Deuteronomy 10:1-11

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. ¹  10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ²  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 ³  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 ⁴  then wrote on the tablets the same words, ⁵  the ten commandments, ⁶  which he ⁷  had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he ⁸  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.

Conclusion of the Historical Resume

10:6 “During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan ⁹  to Moserah. ¹⁰  There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, ¹¹  and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, ¹²  a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ¹³  to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings ¹⁴  in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance ¹⁵  among his brothers; ¹⁶  the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 10:11 Then he ¹⁷  said to me, “Get up, set out leading ¹⁸  the people so they may go and possess ¹⁹  the land I promised to give to their ancestors.” ²⁰ 

[10:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.

[10:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[10:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” earlier in this verse.

[10:6]  ⁹ sn Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan. This Hebrew name could be translated “the wells of Bene-Yaaqan” or “the wells of the sons of Yaaqan,” a site whose location cannot be determined (cf. Num 33:31-32; 1 Chr 1:42).

[10:6]  ¹⁰ sn Moserah. Since Aaron in other texts (Num 20:28; 33:38) is said to have died on Mount Hor, this must be the Arabah region in which Hor was located.

[10:7]  ¹¹ sn Gudgodah. This is probably the same as Haggidgad, which is also associated with Jotbathah (Num 33:33).

[10:7]  ¹² sn Jotbathah. This place, whose Hebrew name can be translated “place of wadis,” is possibly modern Ain Tabah, just north of Eilat, or Tabah, 6.5 mi (11 km) south of Eilat on the west shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.

[10:8]  ¹³ sn The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi. This was not the initial commissioning of the tribe of Levi to this ministry (cf. Num 3:11-13; 8:12-26), but with Aaron’s death it seemed appropriate to Moses to reiterate Levi’s responsibilities. There is no reference in the Book of Numbers to this having been done, but the account of Eleazar’s succession to the priesthood there (Num 20:25-28) would provide a setting for this to have occurred.

[10:8]  ¹⁴ sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.

[10:9]  ¹⁵ sn Levi has no allotment or inheritance. As the priestly tribe, Levi would have no land allotment except for forty-eight towns set apart for their use (Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-42). But theirs was a far greater inheritance, for the Lord himself was their apportionment, that is, service to him would be their full-time and lifelong privilege (Num 18:20-24; Deut 18:2; Josh 13:33).

[10:9]  ¹⁶ tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.

[10:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “before” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “at the head of.”

[10:11]  ¹⁹ tn After the imperative these subordinated jussive forms (with prefixed vav) indicate purpose or result.

[10:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 15, 22).