Deuteronomy 10:1-8

1 "Then the Lord said to me, "Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and make a wooden Box to put them in. Come up to me on the mountain,

2 and I will write on those tablets what I wrote on the tablets that you broke, and then you are to put them in the Box.'

3 "So I made a Box of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first ones and took them up the mountain.

4 Then the Lord wrote on those tablets the same words that he had written the first time, the Ten Commandments that he gave you when he spoke from the fire on the day you were gathered at the mountain. The Lord gave me the tablets,

5 and I turned and went down the mountain. Then, just as the Lord had commanded, I put them in the Box that I had made - and they have been there ever since."

6 (The Israelites set out from the wells that belonged to the people of Jaakan, and went to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest. ¹

7 From there they went to Gudgodah and then on to Jotbathah, a well-watered place.

8 At the mountain the Lord appointed the men of the tribe of Levi to be in charge of the Covenant Box, to serve him as priests, and to pronounce blessings in his name. And these are still their duties. ²

Deuteronomy 10:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 10

In this chapter an account is given of an order to Moses to hew two tables of stone, on which the Lord would write the words that were on the first, and to make an ark and put them into it, all which was accordingly done, De 10:1-5 and of some of the journeys of the children of Israel, De 10:6,7 and of the separation of the tribe of Levi to the service of the sanctuary, De 10:8,9 and of Moses's stay in the mount forty days and nights, and his success there, and the direction he had to lead on the people of Israel towards Canaan's land, De 10:10,11 and who by various arguments are exhorted to fear the Lord, and serve him, and keep his commands, De 10:12-22.

Cross References

• 1. 10.6Numbers 20.28; 33.38.
• 2. 10.8Numbers 3.5-8.

Footnotes

• [a]. the mountain; [or] that time.