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Shared Word Translation

Exodus 24

On the Mountain with God

The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the instruction and the commandment that I have written for their teaching.” So Moses rose with Joshua his assistant, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. See, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

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Notes

Translation notes for Exodus 24.

v01

“Come up to the LORD” — The LORD speaks, yet Moses is told to come up “to the LORD.” The third-person reference preserves narrative distance and emphasizes divine transcendence rather than resolving it.

v07

“we will do, and we will hear” — The order is striking. Obedience precedes full comprehension. The sequence is preserved rather than adjusted for modern expectation.

v08

“the blood of the covenant that the LORD has cut” — The Hebrew idiom is literally “cut a covenant.” The imagery of cutting is retained conceptually, echoing ancient covenant-making practices.

v10

“they saw the God of Israel” — The text states this directly without qualification, even as other passages insist that God cannot be seen. The tension is preserved.

v11

“he did not stretch out his hand” — A common idiom for judgment or destruction. Its negation underscores the unexpected survival of those who “saw God.”

v12

“the instruction and the commandment” — “Instruction” renders torah, which carries the sense of teaching or guidance, not merely legislation.

v16

“the glory of the LORD” — The term signals visible divine presence. The text describes appearance without defining essence, preserving mystery.

v18

“Forty days and forty nights” is a recurring biblical period associated with preparation, testing, and divine encounter. The narrative does not explain its significance here.

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Vocabulary

Selected source-language vocabulary for Exodus 24.

v01

שָׁחָה (*shachah*)

to bow down, to prostrate oneself; bodily posture of worship or submission.

v05

שְׁלָמִים (*shelamim*)

offerings of well-being; traditionally “peace offerings,” conveying wholeness and restored relationship.

v07

סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית (*sefer ha-berit*)

book of the covenant; written covenantal document publicly read.

v08

בְּרִית (*berit*)

covenant; binding relational commitment, often formalized through ritual action.

v08

כָּרַת (*karat*)

to cut; idiomatically “to cut a covenant,” reflecting ancient covenant-making practice.

v10

לָבֵנָה (*lavenah*)

brick, pavement; here describing the sapphire-like surface beneath God’s feet.

v16

כָּבוֹד (*kavod*)

glory; weight, honor, manifest presence.

v17

אֵשׁ אֹכֶלֶת (*esh okhelet*)

consuming fire; image of divine holiness and intensity.

v17

Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

v18

אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לַיְלָה (*arba'im yom ve'arba'im laylah*)

forty days and forty nights; recurring period of testing and encounter.

v18

Moses entered the midst of the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

v05

שְׁלָמִים (shelamim)

“Offerings of well-being.” Traditionally “peace offerings,” conveying wholeness and restored relationship.