Exodus 24:2

2 And Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go 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 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship afar off.

2 And Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him.

3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rights, and all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the LORD has said we will do.

4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD and rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mount and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 And he sent the young men of the sons of Israel, who had offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of bullocks unto the LORD.