Exodus 34:4

_AND HE HEWED TWO TABLES OF STONE LIKE UNTO THE FIRST; AND MOSES ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND WENT UP UNTO MOUNT SINAI, AS THE LORD HAD COMMANDED HIM, AND TOOK IN HIS HAND THE TWO TABLES OF STONE._ Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai. In the sultry climate of Arabia all journeys are entered on betimes in the morning; but God had commanded him to start thus early, and by a faithful attention to the divine instructions he evinced his alacrity and zeal in the service of God. TOOK IN HIS HAND THE TWO TABLES OF STONE. Since he had no attendant to divide the labour of carrying them, it is evident that they must have been light, and of no great dimensions-probably flat slabs of shale or slate, such as abound in the mountainous region of Horeb. An additional proof of their comparatively small size appears in the circumstance of their being deposited in the ark...

1-4 When God made man in his own image, the moral law was written in his heart, by the finger of God, without outward means. But since the covenant then made with man was broken, the Lord has used the ministry of men, both in writing the law in the Scriptures, and in writing it in the heart. When God was reconciled to the Israelites, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them. Even under the gospel of peace by Christ, the moral law continues to bind believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the commands of it. The first and the best evidence of the pardon of sin, and peace with God, is the writing the law in the heart....

THE RESTORATION OF THE TWO TABLES, AND RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT. EXPOSITION THE TWO TABLES RENEWED. The fervent and prolonged intercession of Moses had brought about the pardon of the people; and that, together with their repentance and their prayers (Exodus 33:7), had been accepted as a renewal of the covenant on their part; but it remained for God to renew the covenant on his part The first step to this was the restoration of the tables, which were essential to the covenant, as being at once the basis of the law and of the ordained worship. To mark, however, that something is always forfeited by sin, even when forgiven, th

AND HE HEWED TWO TABLES OF STONE LIKE UNTO THE FIRST,.... Which may be an emblem of the ministry of men, which God makes use of in hewing of his people, and bringing them to a sense of their sins, the breach of his law, and repentance for them, Hosea 6:5: AND MOSES ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING: which, according to the Jews g, was the twenty ninth of Ab or July, which showed his ready and cheerful obedience to the divine will, and the quick dispatch he had made in hewing the tables; which whether he did with his own hands only, or made use of others whom he directed, is not very material; though the phrase "hew thee", or "hew unto thee", seems as if he were to do it himself, and not another: AND WENT UP UNTO MOUNT SINAI, AS THE LORD HAD COMMANDED HIM; which was the third time of his going there, and every time he continued forty days and forty nights, as Aben E

CHAPTER 34 THE RESULT: THE SECOND COVENANT AND THE GLORY _ 1. The command to hew two tables of stone (Exodus 34:1)_ 2. The proclamation of Jehovah (Exodus 34:5) 3. Moses' worship and prayer (Exodus 34:8) 4. The covenant restated (Exodus 34:10) 5. The second tables written (Exodus 34:27) 6. The glory upon the face of Moses (Exodus 34:29) The command is given to Moses to hew two tables of stone like the first, which Jeho

EXODUS 34:1 J. THE COVENANT WORDS. After removing Exodus 34:5, the sublime account of the revelation of Yahweh's nature as mercy and truth in their unity, which follows on Exodus 33:23, the remainder is the sequel of J's account of the descent upon Sinai in Exodus 19, and the clauses (Exodus 34:1; Exodus 34:3) referring to the first (tables) are glosses of the editor who displaced this section (_cf._ p. 183). And it may be that originally, as in Deuteronomy 10:1

WENT UP. Moses' sixth and last ascent. See note on Exodus 19:3. AS. according as....

Moses is commanded to hew two tables of stone, similar to those which he had broken (Exodus 32:19), and bring them up Sinai to Jehovah. The former tables are said (Exodus 32:16) to have been themselves God's handiwork: in the new tables only the writing is to be His....

HEW THEE TWO TABLES OF STONE, &C.— See Exodus 34:28. God being reconciled through Moses's intercession, the covenant is renewed. REFLECTIONS.—1. Moses is commanded to hew new tables for God to write upon, instead of those which were broken. _Note;_ (1.) Wherever God through Christ is reconciled to a soul, there he will anew engrave on the heart the law which sin had utterly defaced. We shall be under a dangerous delusion, if we promise ourselves peace with God, and live in the allowed transgression of his commandments. (2.) Whatever pains ministers may take to hew the table of the heart, it is God alone that can write his law there. 2. He goes up without delay into the mount of God, while the people with fear and trembling stand at a distance, and are left to lament for a season their late rebellion against God. _Note;_ (1.) We can never be in too great hast

THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 34 And Je-ho-vah said unto Mo-ses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou brakest. (2) And be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Si-nai, and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount. (3) And no man shall come up with thee; neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. (4) And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Mo-ses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Si-nai, as Je-ho-vah had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone. (5) And Je-ho-vah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Je-ho-vah. (6) And Je-ho-vah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Je-ho-vah, Je-ho-vah, a God merciful...