Exodus 16:34

16:34 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony ¹  for safekeeping. ² 

Exodus 40:20

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.

Deuteronomy 5:22

The Narrative of the Sinai Revelation and Israel’s Response

5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. ³  Then he inscribed the words ⁴  on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

Psalms 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ⁵ 

The rules set down by the Lord ⁶  are reliable ⁷ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ⁸ 

[16:34]  ¹ sn The “Testimony” is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant; so the pot of manna would be placed before Yahweh in the tabernacle. W. C. Kaiser says that this later instruction came from a time after the tabernacle had been built (see Exod 25:10-22; W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:405). This is not a problem since the final part of this chapter had to have been included at the end of the forty years in the desert.

[16:34]  ² tn “for keeping.”

[5:22]  ³ tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”

[5:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ⁶ tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ⁷ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ⁸ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.