Exodus 25:16

25:16 You are to put into the ark the testimony ¹  that I will give to you.

Exodus 25:21

25:21 You are to put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and in the ark you are to put the testimony I am giving you.

Exodus 26:33

26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. ²  The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. ³ 

Exodus 34:29

The Radiant Face of Moses

34:29 ⁴ Now when Moses came down ⁵  from Mount Sinai with ⁶  the two tablets of the testimony in his hand ⁷  – when he came down ⁸  from the mountain, Moses ⁹  did not know that the skin of his face shone ¹⁰  while he talked with him.

Exodus 40:3

40:3 You are to place the ark of the testimony in it and shield the ark with the special curtain.

Exodus 40:20-21

40:20 He took the testimony and put it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and then put the atonement lid on the ark. 40:21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung ¹¹  the protecting curtain, ¹²  and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 10:2-5

10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ¹³  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 ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  then wrote on the tablets the same words, ¹⁶  the ten commandments, ¹⁷  which he ¹⁸  had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he ¹⁹  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.

Deuteronomy 10:1

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. ²⁰ 

Deuteronomy 8:9

8:9 a land where you may eat food ²¹  in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron ²²  and from whose hills you can mine copper.

Deuteronomy 8:1-2

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ²³  I am giving ²⁴  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ²⁵  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ²⁶  8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ²⁷  has brought you these forty years through the desert ²⁸  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 5:10

5:10 but I show covenant faithfulness ²⁹  to the thousands ³⁰  who choose ³¹  me and keep my commandments.

[25:16]  ¹ sn The “testimony” is the Decalogue (Exod 24:12; 31:18; Deut 4:13; 9:9; 1 Kgs 8:9); the word identifies it as the witness or affirmation of God’s commandments belonging to his covenant with Israel. It expressed God’s will and man’s duty. In other cultures important documents were put at the feet of the gods in the temples.

[26:33]  ² tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”

[26:33]  ³ tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”

[34:29]  ⁴ sn Now, at the culmination of the renewing of the covenant, comes the account of Moses’ shining face. It is important to read this in its context first, holding off on the connection to Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians. There is a delicate balance here in Exodus. On the one hand Moses’ shining face served to authenticate the message, but on the other hand Moses prevented the people from seeing more than they could handle. The subject matter in the OT, then, is how to authenticate the message. The section again can be subdivided into three points that develop the whole idea: I. The one who spends time with God reflects his glory (29-30). It will not always be as Moses; rather, the glory of the Lord is reflected differently today, but nonetheless reflected. II. The glory of Yahweh authenticates the message (31-32). III. The authentication of the message must be used cautiously with the weak and immature (33-35).

[34:29]  ⁵ tn The temporal clause is composed of the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), followed by the temporal preposition, infinitive construct, and subjective genitive (“Moses”).

[34:29]  ⁶ tn The second clause begins with “and/now”; it is a circumstantial clause explaining that the tablets were in his hand. It repeats the temporal clause at the end.

[34:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the hand of Moses.”

[34:29]  ⁸ tn The temporal clause parallels the first temporal clause; it uses the same infinitive construct, but now with a suffix referring to Moses.

[34:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Moses.”

[34:29]  ¹⁰ tn The word קָרַן (qaran) is derived from the noun קֶרֶן (qeren) in the sense of a “ray of light” (see Hab 3:4). Something of the divine glory remained with Moses. The Greek translation of Aquila and the Latin Vulgate convey the idea that he had horns, the primary meaning of the word from which this word is derived. Some have tried to defend this, saying that the glory appeared like horns or that Moses covered his face with a mask adorned with horns. But in the text the subject of the verb is the skin of Moses’ face (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 449).

[40:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “set up,” if it includes more than the curtain.

[40:21]  ¹² tn Or “shielding” (NIV); Heb “the veil of the covering” (cf. KJV).

[10:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “according to the former writing.” See note on the phrase “the same words” in v. 2.

[10:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “ten words.” The “Ten Commandments” are known in Hebrew as the “Ten Words,” which in Greek became the “Decalogue.”

[10:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[10:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” earlier in this verse.

[10:1]  ²⁰ 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.

[8:9]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[8:9]  ²² sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.

[8:1]  ²³ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[8:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[5:10]  ²⁹ tn This theologically rich term (חֶסֶד, khesed) describes God’s loyalty to those who keep covenant with him. Sometimes it is used synonymously with בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”; Deut 7:9), and sometimes interchangeably with it (Deut 7:12). See H.-J. Zobel, TDOT 5:44-64.

[5:10]  ³⁰ tc By a slight emendation (לַאֲלּוּפִים [la’allufim] for לַאֲלָפִים [la’alafim]) “clans” could be read in place of the MT reading “thousands.” However, no ms or versional evidence exists to support this emendation.

[5:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “love.” See note on the word “reject” in v. 9.