Gill: Exo 34:27 - -- And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Being still with him on the mount:
write thou these words; expressed in the preceding verses, from Exo 34:11, as ...
And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Being still with him on the mount:
write thou these words; expressed in the preceding verses, from Exo 34:11, as he before had written in a book all those laws, contained in Exo 21:1 called the book of the covenant, Exo 24:4 and which perhaps might be destroyed, as well as the two tables were broken; and therefore upon the renewal of the covenant here, there is a repetition made of the principal laws before given, which are ordered also to be written in a book, which may very well be called by the same name, since it follows:
for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel, with Moses, as their representative and mediator, and with them represented by him: what is above related carries in it the form of a covenant between them, God having declared on his part what he would do for them, and what laws and rules he required to be observed on their part; which Moses assented to in their name, and was ordered to write them down, that he might repeat them to them.

Gill: Exo 34:28 - -- And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights,.... These were other forty days and nights, besides those he had been with the Lord, when ...
And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights,.... These were other forty days and nights, besides those he had been with the Lord, when he came down and broke the two tables in his hand, on sight of the idolatry of the people; yea, not only the Jewish writers think that he was on the mount three times forty days and forty nights, but also several learned Christian writers, as Dr. Lightfoot p and others; and it seems plain that he went up to the mountain three times, Exo 24:15 and it is not improbable that he was each time so long there; about the first and third times there can be no doubt, see Exo 24:18 and the text before us; and at the second time, when he went up to make reconciliation for the people, Exo 32:30 he says, that he fell down before the Lord, as at the first forty days and forty nights, Deu 9:18 and from the seventh day of the month Sivan, the day after the giving of the law, to the tenth of Tisri, on which day he now descended, are just so many days:
he did neither eat bread nor drink water: and it is very likely slept not, he being supported without either of these by the power of God; and having such nearness of communion with God, and his mind taken up with what he heard and saw, he had no thoughts of, nor desires and cravings after such things, as well as he stood in no need of them; all which must be ascribed to the miraculous interposition of God in the support of him; see Gill on Exo 24:18.
and he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments; not Moses, for these were tables of stone, which he could not write or engrave upon without proper instruments, which it does not appear he had with him on the mount; but it was God that wrote them, who, in Exo 34:1 says he would write them, and from Deu 10:2 we are assured he did.

Gill: Exo 34:29 - -- And it came to pass, when Moses came down Mount Sinai,.... Which was on the day of atonement, according to Jarchi, that is, the tenth of Tisri, or Sep...
And it came to pass, when Moses came down Mount Sinai,.... Which was on the day of atonement, according to Jarchi, that is, the tenth of Tisri, or September; and so the Jewish chronologers q fix his descent on this day:
with the two tables of testimony in Moses's hand; the two tables he carried up, on which God had wrote the law, called "the testimony", being a testification and declaration of his will to the children of Israel:
when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone, while he talked with him: the Targum of Jonathan is,"Moses knew not that the splendour of the form of his face was become illustrious, which he had from the brightness of the glory of the Shechinah of the Lord, at the time he talked with him.''And this the apostle calls "the glory of his countenance", 2Co 3:7 the glory of the Lord as it passed before him, when in the cleft of the rock, and that degree of it he was admitted to the sight of, while conversing with God, during his stay on the mount forty days and forty nights, left a shining glory on his countenance; which while he was with God he could not be at all sensible of, the glory of God so infinitely surpassing that; and when he came down the mount, as he could not see his own face without a glass, so though the rays of light and glory that darted from his face were so bright and strong, that they might have been observed by him, yet his mind was so intent on what he had seen and heard, that he took no notice of them. The Vulgate Latin version renders it very wrongly, "that his face was horned", which has given occasion to painters to represent him in a ridiculous manner, as having horns coming out of his forehead; though the word has the signification of an horn, and the meaning of that version, as of others, may only be, that the skin of his face "darted out rays" r like horns, such as the rays of the sun appear to be like to the eye, see Hab 3:4 hence Jupiter Ammon, the same with the sun, is described as having horns s; and so Bacchus, who is supposed to be the same with Moses, is represented as having a horned face t. Now this glory was left on the countenance of Moses, to show that he had had communion with God, and that the law he brought with him was from him; and to signify the glory of it, and to command awe and reverence, and make men afraid to break it.

Gill: Exo 34:30 - -- And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses,.... Who very probably met him at the bottom of the mount; these Israelites with Aaron were th...
And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses,.... Who very probably met him at the bottom of the mount; these Israelites with Aaron were the princes, as Aben Ezra seems rightly to interpret it, and as appears from the following verse; for Moses could not well be seen by the whole body of the people at once, upon his descent from the mount:
behold, the skin of his face shone; darted out rays of light and glory all around it, much perhaps in the same manner as the glory about our Lord, and others, is painted by the Romanists:
and they were afraid to come nigh him; there was something so majestic and striking in it; and perhaps they could not tell whether it foreboded good or evil to them; and this may signify, that as by the light of the law sin is discovered, it fills with a sense of wrath and fear of damnation; and being the ministration of condemnation and death, it is terrifying and killing, though it has a glory in it.

Gill: Exo 34:31 - -- And Moses called unto them,.... Who, as it appears by what follows, on sight of him were so terrified, that they did not proceed on to meet him, but w...
And Moses called unto them,.... Who, as it appears by what follows, on sight of him were so terrified, that they did not proceed on to meet him, but went back, and therefore he called unto them to return and come forward:
and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him; knowing him by his voice, and encouraged by his call of them, who before might take him to be something more than human, some glorious form, one of the heavenly angels appearing in this manner:
and Moses talked with them; after he had put a vail on his face, of which there is an account in the following verses. He talked with them friendly, and told them all that had happened to him in the mount; what a glorious sight he had been indulged with; what a proclamation of the grace and goodness of God had been made to him; and what laws and ordinances God had enjoined him and them the observance of.

Gill: Exo 34:32 - -- And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh,.... That is, after Aaron and the rulers had had a conversation with Moses, then the whole body of ...
And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh,.... That is, after Aaron and the rulers had had a conversation with Moses, then the whole body of the people by turns were admitted to come before him, and hear the laws of God from him:
and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai; besides the two tables of stone, and the testimony written on them, he gave them all the other commands he was ordered to write in a book, and which are recorded in this chapter; he kept back nothing from them, but enjoined them to keep all the Lord had commanded.

Gill: Exo 34:33 - -- And till Moses had done speaking with them,.... Not when he had done, as the Septuagint version, for then there would have been no occasion for it; b...
And till Moses had done speaking with them,.... Not when he had done, as the Septuagint version, for then there would have been no occasion for it; but when he first began to speak to Aaron and the "rulers", and continued to speak to the congregation until he had finished what he had to say; even he did what follows, as soon as he perceived there was a glory on his face, which they could not bear to look at:
he put a vail on his face; something that covered it in a good measure, a mask, or linen cloth, or some such thing. The obscurity of the law may be signified by this vail, both of the moral and ceremonial law; the moral law, which though it makes known the mind and will of God, with respect to what is to be done, or not done, yet not with respect to the affair of life and salvation: it makes known the one God as the object of worship, but gives no account of a trinity of persons in the Godhead; no hint of God in Christ, nor revelation of the Son of God; no view of a Saviour, no notion of pardon; nor does it point out the righteousness of Christ unto us; nor do we from it hear anything of the Spirit of God, and his grace, nor of eternal life and glory: the ceremonial law, and its ordinances, did give some light into evangelical things, and did point out Christ, and the blessings of his grace, yet but darkly and obscurely; they were shadows of good things to come, and gave some dark and distant views of them, but were not so much as the image of the things, and did not bring them near, and set them in a clear light: likewise this vail may be an emblem of the darkness of the minds of men, with respect to the law, and the knowledge of divine things; especially of the Jews, who, as the apostle says, "could not steadfastly look at the end of that which is abolished": of the ceremonial law, which is disannulled, the end of which was Christ; he is the end for which it was made, the scope or mark at which it aimed, the term in which it issued, and in whom it had its complete fulfilment; but this they had not a perfect view of, and could not steadfastly behold: the moral law also is in some sense abolished by Christ, as the ministration of Moses, as a covenant of works, and as to the curse and condemnation of it to those that believe; and Christ he is the end of this, the fulfilling end of it, by conformity of nature, and obedience of life unto it, and by suffering the penalty of it; but such was the blindness of the Jews, that they were ignorant of the nature of this law, of the spirituality and perfection of it, of its use to convince men of sin, to condemn for it, but not to justify from it; were ignorant of the righteousness of God which the law required, and of Christ, and of the way of life and righteousness by him; and so of the Spirit of God, and his work, and of the mysteries of the Gospel, and of the books of the Old Testament; see 2Co 3:14.

Gill: Exo 34:34 - -- But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him,.... Went into the tabernacle to converse with him, to pray unto him, and inquire about any m...
But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him,.... Went into the tabernacle to converse with him, to pray unto him, and inquire about any matter of difficulty respecting the people of Israel he was concerned for, which he often did:
he took the vail off until he came out: and so when men are truly converted, and turn to the Lord, the vail of darkness and unbelief is removed, and the true light shines, in which they see things in another light than they did before; and when they come into his presence, they come with hearts opened and unveiled, all things being naked and open to him with whom they have to do; and particularly saints under the Gospel dispensation, with an open face, as in a glass, behold the glory of the Lord; and when they get to heaven, they will then see face to face, and know as they are known, 2Co 3:16,
and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded; this respects not the present time of his coming down from the mount, or out of the tabernacle with the law and commands now given, for these he had already declared; but after times, and all such times when he went in to the Lord to inquire of him his mind and will concerning certain things, in which the people wanted information, when, upon his return, he acquainted them with whatsoever the Lord ordered to be done.

Gill: Exo 34:35 - -- And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face shone,.... That is, not only when he came down from the mount, but whe...
And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face shone,.... That is, not only when he came down from the mount, but whenever he came out of the tabernacle, where he had been inquiring of God, and conversing with him:
and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him; this he did from time to time, when he came out from the Lord he put on his vail, and when he went in again, he put it off. How long this brightness on his countenance remained, cannot be said with any certainty; Saadiah Gaon says, it did not remove from him to the day of his death: hence it is said, "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated", Deu 34:7 and Aben Ezra seems to approve of it; and it is the opinion of many great and learned men, that it continued as long as he lived.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Exo 34:8; Exo 34:9; Exo 34:9; Exo 34:10; Exo 34:10; Exo 34:10; Exo 34:11; Exo 34:11; Exo 34:12; Exo 34:12; Exo 34:13; Exo 34:13; Exo 34:14; Exo 34:14; Exo 34:14; Exo 34:15; Exo 34:15; Exo 34:15; Exo 34:15; Exo 34:16; Exo 34:18; Exo 34:18; Exo 34:19; Exo 34:19; Exo 34:19; Exo 34:20; Exo 34:20; Exo 34:20; Exo 34:21; Exo 34:21; Exo 34:21; Exo 34:21; Exo 34:22; Exo 34:22; Exo 34:23; Exo 34:23; Exo 34:23; Exo 34:23; Exo 34:24; Exo 34:24; Exo 34:24; Exo 34:24; Exo 34:25; Exo 34:26; Exo 34:27; Exo 34:28; Exo 34:28; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:30; Exo 34:33; Exo 34:33; Exo 34:33; Exo 34:34; Exo 34:34; Exo 34:34; Exo 34:35; Exo 34:35; Exo 34:35
NET Notes: Exo 34:8 The first two verbs form a hendiadys: “he hurried…he bowed,” meaning “he quickly bowed down.”

NET Notes: Exo 34:9 Heb “it is.” Hebrew uses the third person masculine singular pronoun here in agreement with the noun “people.”

NET Notes: Exo 34:10 The idea is that God will be doing awesome things in dealing with them, i.e., to fulfill his program.



NET Notes: Exo 34:13 Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near gr...

NET Notes: Exo 34:14 Here, too, the emphasis on God’s being a jealous God is repeated (see Exod 20:5). The use of “name” here is to stress that this is h...

NET Notes: Exo 34:15 There is no subject for the verb. It could be rendered “and one invites you,” or it could be made a passive.

NET Notes: Exo 34:16 In the construction this verb would follow as a possible outcome of the last event, and so remain in the verbal sequence. If the people participate in...


NET Notes: Exo 34:19 The verb basically means “that drops a male.” The verb is feminine, referring to the cattle.



NET Notes: Exo 34:22 The expression is “the turn of the year,” which is parallel to “the going out of the year,” and means the end of the agricultu...

NET Notes: Exo 34:23 The title “Lord” is included here before the divine name (translated “God” here; see Exod 23:17), perhaps to form a contrast w...


NET Notes: Exo 34:25 See M. Haran, “The Passover Sacrifice,” Studies in the Religion of Ancient Israel (VTSup), 86-116.


NET Notes: Exo 34:27 Once again the preposition with the suffix follows the imperative, adding some emphasis to the subject of the verb.


NET Notes: Exo 34:29 The word קָרַן (qaran) is derived from the noun קֶרֶן (qeren) in the sense of a “ray...

NET Notes: Exo 34:30 This clause is introduced by the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh); it has the force of pointing to something surpr...

NET Notes: Exo 34:33 Throughout this section the actions of Moses and the people are frequentative. The text tells what happened regularly.

NET Notes: Exo 34:34 The form is the Pual imperfect, but since the context demands a past tense here, in fact a past perfect tense, this is probably an old preterite form ...

NET Notes: Exo 34:35 Heb “with him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Geneva Bible: Exo 34:9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; ( b ) for it [is] a stiffnecked people; and pardon...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a ( c ) snare in the midst of thee...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their ( d ) groves:
( d ) Which pleasant places they chose for their idols.

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:17 Thou shalt make thee no ( e ) molten gods.
( e ) As gold, silver, brass, or anything that is molten: in this is condemned all types idols, no matter ...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem [him] not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering ( g ) at the year's end.
( g ) Which was...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man ( h ) desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear bef...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not ( i ) seethe a kid in his mother's milk. ...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:28 And he was there with the LORD ( k ) forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of...

Geneva Bible: Exo 34:34 But when Moses went in ( m ) 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 ...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Exo 34:1-35
TSK Synopsis: Exo 34:1-35 - --1 The tables are renewed.5 The name of the LORD proclaimed.8 Moses entreats God to go with them.10 God makes a covenant with them, repeating certain d...
Maclaren -> Exo 34:29
Maclaren: Exo 34:29 - --Exodus 34:29
The recurrence of the same phrase in two such opposite connections is very striking. Moses, fresh from the mountain of vision, where he h...
MHCC: Exo 34:5-9 - --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 perfecti...

MHCC: Exo 34:10-17 - --The Israelites are commanded to destroy every monument of idolatry, however curious or costly; to refuse all alliance, friendship, or marriage with id...

MHCC: Exo 34:18-27 - --Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosp...

MHCC: Exo 34:28-35 - --Near and spiritual communion with God improves the graces of a renewed and holy character. Serious godliness puts a lustre upon a man's countenance, s...
Matthew Henry: Exo 34:5-9 - -- No sooner had Moses got to the top of the mount than God gave him the meeting (Exo 34:5): The Lord descended, by some sensible token of his presen...

Matthew Henry: Exo 34:10-17 - -- Reconciliation being made, a covenant of friendship is here settled between God and Israel. The traitors are not only pardoned, but preferred and ma...

Matthew Henry: Exo 34:18-27 - -- Here is a repetition of several appointments made before, especially relating to their solemn feasts. When they had made the calf, they proclaimed a...

Matthew Henry: Exo 34:28-35 - -- Here is, I. The continuance of Moses in the mount, where he was miraculously sustained, Exo 34:28. He was there in very intimate communion with God,...
Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 34:1-8 - --
When Moses had restored the covenant bond through his intercession (Exo 33:14), he was directed by Jehovah to hew out two stones, like the former on...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 34:9-10 - --
On this manifestation of mercy, Moses repeated the prayer that Jehovah would go in the midst of Israel. It is true the Lord had already promised tha...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 34:11-16 - --
To recall the duties of the covenant once more to the minds of the people, the Lord repeats from among the rights of Israel, upon the basis of which...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 34:17-26 - --
The true way to worship Jehovah is then pointed out, first of all negatively, in the prohibition against making molten images, with an allusion to t...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 34:27-35 - --
Moses was to write down these words, like the covenant rights and laws that had been given before (Exo 24:4, Exo 24:7), because Jehovah had conclude...
Constable: Exo 15:22--Lev 1:1 - --II. THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL 15:22--40:38
The second major section of Exodus records the events associated with Go...

Constable: Exo 32:1--34:35 - --D. The breaking and renewal of the covenant chs. 32-34
"If a narrative paradigmatic of what Exodus is re...

Constable: Exo 34:1-35 - --3. The renewal of the covenant ch. 34
Moses had obtained God's promise to renew the covenant bond with Israel (33:14). Now God directed him to restor...
Guzik -> Exo 34:1-35
Guzik: Exo 34:1-35 - --Exodus 34 - The Covenant Renewed
A. Moses meets with God again on the mountain.
1. (1-4) God calls Moses up Mount Sinai again.
And the LORD said t...
