Exodus 24:12

12 The LORD said to Moses, 1"Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the 2tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."

Exodus 24:12 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 24:12

And the Lord said unto Moses, come up to me into the mount,
&c.] For as yet Moses was not got up to the top of the mount, only up some part of it with the elders, though at some distance from the people: but now he is bid to come up higher:

and be there;
continue there, as he did six days after this:

and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which
I have written;
that is, the law of the ten commandments, which were written on tables of stone by the Lord himself; he had already spoken them in the hearing of the people, but now he had wrote them, and that in tables of stone; partly for the duration of them, and partly to represent the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites, the stubbornness of their wills to comply with his law, their contumacy and obstinate persistence in disobedience to it:

that thou mayest teach them;
these being in hand and sight, would have an opportunity of explaining them to them and inculcating them on their minds, and pressing them to yield an obedience to them.

Exodus 24:12 In-Context

10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.
11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."
13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
14 And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them."

Cross References 2

  • 1. ver. 2, 15, 18
  • 2. Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15, 16; Deuteronomy 5:22
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.