Deuteronomy 10:1-5

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.

[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.