2 Chronicles 6:11

6:11 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”

Exodus 31:18

31:18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God. ¹ 

Exodus 32:15-16

32:15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with ²  the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides – they were written on the front and on the back. 32:16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Exodus 32:19

32:19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. ³  He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. ⁴ 

Exodus 34:1

The New Tablets of the Covenant

34:1 ⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Cut out ⁶  two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write ⁷  on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed.

Exodus 40:20

40:20 He took the testimony and put it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and then put the atonement lid on the ark.

Deuteronomy 10:2-5

10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ⁸  that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia ⁹  wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 10:4 The Lord ¹⁰  then wrote on the tablets the same words, ¹¹  the ten commandments, ¹²  which he ¹³  had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he ¹⁴  gave them to me. 10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.

Hebrews 9:4

9:4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark ¹⁵  were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

¹ sn The expression “the finger of God” has come up before in the book, in the plagues (Exod 8:15) to express that it was a demonstration of the power and authority of God. So here too the commandments given to Moses on stone tablets came from God. It too is a bold anthropomorphism; to attribute such a material action to Yahweh would have been thought provoking to say the least. But by using “God” and by stating it in an obviously figurative way, balance is maintained. Since no one writes with one finger, the expression simply says that the Law came directly from God.

² tn The disjunctive vav (ו) serves here as a circumstantial clause indicator.

³ tn Heb “and the anger of Moses burned hot.”

⁴ sn See N. M. Waldham, “The Breaking of the Tablets,” Judaism 27 (1978): 442-47.

⁵ sn The restoration of the faltering community continues in this chapter. First, Moses is instructed to make new tablets and take them to the mountain (1-4). Then, through the promised theophany God proclaims his moral character (5-8). Moses responds with the reiteration of the intercession (8), and God responds with the renewal of the covenant (10-28). To put these into expository form, as principles, the chapter would run as follows: I. God provides for spiritual renewal (1-4), II. God reminds people of his moral standard (5-9), III. God renews his covenant promises and stipulations (10-28).

⁶ tn The imperative is followed by the preposition with a suffix expressing the ethical dative; it strengthens the instruction for Moses. Interestingly, the verb “cut out, chisel, hew,” is the same verb from which the word for a “graven image” is derived – פָּסַל (pasal).

⁷ tn The perfect tense with vav consecutive makes the value of this verb equal to an imperfect tense, probably a simple future here.

⁸ sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the Lord’s commandments.

⁹ sn Acacia wood (Heb “shittim wood”). This is wood from the acacia, the most common timber tree of the Sinai region. Most likely it is the species Acacia raddiana because this has the largest trunk. See F. N. Hepper, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, 63.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.

¹² tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”

¹³ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” earlier in this verse.

¹⁵ tn Grk “in which”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.