Exodus 24: The covenant is sealed, and Moses goes up the mountain

In plain English: He said to Moses, "Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance.

Good to know: The verse says only "He said to Moses". The words speak of Yahweh in the third person ("Come up to Yahweh"), as Yahweh also does in Exodus 23:17, 23:19 and 23:25. In verse 12 the text names Yahweh as the one who tells Moses to come up. The text does not name the speaker here. These words are shown as Yahweh's because his speech to Moses has only just ended, in Exodus 23:33, and no one else is named.

Good to know: Nadab and Abihu are Aaron's sons. Exodus 6:23 names them.

In plain English: Moses alone is to come near to Yahweh. The others are not to come near, and the people are not to go up with him."

In plain English: Moses came and told the people all of Yahweh's words and all the ordinances (rules). All the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that Yahweh has spoken we will do."

In plain English: Moses wrote down all of Yahweh's words. He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Hebrew word: "Pillars" is matsevah. The dictionary gives it as "something stationed, i.e. a column or (memorial stone); by analogy, an idol".

How it is translated: In Exodus this word is in 3 verses, and this Bible says "pillars" in all 3.

Good to know: The same word is in Exodus 23:24, where Israel is told to break the pillars of the gods of the peoples of the land, and in 34:13. Here Moses builds an altar with twelve pillars, one for each tribe. The text does not comment on this.

In plain English: He sent young men of the Israelites, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh.

In plain English: Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

In plain English: He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, "We will do everything Yahweh has said, and we will obey."

Good to know: This is the only verse in Exodus that says "book of the covenant". Verse 4 says Moses wrote down all Yahweh's words. The text does not say that this writing is the book of verse 7, or which words the book holds.

In plain English: Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people. He said, "Look, this is the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words."

Good to know: Hebrews 9:20 gives similar words: "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you." In Matthew 26:28 Jesus says, "this is my blood of the new covenant".

In plain English: Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.

In plain English: They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a paved work of sapphire stone, as clear as the skies themselves.

The Hebrew word: "Saw" is ra'ah, the ordinary word for seeing. The dictionary gives it as "to see, literally or figuratively".

Good to know: The verse says they saw the God of Israel. It then describes only what was under his feet, and it says nothing of his form. Verse 17 says the appearance of Yahweh's glory was "like devouring fire". The Greek Old Testament reads, in Brenton's English: "And they saw the place where the God of Israel stood".

In plain English: He did not lay his hand on the nobles of the Israelites. They saw God, and they ate and drank.

The Hebrew words: "Saw" in this verse is a different verb from verse 10: chazah, which the dictionary gives as "to gaze at; mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); specifically, to have a vision of". "Did not lay his hand on" is literally "did not send out his hand against".

Good to know: Exodus 33:11 says that Yahweh spoke to Moses "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend". Exodus 33:20 says, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live." The text does not explain how these verses fit with this one.

Church tradition: Jewish and Christian readers take "they saw God" in different ways: as a sight of God in some form, as a vision, or as a sight of his glory. The text does not choose between them.

In plain English: Yahweh said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written (or: the stone tablets, and the law, and the commands), so that you may teach them."

The Hebrew words: "Law" is torah, as in Exodus 16:4. "Commands" is mitsvah, which the dictionary gives as "a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)". The Hebrew says "the tablets of stone, and the law and the commandment".

What changes: The Hebrew can be read as three things: the tablets, the law and the commandment. It can also be read as one: the stone tablets, which hold the law and the commandment that Yahweh has written.

Good to know: Exodus 31:18 says Yahweh gave Moses "the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets, written with God's finger".

In plain English: Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto the mountain of God.

In plain English: He said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Look, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute can go to them."

In plain English: Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

In plain English: The glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.

In plain English: To the eyes of the Israelites, the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain.

In plain English: Moses went into the middle of the cloud and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.