Exodus 34:4

4 Moshe cut two stone tablets like the first. Then he got up early in the morning and, with the two stone tablets in his hands, ascended Mount Sinai, as ADONAI had ordered him to do.

Exodus 34:4 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 34:4

And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first
Which may be an emblem of the ministry of men, which God makes use of in hewing of his people, and bringing them to a sense of their sins, the breach of his law, and repentance for them, ( Hosea 6:5 ) :

and Moses rose up early in the morning:
which, according to the Jews ^F7, was the twenty ninth of Ab or July, which showed his ready and cheerful obedience to the divine will, and the quick dispatch he had made in hewing the tables; which whether he did with his own hands only, or made use of others whom he directed, is not very material; though the phrase "hew thee", or "hew unto thee", seems as if he were to do it himself, and not another:

and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him;
which was the third time of his going there, and every time he continued forty days and forty nights, as Aben Ezra observes, see ( Deuteronomy 9:18 Deuteronomy 9:25 ) :

and took in his hand the two tables of stone;
which could not be very thick and heavy to carry in one hand up a mountain, but must be a sort of marble slab or slate: at this same time an ark was ordered to be made, and was made, to put the tables into, which was a type of Christ, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness, ( Deuteronomy 10:1-5 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 6. p. 19.

Exodus 34:4 In-Context

2 Be ready by morning; in the morning you are to ascend Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain.

3 No one is to come up with you, and no one is to be seen anywhere on the mountain; don't even let the flocks or herds feed in front of this mountain."

4 Moshe cut two stone tablets like the first. Then he got up early in the morning and, with the two stone tablets in his hands, ascended Mount Sinai, as ADONAI had ordered him to do.

5 ADONAI descended in the cloud, stood with him there and pronounced the name of ADONAI.

6 ADONAI passed before him and proclaimed: "YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI] is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth;