Exodus 24:1

1 Also he said to Moses, Go thou up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu, and [the] seventy elder men of Israel; and ye shall worship afar, (And he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel; and ye shall worship me from afar,)

Exodus 24:1 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 24:1

And he said unto Moses
Who said? no doubt a divine Person, and yet what this Person said is,

come up unto the Lord;
meaning either to himself, or one divine Person called to Moses to come up to another: according to the Targum of Jonathan, it was Michael, the prince of wisdom; not a created angel, but the eternal Word, Wisdom, and Son of God; who said this on the seventh day of the month, which was the day after the giving of the law, or ten commands; though Jarchi says this paragraph was before the ten commands, and was said on the fourth of Sivan; but the Targumist seems most correct:

come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy
of the elders of Israel;
Nadab and Abihu were the two eldest sons of Aaron, ( Exodus 6:23 ) and the seventy elders were not all the elders of Israel, but were so many of them selected out of them, the chief and principal; who were heads of tribes and families, and were no doubt many, if not all of them, of those who by the advice of Jethro were chosen to be rulers of thousands, hundreds, and fifties; these were called to come up to the Lord on the mountain, but not to the top of it, only Moses went thither:

and worship ye afar off:
from the people, and even at a distance from Moses; for he only was admitted near to God, as the following verse shows.

Exodus 24:1 In-Context

1 Also he said to Moses, Go thou up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu, and [the] seventy elder men of Israel; and ye shall worship afar, (And he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel; and ye shall worship me from afar,)

2 and Moses alone go up to the Lord, and they shall not nigh, neither the people shall go up with him. (and then Moses shall come up alone to the Lord, but the elders shall not come near, and let none of the common people come up onto the mountain with you.)

3 Therefore Moses came, and told to the people all the words and the dooms of the Lord; and all the people answered with one voice, (and said,) We shall do all the words of the Lord which he hath spoken. (And so Moses came, and told the people all the words and the judgements of the Lord; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, We shall do all that the Lord hath spoken.)

4 Forsooth Moses wrote (down) all the words of the Lord; and he rose early, and builded an altar to the Lord at the roots of the hill, and he builded twelve titles, or stones, by twelve lineages of Israel. (And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord; and then he rose up early, and built an altar to the Lord at the foot of the mountain, and he set up twelve stones, for the twelve tribes of Israel.)

5 And he sent young men of the sons of Israel (to it), and they offered burnt sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices to the Lord (and they offered burnt sacrifices, and peace offerings to the Lord), (yea,) twelve calves/two calves.