Exodus 24:2

24:2 Moses alone may come ¹  near the Lord, but the others ²  must not come near, ³  nor may the people go up with him.”

Exodus 24:15

24:15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

Exodus 24:18

24:18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up ⁴  the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. ⁵ 

[24:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “they.”

[24:2]  ³ 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.

[24:18]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.