Exodus 24:2

2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him."

Exodus 24:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 24:2

And Moses alone shall come near the Lord
Into the cloud where he was, and talk with him face to face, as a man talketh with his friend; which was great nearness indeed, and a peculiar favour and high honour was this:

but they shall not come nigh;
Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel:

neither shall the people go up with him;
not any of them, much less the whole body. It seems, by this account, that Moses had been down from the mount after he had received the laws recorded in the two preceding chapters; though as yet he had not related them to the people, but did before he went up again by the above order, as appears from what follows.

Exodus 24:2 In-Context

1 Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance.

2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him."

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do."

4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord.