Exodus 34

[vlf7973]

[bibledrb]Exodus 34:27-28[/bibledrb]
What did Moses write on the tablets? It sounds like God was telling him to write down the list of things he just said to Moses (Exodus 34:12-26), not the ten commandments from Exodus 20:3-17.

Also,
[bibledrb]Exodus 24:18[/bibledrb]
Did Moses spend forty days on the mountain two separate times? Or is this the result of the writers / editors combining stories from different sources?

 

[meltzerboy]

[bibledrb]Exodus 34:27-28[/bibledrb]
What did Moses write on the tablets? It sounds like God was telling him to write down the list of things he just said to Moses (Exodus 34:12-26), not the ten commandments from Exodus 20:3-17.

Also,
[bibledrb]Exodus 24:18[/bibledrb]
Did Moses spend forty days on the mountain two separate times? Or is this the result of the writers / editors combining stories from different sources?

The proper translation from the Hebrew is Ten Words or Ten Statements rather than Ten Commandments. Moses was inspired to write the Words that G-d uttered. He also wrote the Torah Law (first five Books of the Hebrew Bible), which Orthodox Jews believe was handed down to the Jewish people together with at least the beginning of the Oral Law. The Torah is a detailed explanation of each of the Ten Words. Its distilled essence, as stated by Hillel the Elder and then Jesus, is to love G-d and love thy neighbor, and it explains how to do this.

 

[504Katrin]

Yes, he spent 40 days and nights there twice. He repeatedly said so. He would have been there even longer the first time if it hadn’t been for the golden calf. The tablets were already done when The name said to Moses that he should go and take a look at what his peeps were doing down there. Then Moses looked, and when he saw them he left immediately.

 

[TimothyH]

Moses goes up and down the mountain at least five times that I counted.

-Tim-

 

[vlf7973]

Yes, he spent 40 days and nights there twice. He repeatedly said so. He would have been there even longer the first time if it hadn’t been for the golden calf. The tablets were already done when The name said to Moses that he should go and take a look at what his peeps were doing down there. Then Moses looked, and when he saw them he left immediately.

So it was two distinct 40-day periods? Or could it have been a single 40-day period that was briefly interrupted in the middle?

 

[504Katrin]

So it was two distinct 40-day periods? Or could it have been a single 40-day period that was briefly interrupted in the middle?

Yes, it was distinct 40 day periods. The first time Moshe left and went up there where G-d wrote the tablets with him. In the meantime some others built a golden calf and worshipped it. G-d told Moshe, Moshe saw it and went back down the hill whilst dropping the tablets. Two days later he asked for forgiveness and went back up there for a second time and also stayed there for 40 days and forty nights. The first tablets were written by G-d, the second were written by Moshe. Both set of tablets were placed into the Ark later. G-d humorously even messed with Moshe and told him not to break the Ark as there wouldn’t be a second one lol.

 

[meltzerboy]

Yes, it was distinct 40 day periods. The first time Moshe left and went up there where G-d wrote the tablets with him. In the meantime some others built a golden calf and worshipped it. G-d told Moshe, Moshe saw it and went back down the hill whilst dropping the tablets. Two days later he asked for forgiveness and went back up there for a second time and also stayed there for 40 days and forty nights. The first tablets were written by G-d, the second were written by Moshe. Both set of tablets were placed into the Ark later. G-d humorously even messed with Moshe and told him not to break the Ark as there wouldn’t be a second one lol.

It’s good to know that Cecil B. DeMille got it right that G-d Himself wrote the first set of tablets. When was the Torah written by Moses?

 

[patrick457]

Moses goes up and down the mountain at least five times that I counted.

-Tim-

Starting from the time the Israelites arrived at Sinai:

Exodus 19:2-8a: There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God (…) So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

Exodus 19:8-b-15: And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses (…) Moses told the words of the people to the LORD (…) So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

Exodus 19:19-20:20: And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (…) And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them. And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (…)” Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Exodus 20:21-24:8 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (…) Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (…)

Exodus 24:9-11: Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

Exodus 24:12-32:16: The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. (…) Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Exodus 34:1-29: The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. (…) When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

 

[504Katrin]

It’s good to know that Cecil B. DeMille got it right that G-d Himself wrote the first set of tablets. When was the Torah written by Moses?

According to Rashi and Nachmonides, Moshe presented the book of Bereshit to the peeps and Shemot up to that point they were experiencing. Up on the mountain he then receives the law and Mishpatim is written. During the following 39 years he completes the Torah.
We’re also told though that since Bereshit starts with the letter beit and not with the letter alef, that the Torah had been written before existance has been created. The alef then shows up when G-d told us “Anochi HaShem Elohecha…”.

 

[504Katrin]

Starting from the time the Israelites arrived at Sinai:

Exodus 19:2-8a: There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God (…) So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

Exodus 19:8-b-15: And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses (…) Moses told the words of the people to the LORD (…) So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

Exodus 19:19-20:20: And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (…) And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them. And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (…)” Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Exodus 20:21-24:8 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (…) Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (…)

Exodus 24:9-11: Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

Exodus 24:12-32:16: The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. (…) Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Exodus 34:1-29: The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. (…) When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

Which makes for quite some excercise

Seriously though, this is fantastic! Shame, shame, shame on me that I cannot keep numbers in mind hence am never able to truly quote with chapters and verses and have also been gently but you know, criticized for not being able to give my sources

Actually, if you count the time he was on there and asked for forgiveness you actually have another 40 day period. But this wasn’t the question at hand.