Exodus 24:12

24:12 1 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets 2  with 3  the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” 4 

Exodus 34:28

34:28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; 5  he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 6 

1 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.

2 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.

3 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).

4 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).

5 tn These too are adverbial in relation to the main clause, telling how long Moses was with Yahweh on the mountain.

6 tn Heb “the ten words,” though “commandments” is traditional.