Exodus34

God commands Moses to hew new stone tables, promising to re-inscribe the covenant words upon them. The LORD descends, proclaiming His merciful yet just character, and renews the covenant with Israel, reiterating laws concerning idolatry, feasts, and firstborn. Moses descends from Sinai after forty days, his face shining from God's presence, necessitating a veil when speaking to the people.
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Preparation for Covenant Renewal

1
And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. ​
2
And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in 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 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.

The LORD Proclaims His Name

5
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ​
6
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ​
7
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. ​
8
And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. ​
9
And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. ​

Renewal of the Covenant Stipulations

10
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. ​
11
Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
12
Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: ​
13
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: ​
14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: ​
15
Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16
And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. ​
17
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. ​
18
The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt. ​
19
All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20
But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. ​
21
Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. ​
22
And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. ​
23
Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
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For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year. ​
25
Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
26
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. ​
27
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. ​

Moses’ Shining Face and the Veil

28
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. ​
29
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. ​
30
And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. ​
31
And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
32
And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33
And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. ​
34
But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35
And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Study Notes for Exodus 34

Verse 1

God commands Moses to prepare new stone tablets, emphasizing that the covenant relationship is being restored despite Israel's recent failure (the Golden Calf incident).

Verse 5

This is a pivotal moment (a theophany) where God reveals His character, not just His power. The cloud signifies God's majestic presence and mystery.

Verse 6

This passage (v. 6-7), often called the 'Creed of Yahweh,' is the most quoted theological self-description of God in the Old Testament, emphasizing mercy, grace, and faithfulness.

Verse 7

The tension between forgiving sin and judging the unrepentant highlights God's perfect justice and holiness balanced with his love. The visitation of iniquity across generations refers to the societal consequences of persistent corporate sin, not individual eternal damnation.

Verse 8

Moses’ immediate response to God’s self-revelation is humble worship, demonstrating the appropriate reverence when encountering divine holiness.

Verse 9

Moses intercedes again, basing his plea for forgiveness not on Israel’s worthiness, but on God’s revealed character (v. 6-7) and the recognition that Israel is indeed a 'stiffnecked people.'

Verse 10

The covenant renewal is marked by a promise of divine intervention ('marvels') in the land conquest, confirming the LORD’s commitment to Israel despite their rebellion.

Verse 12

The prohibition against making covenants with the inhabitants of Canaan is central to maintaining Israel's distinct religious identity and holiness in the Promised Land.

Verse 13

The requirement to destroy foreign religious objects (altars, pillars, Asherah poles) emphasizes that Yahweh worship must be exclusive and intolerant of syncretism.

Verse 14

The name 'Jealous' (Hebrew: *qanna*) describes God's righteous demand for exclusive loyalty from His covenant people, not personal envy.

Verse 16

The prohibition against intermarriage is tied specifically to the danger of religious assimilation and apostasy, stressing the priority of theological separation over cultural integration.

Verse 17

This reiterates the second commandment, essential immediately following the recent sin of the Golden Calf (Exod 32).

Verse 18

This section (v. 18-26) restates several key laws and festival requirements often referred to by scholars as the 'Ritual Decalogue,' focusing on proper worship practice.

Verse 20

The redemption of the firstborn (human and animal) commemorates God sparing the Israelite firstborn during the final plague in Egypt (Exod 13).

Verse 21

The command for Sabbath rest is so absolute that it applies even during crucial agricultural periods ('earing time and in harvest'), underscoring its theological importance over economic urgency.

Verse 22

The three annual pilgrimage festivals—Unleavened Bread/Passover, Weeks (Pentecost), and Ingathering (Tabernacles)—structure the religious calendar and connect worship to the agricultural cycle.

Verse 24

This verse contains a remarkable promise of divine protection: God assures Israel that their land will not be coveted or seized by enemies while all the men are away performing their required pilgrimage duties.

Verse 26

The final dietary law, 'Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk,' likely prohibits an ancient Canaanite fertility rite, emphasizing humane treatment and separation from pagan practices.

Verse 27

God instructs Moses to write down these specific stipulations, confirming they form the binding terms of the renewed covenant.

Verse 28

Moses spends another forty days fasting in God's presence. The text clarifies that the Ten Commandments were written on the tablets, either by God directly or by Moses under divine command.

Verse 29

Moses was unaware that his face was radiating glory (*qaran*), a physical manifestation of having been intimately in the presence of God (the *Kavod*).

Verse 30

The fear of the Israelites demonstrates the awe and distance between divine holiness and human sinfulness that Moses’ reflected glory represented.

Verse 33

The veil served as an intermediary, protecting the people from the intense divine glory reflected on Moses' face, which was temporary and faded over time (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:13).

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