1 And the Lord said vnto Moses, Hew thee two Tables of stone, like vnto the first: and I will write vpon these Tables, the words that were in the first Tables which thou brakest.
2 And be ready in the morning, and come vp in the morning vnto mount Sinai, and present thy selfe there to me, in the top of the mount.
3 And no man shall come vp with thee, neither let any man bee seene throughout all the mount, neither let the flockes nor herds feede before that mount.
4 ¶ And he hewed two Tables of stone, like vnto the first, and Moses rose vp earely in the morning, and went vp vnto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and tooke in his hand the two tables of stone.
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, mercifull and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodnesse and trueth,
7 Keeping mercie for thousands, forgiuing iniquitie and transgression and sinne, and that will by no meanes cleere the guiltie, visiting the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children, and vpon the childrens children, vnto 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 haue found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, goe amongst vs, (for it is a stiffenecked people,) and pardon our iniquitie, and our sinne, and take vs for thine inheritance.
10 ¶ And he said, Behold, I make a couenant: before all thy people, I wil doe marueiles, such as haue not beene done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people amongst which thou art, shall see the worke of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will doe with thee.
11 Obserue thou that which I command thee this day: Behold, I driue out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hiuite, and the Iebusite.
12 Take heed to thy selfe, lest thou make a couenant 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, breake their images, and cut downe their groues.
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Ielous, is a Ielous God:
15 Lest thou make a couenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they goe a whoring after their gods, and doe sacrifice vnto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eate of his sacrifice,
16 And thou take of their daughters vnto thy sonnes, and their daughters goe a whoring after their gods, and make thy sonnes goe a whoring after their gods.
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 ¶ The feast of vnleauened bread shalt thou keepe: Seuen dayes thou shalt eate vnleauened bread, as I commanded thee in the time of the moneth Abib: for in the moneth Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19 All that openeth the matrixe is mine: and euery firstling amongst thy cattell, whether oxe or sheepe, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an Asse thou shalt redeeme with a lambe: and if thou redeeme him not, then shalt thou breake his necke. All the first borne of thy sonnes thou shalt redeeme: and none shall appeare before me empty.
21 ¶ Sixe dayes thou shalt worke, but on the seuenth day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in haruest thou shalt rest.
22 ¶ And thou shalt obserue the feast of weekes, of the first fruits of wheat haruest, and the feast of ingathering at the yeeres end.
23 ¶ Thrice in the yeere shall all your men children appeare before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt goe vp to appeare before the Lord thy God, thrice in the yeere.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leauen, neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of Passeouer be left vnto the morning.
26 The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring vnto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seeth a kid in his mothers milke.
27 And the Lord said vnto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenour of these wordes, I haue made a couenant with thee, and with Israel.
28 And hee was there with the Lord forty dayes and forty nights: he did neither eat bread, nor drinke water; and he wrote vpon the Tables the words of the couenant, the ten Commandements.
29 ¶ And it came to passe when Moses came downe from mount Sinai (with the two Tables of Testimony in Moses hand, when hee came downe 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 skinne of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh him.
31 And Moses called vnto them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the Congregation returned vnto him, and Moses talked with them.
32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gaue them in commandement all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vaile on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speake with him, hee tooke the vaile off, vntill he came out: And hee came out and spake vnto the children of Israel, that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skinne of Moses face shone: and Moses put the vaile vpon his face againe, vntill hee went in to speake with him.
The tables of the law renewed. (1-4) The name of the Lord proclaimed, The entreaty of Moses. (5-9) God's covenant. (10-17) The festivals. (18-27) The vail of Moses. (28-35)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.
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 no means clear the guilty; the holiness and justice of God are part of his goodness and love towards all his creatures. In Christ's sufferings, the Divine holiness and justice are fully shown, and the evil of sin is made known. God's forgiving mercy is always attended by his converting, sanctifying grace. None are pardoned but those who repent and forsake the allowed practice of every sin; nor shall any escape, who abuse, neglect, or despise this great salvation. Moses bowed down, and worshipped reverently. Every perfection in the name of God, the believer may plead with Him for the forgiveness of his sins, the making holy of his heart, and the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom.
10-17 The Israelites are commanded to destroy every monument of idolatry, however curious or costly; to refuse all alliance, friendship, or marriage with idolaters, and all idolatrous feasts; and they were reminded not with idolaters, and all idolatrous feats; and they were reminded not to repeat the crime of making molten images. Jealously is called the rage of a man, #Pr 6:34|; but in God it is holy and just displeasure. Those cannot worship God aright, who do not worship him only.
18-27 Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosper the better, for the religious observance of the sabbath day in harvest time. We must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before the business or the joy of harvest. Thrice a year they must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Canaan was a desirable land, and the neighbouring nations were greedy; yet God says, They shall not desire it. Let us check all sinful desires against God and his glory, in our hearts, and then trust him to check all sinful desires in the hearts of others against us. The way of duty is the way of safety. Those who venture for him never lose by him. Three feasts are here mentioned: 1. The Passover, in remembrance of the deliverance out of Egypt. 2. The feast of weeks, or the feast of Pentecost; added to it is the law of the first-fruits. 3. The feast of in-gathering, or the feast of Tabernacles. Moses is to write these words, that the people might know them better. We can never be enough thankful to God for the written word. God would make a covenant with Israel, in Moses as a mediator. Thus the covenant of grace is made with believers through Christ.
28-35 Near and spiritual communion with God improves the graces of a renewed and holy character. Serious godliness puts a lustre upon a man's countenance, such as commands esteem and affection. The vail which Moses put on, marked the obscurity of that dispensation, compared with the gospel dispensation of the New Testament. It was also an emblem of the natural vail on the hearts of men respecting spiritual things. Also the vail that was and is upon the nation of Israel, which can only be taken away by the Spirit of the Lord showing to them Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Fear and unbelief would put the vail before us, they would hinder our free approach to the mercy-seat above. We should spread our wants, temporal and spiritual, fully before our heavenly Father; we should tell him our hinderances, struggles, trails, and temptations; we should acknowledge our offences.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.