Exodus 34

The New Stone Tablets

¹The LORD said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

²Be 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.

³No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”

⁴He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets.

⁵The LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the LORD’s name.

⁶The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,

⁷keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”

⁸Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

⁹He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you.

¹¹Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

¹²Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare among you;

¹³but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles;

¹⁴for you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

¹⁵“Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;

¹⁶and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.

¹⁷“You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.

¹⁸“You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹“All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep.

²⁰You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty.

²¹“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

²²“You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end.

²³Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

²⁴For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before the LORD, your God, three times in the year.

²⁵“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The sacrifice of the feast of the Passover shall not be left to the morning.

²⁶“You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷The LORD said to Moses, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

²⁸He was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Moses' Shining Face

²⁹When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him.

³⁰When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him.

³¹Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.

³²Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all the commandments that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

³³When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.

³⁴But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

³⁵The children of Israel saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; so Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Previous Exodus 33

Next Exodus 35

After Moses broke the first tablets in anger over Israel's golden calf worship, God graciously provides new stone tablets and renews His covenant with the people. God reveals His character as both merciful and just, proclaiming His famous attributes of compassion, patience, and faithfulness while also maintaining His holiness. The chapter concludes with Moses' face shining so brightly from God's presence that he must wear a veil when speaking to the Israelites.

Context

This chapter follows the golden calf crisis of chapters 32-33, showing God's gracious restoration of the broken covenant relationship with Israel.

Key Themes

Outline

1-4
New Stone Tablets Prepared God commands Moses to chisel new tablets to replace those broken after the golden calf incident.
5-9
God's Character Revealed The LORD proclaims His merciful yet just nature, and Moses intercedes for the rebellious people.
10-26
Covenant Laws Renewed God establishes covenant terms including warnings against idolatry and commands for worship and festivals.
27-28
Tablets Written Moses spends forty days and nights with God as the covenant words are inscribed on stone.
29-35
Moses' Radiant Face Moses' face shines with divine glory, requiring a veil when he speaks to the Israelites.

The New Stone Tablets

34:1–34:9

narrative narration solemn

God commands Moses to prepare new stone tablets and reveals His character as merciful and gracious, forgiving sin while maintaining justice. Moses worships and pleads for God to go with His people despite their stubbornness.

person_contrast

Moses, typically portrayed as the stern lawgiver, here becomes a worshipful intercessor who prostrates himself before God's self-revelation of mercy and compassion.

The Covenant Renewed

34:10–34:28

law instruction solemn

God renews His covenant with Israel, commanding them to avoid idolatry and intermarriage with pagan nations while establishing laws for worship, festivals, and the Sabbath. The covenant emphasizes exclusive devotion to the LORD.

theme_rarity

Moses' forty-day fast while receiving the renewed covenant parallels his initial forty days on Sinai, creating a literary doubling that emphasizes Israel's need for divine restoration after the golden calf incident.

Moses' Shining Face

34:29–34:35

narrative narration solemn

Moses' face shines with divine glory after receiving the commandments on Mount Sinai, causing the Israelites to fear approaching him until he covers his face with a veil. This demonstrates the transformative power of encountering God's presence.

person_contrast

Moses' radiant face creates the Bible's only instance where divine glory becomes so physically manifest that it requires a veil to mediate between God's presence and human fear.

Insight Character Study

Moses, typically portrayed as the stern lawgiver, here becomes a worshipful intercessor who prostrates himself before God's self-revelation of mercy and compassion.

Insight Rare Theme

Insight Character Study

Moses' radiant face creates the Bible's only instance where divine glory becomes so physically manifest that it requires a veil to mediate between God's presence and human fear.

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Exodus 34:1 5 references

Lexicals 5

Deuteronomy 10:3 Lexical

So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two stone tablets like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two…

4 shared words

Deuteronomy 10:1 Lexical

At that time the LORD said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make a…

4 shared words

Deuteronomy 10:2 Lexical

I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.…

4 shared words

Deuteronomy 10:4 Lexical

He wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spoke to you on the mounta…

Exodus 34

The New Stone Tablets

The Covenant Renewed

Moses' Shining Face

The New Stone Tablets

The Covenant Renewed

Moses' Shining Face

Insights

Cross-References

Exodus 34:1 5 references

Exodus 34:3 2 references

Exodus 34:4 4 references

Exodus 34:6 5 references

Exodus 34:7 5 references

Exodus 34:9 5 references

Exodus 34:10 2 references

Exodus 34:11 5 references

Exodus 34:12 1 reference

Exodus 34:13 5 references

Exodus 34:14 2 references

Exodus 34:15 4 references

Exodus 34:18 5 references

Exodus 34:19 5 references

Exodus 34:20 4 references

Exodus 34:21 5 references

Exodus 34:22 2 references

Exodus 34:23 2 references

Exodus 34:24 1 reference

Exodus 34:25 3 references

Exodus 34:26 2 references

Exodus 34:28 5 references

Exodus 34:29 2 references

Exodus 34:31 1 reference

Interlinear

Historical Context