Exodus

Exodus 34:1-9

The Lord renews the tablets and proclaims His name, revealing mercy and justice as the foundation for covenant renewal after Israel’s great sin.

Exodus 34:1-9 (WEB)

1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.

3 No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”

4 He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets.

5 Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name.

6 Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,

7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”

8 Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Central Idea

The LORD renews the tablets and proclaims his name, revealing mercy and justice as the foundation for covenant renewal after Israel’s great sin.

Authorial Intent

To narrate the LORD’s command for Moses to prepare new tablets, Moses’ ascent to Sinai, the LORD’s descent in the cloud and proclamation of his covenant name, and Moses’ worshipful plea that the LORD forgive Israel and go with them despite their stiff-necked sin.

Literary Context

Exodus 34:1-9 follows Moses' plea for the LORD's presence and his request to see God's glory in Exodus 33:12-23. It records the promised name-proclamation and begins the formal movement of covenant renewal after the golden calf. The passage looks backward to the shattered tablets in Exodus 32 and forward to the renewed covenant words that follow in Exodus 34, restoring the possibility of the LORD dwelling among Israel through the tabernacle instructions already given.

Historical Context

Moses has pleaded for the LORD’s presence and asked to see his glory. The LORD promised to proclaim his name and pass by Moses while protecting him. After the first tablets were broken because of the golden calf, Moses is commanded to chisel new tablets and ascend Sinai again.

Chapter: Exodus 34

The LORD Proclaims His Name and Renews the Covenant

The LORD renews covenant with guilty Israel by revealing His merciful and just name, commanding exclusive loyalty, restoring the tablets, and marking Moses with the radiance of mediated glory.