Exodus 34:1

“And the Lord said unto Moses, etc.] Out of the cloudy pillar, at the door of the tabernacle, where he had been conversing with him in the most friendly manner, as related in the preceding chapter: hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; of the same form, and of the same dimensions, and it may be of the same sort of stone, which perhaps was marble, there being great plenty of that kind on Mount Sinai. Now Moses being ordered to hew these tables, whereas the former were the work of God himself, as well as the writing, shows that the law was to be the ministration of Moses, and be ordained in the hand of him as a mediator, who had been praying and interceding for the people; and as a…”

“THE TABLES ARE RENEWED. (Exo. 34:1-35) the like unto the first--God having been reconciled to repentant Israel, through the earnest intercession, the successful mediation of Moses, means were to be taken for the restoration of the broken covenant. Intimation was given, however, in a most intelligible and expressive manner, that the favor was to be restored with some memento of the rupture; for at the former time God Himself had provided the materials, as well as written upon them. Now, Moses was to prepare the stone tables, and God was only to retrace the characters originally inscribed for the use and guidance of the people.”

“Hew thee - The former tables are called “the work of God;” compare Exodus 32:16. The words - See Exodus 34:28. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Moses must prepare for the renewing of the tables. Before God himself provided the tables, and wrote on them; now Moses must hew him out the tables, and God would only write upon them. When God was reconciled to them, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them, which plainly intimates to us, that even under the gospel (of which the intercession of Moses was typical) the moral law should continue to oblige believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the command of it, but still we are under the law to Christ. When our Saviour in his sermon on the mount expounded the moral law, and vindicated it from the corrupt glosses with which the…”

“34:1-35 God granted Moses’ request (33:18), showed Moses his goodness (34:1-9), and renewed the covenant (34:10-35). This renewal was a unilateral statement by God. God would indeed go with his people, maintaining his covenant promises even though they had broken the covenant (32:1-6) and deserved nothing better than death and abandonment. 34:1-3 God called Moses to come back up Mount Sinai with two new stone tablets. The restrictions for the rest of the people are like those made at first (see 19:12-13, 21-25).”

“Hew: Exo 31:18, Exo 32:16, Exo 32:19; Deu 10:1 I will: Exo 34:28; Deu 10:1-4 the words: Psa 119:89 which: Exo 32:19; Deu 9:15-17 Exodus 34:2”

“When Moses had restored the covenant bond through his intercession ( Exo 33:14), he was directed by Jehovah to hew out two stones, like the former ones which he had broken, and to come with them the next morning up the mountain, and Jehovah would write upon them the same words as upon the first, (Note: Namely, the ten words in Ex 20:2-17, not the laws contained in Exo 34:12-26 of this chapter, as Gthe and Hitzig suppose. See Hengstenberg, Dissertations ii. p. 319, and Kurtz on the Old Covenant iii. 182ff.) and thus restore the covenant record. It was also commanded, as in the former case ( Exo 19:12-13), that no one should go up the mountain with him, or be seen upon it, and that not even…”