Exodus 34

Exodus 34 is the thirty-fourth of the forty chapters of Exodus. In the preceding chapter, Exodus 32, the first tablets were broken because of the golden calf incident, and in Exodus 33 Moses pleaded for God's presence to go with the people. In this chapter, following that plea, the Sinai covenant is renewed.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 The LORD commands Moses to hew two tables of stone like the first. Moses goes up Mount Sinai early in the morning, and no one goes with him.
• Verses 5–9 The LORD descends in the cloud, proclaims His name, and declares His character. Moses bows down in worship and asks the LORD to go among the people and to pardon their sin.
• Verses 10–17 The LORD promises to do marvels and makes a covenant. He commands Israel not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan, to destroy their altars, images (standing stones), and Asherah poles, and not to worship other gods or make molten gods.
• Verses 18–26 The chapter sets out regulations concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the redemption of the firstlings (the firstborn of animals) and of firstborn sons, the Sabbath, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Ingathering, appearing before the LORD three times a year, the sacrifice of the Passover, and the offering of firstfruits.
• Verses 27–28 Moses remains on the mountain forty days and forty nights without bread or water, and the words of the covenant, the ten commandments, are written on the tablets.
• Verses 29–35 When Moses comes down from the mountain, his face shines, and the people are afraid to come near him. After delivering the LORD's words, Moses covers his face with a veil, removing it whenever he goes in before the LORD.

Key Verses

• Exodus 34:6 "merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" — a declaration summarizing God's character. It is echoed in many places in the Old Testament, including Numbers 14:18, Psalm 103:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2. The word rendered "goodness" here translates the Hebrew hesed.
• Exodus 34:29 "Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone" — this scene shows the visible mark of a face-to-face encounter with God and forms the background for the New Testament interpretation in 2 Corinthians 3.

People and Places

• Moses — receives the new tablets and intercedes for the people.
• Aaron — Moses' brother. Of those who were afraid because of the shining, he is among the first to come to Moses, together with the rulers of the congregation.
• Mount Sinai — the place where the covenant is renewed.
• Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — the native peoples of the land of Canaan, which Israel was to enter.
• Egypt — the land Israel left in the month Abib, the event commemorated by the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Interpretive Considerations

• Who wrote the words in verse 28: The Hebrew text identifies the subject only as "he." One interpretation, based on verse 1, holds that the LORD wrote them (the position reflected in the Korean Revised Version), while another, based on verse 27, holds that Moses did. The content inscribed on the tablets has traditionally been understood as the Ten Commandments, on the basis of "the words that were in the first tables" in verse 1. Some scholars, however, call the regulations of verses 10–26 the "Ritual Decalogue" and treat them separately.
• "Visiting… unto the third and to the fourth generation" in verse 7: Many interpreters take this to refer to cases in which descendants continue in the sins of their ancestors, reading it together with Ezekiel 18:19–20 and Deuteronomy 24:16. In Korea, this verse is sometimes cited in support of the doctrine of generational curses; critics of that teaching respond by appealing to Ezekiel 18.
• The regulation about the kid in verse 26: Rabbinic Jewish tradition, drawing on this verse together with 23:19 and Deuteronomy 14:21, developed the dietary law against eating meat and dairy products together. The text itself does not state the reason for the prohibition.
• "Horned Moses": The Hebrew verb translated "shone" shares a root with the word for "horn." For this reason the Latin Vulgate rendered the verse to mean that his face was "horned," which gave rise to paintings and sculptures of a horned Moses, such as Michelangelo's statue of Moses. Modern translations generally render the word as "shone."
• Connections to the New Testament: In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul interprets Moses' veil as illustrating the contrast between the fading glory of the old covenant and the glory of the new covenant. Some interpreters also connect "grace and truth" in John 1 (verses 14 and 17) with 34:6.

In the Korean Church

• "The firstfruits of wheat harvest" in verse 22, together with 23:16, is frequently used as a sermon text for Harvest Thanksgiving (Maekchu Gamsajeol).
• "None shall appear before me empty" in verse 20 is often cited when encouraging offerings on festival days.
• Moses' forty days in verse 28 are often mentioned alongside Jesus' temptation in the wilderness in discussions of fasting.