Exodus 34:5

5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and pronounced his holy name, the Lord.

Exodus 34:5 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 34:5

And the Lord descended in the cloud
The same with the cloudy pillar, which was now gone up from the door of the tabernacle, and was on high in the air over the mount, and on which the Lord now descended in it, as he had before, ( Exodus 19:9 Exodus 19:16 Exodus 19:18 ) :

and stood with him there;
not Moses stood with the Lord, as the Vulgate Latin version; but the Lord, or the cloud in which the Lord was, stood near to Moses:

and proclaimed the name of the Lord:
Jehovah declared with a loud voice out of the cloud, that the Lord was there; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``and Moses called on or in the name of the Word of the Lord;''

and so the Vulgate Latin version refers it to Moses, and renders the words, "calling on the name of the Lord"; but the following verse clearly shows that it must be understood of the Lord, and not of Moses.

Exodus 34:5 In-Context

3 No one is to come up with you; no one is to be seen on any part of the mountain; and no sheep or cattle are to graze at the foot of the mountain."

4 So Moses cut two more stone tablets, and early the next morning he carried them up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded.

5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and pronounced his holy name, the Lord.

6 The Lord then passed in front of him and called out, "I, the Lord, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness.

7 I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents."

Footnotes

• [a]. the lord: [See 3.14, and Word List.]