Exodus 34:5

5 The LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him and called out his 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 may come with you or even be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds may not graze in front of this mountain."

4 So Moses cut two [more] stone tablets like the first ones. Early the next morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets.

5 The LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him and called out his name "the LORD."

6 Then he passed in front of Moses, calling out, "The LORD, the LORD, a compassionate and merciful God, patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.

7 He continues to show his love to thousands of generations, forgiving wrongdoing, disobedience, and sin. He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children and grandchildren for their parents' sins to the third and fourth generation."