Exodus 19:3

19:3 Moses ¹  went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people ²  of Israel:

Exodus 24:1-2

The Lord Ratifies the Covenant

24:1 ³ But to Moses the Lord ⁴  said, “Come up ⁵  to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance. ⁶  24:2 Moses alone may come ⁷  near the Lord, but the others ⁸  must not come near, ⁹  nor may the people go up with him.”

Exodus 24:12

24:12 ¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets ¹¹  with ¹²  the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” ¹³ 

Exodus 29:42

29:42 “This will be a regular ¹⁴  burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet ¹⁵  with you to speak to you there.

John 1:17

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but ¹⁶  grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

[19:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and Moses went up.”

[19:3]  ² tn This expression is normally translated as “Israelites” in this translation, but because in this place it is parallel to “the house of Jacob” it seemed better to offer a fuller rendering.

[24:1]  ³ sn Exod 24 is the high point of the book in many ways, but most importantly, here Yahweh makes a covenant with the people – the Sinaitic Covenant. The unit not only serves to record the event in Israel’s becoming a nation, but it provides a paradigm of the worship of God’s covenant people – entering into the presence of the glory of Yahweh. See additionally W. A. Maier, “The Analysis of Exodus 24 According to Modern Literary, Form, and Redaction Critical Methodology,” Springfielder 37 (1973): 35-52. The passage may be divided into four parts for exposition: vv. 1-2, the call for worship; vv. 3-8, the consecration of the worshipers; vv. 9-11, the confirmation of the covenant; and vv. 12-18, the communication with Yahweh.

[24:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he;” the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:1]  ⁵ sn They were to come up to the Lord after they had made the preparations that are found in vv. 3-8.

[24:1]  ⁶ sn These seventy-four people were to go up the mountain to a certain point. Then they were to prostrate themselves and worship Yahweh as Moses went further up into the presence of Yahweh. Moses occupies the lofty position of mediator (as Christ in the NT), for he alone ascends “to Yahweh” while everyone waits for his return. The emphasis of “bowing down” and that from “far off” stresses again the ominous presence that was on the mountain. This was the holy God – only the designated mediator could draw near to him.

[24:2]  ⁷ tn The verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive; it and the preceding perfect tense follow the imperative, and so have either a force of instruction, or, as taken here, are the equivalent of an imperfect tense (of permission).

[24:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “they.”

[24:2]  ⁹ tn Now the imperfect tense negated is used; here the prohibition would fit (“they will not come near”), or the obligatory (“they must not”) in which the subjects are obliged to act – or not act in this case.

[24:12]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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).

[29:42]  ¹⁴ tn The translation has “regular” instead of “continually,” because they will be preparing this twice a day.

[29:42]  ¹⁵ tn The relative clause identifies the place in front of the Tent as the place that Yahweh would meet Moses. The main verb of the clause is אִוָּעֵד (’ivva’ed), a Niphal imperfect of the verb יָעַד (ya’ad), the verb that is cognate to the name “tent of meeting” – hence the name. This clause leads into the next four verses.

[1:17]  ¹⁶ tn “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).