2 Corinthians 3:3

3:3 revealing ¹  that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, ²  written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets ³  but on tablets of human hearts.

Exodus 24:12

24:12 ⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets ⁵  with ⁶  the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” ⁷ 

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. ⁸ 

Exodus 32:15-16

32:15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with ⁹  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. ¹⁰  He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. ¹¹ 

Exodus 34:1

The New Tablets of the Covenant

34:1 ¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Cut out ¹³  two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write ¹⁴  on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed.

Exodus 34:28

34:28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; ¹⁵  he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. ¹⁶ 

Deuteronomy 4:13

4:13 And he revealed to you the covenant ¹⁷  he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, ¹⁸  writing them on two stone tablets.

Deuteronomy 5:22

The Narrative of the Sinai Revelation and Israel’s Response

5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. ¹⁹  Then he inscribed the words ²⁰  on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

Deuteronomy 9:9-11

9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there ²¹  forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger ²²  of God, and on them was everything ²³  he ²⁴  said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.

Deuteronomy 9:15

9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it ²⁵  was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.

Deuteronomy 10:1-4

The Opportunity to Begin Again

10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. ²⁶  10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ²⁷  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 ²⁸  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 ²⁹  then wrote on the tablets the same words, ³⁰  the ten commandments, ³¹  which he ³²  had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he ³³  gave them to 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 ³⁴  were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

[3:3]  ¹ tn Or “making plain.”

[3:3]  ² tn Grk “cared for by us,” an expression that could refer either to the writing or the delivery of the letter (BDAG 229 s.v. διακονέω 1). Since the following phrase refers to the writing of the letter, and since the previous verse speaks of this “letter” being “written on our [Paul’s and his companions’] hearts” it is more probable that the phrase “cared for by us” refers to the delivery of the letter (in the person of Paul and his companions).

[3:3]  ³ sn An allusion to Exod 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deut 9:10-11.

[24:12]  ⁴ sn Now the last part is recorded in which Moses ascends to Yahweh to receive the tablets of stone. As Moses disappears into the clouds, the people are given a vision of the glory of Yahweh.

[24:12]  ⁵ sn These are the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments would be written. This is the first time they are mentioned. The commandments were apparently proclaimed by God first and then proclaimed to the people by Moses. Now that they have been formally agreed on and ratified, they will be written by God on stone for a perpetual covenant.

[24:12]  ⁶ tn Or “namely”; or “that is to say.” The vav (ו) on the noun does not mean that this is in addition to the tablets of stone; the vav is explanatory. Gesenius has “to wit”; see GKC 484-85 §154.a, n. 1(b).

[24:12]  ⁷ tn The last word of the verse is לְהוֹרֹתָם (lÿhorotam), the Hiphil infinitive construct of יָרָה (yarah). It serves as a purpose clause, “to teach them,” meaning “I am giving you this Law and these commands in order that you may teach them.” This duty to teach the Law will be passed especially to parents (Deut 6:6-9, 20-25) and to the tribe of Levi as a whole (Deut 33:9-10; Mal 2:1-9).

[31:18]  ⁸ 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.

[32:15]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) serves here as a circumstantial clause indicator.

[32:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the anger of Moses burned hot.”

[32:19]  ¹¹ sn See N. M. Waldham, “The Breaking of the Tablets,” Judaism 27 (1978): 442-47.

[34:1]  ¹² 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).

[34:1]  ¹³ 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).

[34:1]  ¹⁴ tn The perfect tense with vav consecutive makes the value of this verb equal to an imperfect tense, probably a simple future here.

[34:28]  ¹⁵ tn These too are adverbial in relation to the main clause, telling how long Moses was with Yahweh on the mountain.

[34:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ten words,” though “commandments” is traditional.

[4:13]  ¹⁷ sn This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, TDOT 2:255.

[4:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the ten words.”

[5:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”

[5:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:10]  ²² sn The very finger of God. This is a double figure of speech (1) in which God is ascribed human features (anthropomorphism) and (2) in which a part stands for the whole (synecdoche). That is, God, as Spirit, has no literal finger nor, if he had, would he write with his finger. Rather, the sense is that God himself – not Moses in any way – was responsible for the composition of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 31:18; 32:16; 34:1).

[9:10]  ²³ tn Heb “according to all the words.”

[9:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise at the beginning of vv. 12, 13). See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the mountain.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[10:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.

[10:2]  ²⁷ 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.

[10:3]  ²⁸ 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.

[10:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.

[10:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”

[10:4]  ³² tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[10:4]  ³³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” earlier in this verse.

[9:4]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in which”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.