Exodus 24:18

24:18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up ¹  the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. ² 

Exodus 34:28

34:28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; ³  he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 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 19:8

19:8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” ⁸  So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

Matthew 4:2

4:2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. ⁹ 

[24:18]  ¹ tn The verb is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive; here, the second clause, is subordinated to the first preterite, because it seems that the entering into the cloud is the dominant point in this section of the chapter.

[24:18]  ² sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 750) offers this description of some of the mystery involved in Moses’ ascending into the cloud: Moses ascended into the presence of God, but remained on earth. He did not rise to heaven – the ground remained firmly under his feet. But he clearly was brought into God’s presence; he was like a heavenly servant before God’s throne, like the angels, and he consumed neither bread nor water. The purpose of his being there was to become familiar with all God’s demands and purposes. He would receive the tablets of stone and all the instructions for the tabernacle that was to be built (beginning in chap. 25). He would not descend until the sin of the golden calf.

[34:28]  ³ tn These too are adverbial in relation to the main clause, telling how long Moses was with Yahweh on the mountain.

[34:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “the ten words,” though “commandments” is traditional.

[34:1]  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).

[34:1]  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).

[34:1]  ⁷ tn The perfect tense with vav consecutive makes the value of this verb equal to an imperfect tense, probably a simple future here.

[19:8]  ⁸ tn The verb is an imperfect. The people are not being presumptuous in stating their compliance – there are several options open for the interpretation of this tense. It may be classified as having a desiderative nuance: “we are willing to do” or, “we will do.”

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry.”