Shemot 24:2

2 And Moshe alone shall come near Hashem; but they shall not come near; neither shall HaAm go up with him.

Shemot 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.

Shemot 24:2 In-Context

1 4 And He said unto Moshe, Come up unto Hashem, thou, and Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu, and shive’im (seventy) of the Ziknei Yisroel; and worship ye afar off.

2 And Moshe alone shall come near Hashem; but they shall not come near; neither shall HaAm go up with him.

3 And Moshe came and told HaAm kol divrei Hashem, and all the mishpatim; and kol HaAm answered with one voice, and said, All the words which Hashem hath said will we do.

4 And Moshe wrote kol divrei Hashem, and rose up early in the boker, and built a Mizbe’ach at the base of HaHar, and twelve matzevah (stone pillars), according to the twelve Shivtei Yisroel.

5 And he sent out na’arei Bnei Yisroel, which offered olot (burnt offerings), and sacrificed shelamim (peace offerings) of bulls unto Hashem.