Discovery BoxExodus 19:11 
Context19:11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Exodus 19:20
Context19:20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exodus 31:18
Context31:18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God. 1
Exodus 34:2
Context34:2 Be prepared 2 in the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and station yourself 3 for me there on the top of the mountain.
Exodus 34:32
Context34:32 After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.
1 sn The expression “the finger of God” has come up before in the book, in the plagues (Exod 8:15) to express that it was a demonstration of the power and authority of God. So here too the commandments given to Moses on stone tablets came from God. It too is a bold anthropomorphism; to attribute such a material action to Yahweh would have been thought provoking to say the least. But by using “God” and by stating it in an obviously figurative way, balance is maintained. Since no one writes with one finger, the expression simply says that the Law came directly from God.
2 tn The form is a Niphal participle that means “be prepared, be ready.” This probably means that Moses was to do in preparation what the congregation had to do back in Exod 19:11-15.
3 sn The same word is used in Exod 33:21. It is as if Moses was to be at his post when Yahweh wanted to communicate to him.
