Exodus 34:8

_AND MOSES MADE HASTE, AND BOWED HIS HEAD TOWARD THE EARTH, AND WORSHIPPED._ Moses ... bowed ... and worshipped. In the East people bow the head to royalty, and are silent when it passes by; while in the West they take off their hats and shout....

8._And Moses made haste, and bowed his head _This haste shews that Moses was astounded when he first beheld the brightness; for thus does God, when He reveals Himself, immediately ravish the godly into such admiration of Him, that there is no time for delay. (384) This prayer follows, that God would journey with His people, and bear with their frowardness; for, since God had said that He could not possibly dwell with so stiff-necked and intractable a people, Moses proposes the remedy, viz., after he has confessed that the people are of a hardened and stubborn spirit, he still expresses a hope of their safety, if God will be pitiful in sparing them. What follows is worthy of observation, “that thou mayest possess us;” (385) for the _copula _has the force of the causal particle, as if he had said, That God could not enjoy the inheritance He had chosen, unless by pardoning

5-9 The Lord descended by some open token of his presence and manifestation of his glory in a cloud, and thence proclaimed his NAME; that is, the perfections and character which are denoted by the name JEHOVAH. The Lord God is merciful; ready to forgive the sinner, and to relieve the needy. Gracious; kind, and ready to bestow undeserved benefits. Long-suffering; slow to anger, giving time for repentance, only punishing when it is needful. He is abundant in goodness and truth; even sinners receive the riches of his bounty abundantly, though they abuse them. All he reveals is infallible truth, all he promises is in faithfulness. Keeping mercy for thousands; he continually shows mercy to sinners, and has treasures, which cannot be exhausted, to the end of time. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; his mercy and goodness reach to the full and free forgiveness of sin. And will by...

EXPOSITION THE FULFILMENT BY GOD OF HIS PROMISE TO MOSES. This section coheres closely with the last section of the preceding chapter, and must be regarded, as the historical account of how God fulfilled the promises there made by him to Moses (Exodus 33:19-2). The promises were mainly two— 1. That he would proclaim his name to him afresh; and 2. That he would pass by him, and let him see, after he had passed, what man might see of his glory. The fulfilment of the first promise appears in the long enumeration of attributes contained in Exodus 34:6,...

AND MOSES MADE HASTE,.... Perceiving the voice ceased, and the Lord was passing on, lest he should be gone, and he lose the favourable opportunity he had: AND BOWED HIS HEAD TOWARD THE EARTH, AND WORSHIPPED; threw himself prostrate upon it, and in the most humble manner put up his requests to God, which are expressed in the following verse; he gladly laid hold on this opportunity to use his interest with God for the people of Israel, and to improve the proclamation of grace and mercy, in the forgiveness of sins, now made; which encouraged his faith and hope to draw nigh with a holy boldness, and use freedom with him, and yet with an awe of his majesty, with reverence and godly fear....

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

WORSHIPPED. This is ever the effect of the manifestation of Jehovah in grace. Compare 2 Samuel 7:18....

Description of the theophany promised in Exodus 33:19-23. The theophany consists essentially in a proclamation of the glories of Jehovah's _moral_nature, developed with special reference to the occasion giving rise to the theophany, and emphasizing the predominance of the Divine attributes of mercy above those of judgement. Echoes of this great declaration of Jehovah's moral nature occur frequently in the later literature: Numbers 14:18 (a quotation), Jeremiah 32:18; Nahum 1:3 a, Nehemiah 9:17;...

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...