What Did God Write on the Tablets of Stone?

I skip over here and later the description of the meeting between God, Moses, Aaron, his sons, and the elders (Exod 24:1-2, 9-12), which interrupts the flow of the covenant ceremony. This clearly reflects another non-Priestly tradition.

This is the origin of the term Covenant Collection for the laws in this section.

See, for example, Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1967 [orig. 1951]), 315; Thomas Dozeman, Exodus, Eerdmans Critical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 579.

Some commentators assume that the “and” of our verse must be taken as an explicative: “I will give you the tablets of stone, namely, the teaching and commandment that I have written…” Another possibility is to take the waw in the sense of “with,” and understand the verse as stating, “I will give you the tablets of stone with the teaching and commandment that I have written on them.” The Samaritan Pentateuch reads התורה והמצוה without the waw, a reading likely implied by the Septuagint and Jubilees 1:1. This reading facilitates understanding “the teaching and the commandment” as an explication of “the stone tablets.”

See Sarah Japhet, I and II Chronicles: A Commentary (OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993), 707.

See also 2 Kings 17:34, 37, the latter of which will be discussed further on.

I am assuming that the P references to העדות, לחות העדות, or ארון העדות follow D and reflect the understanding that the ark stored the Decalogue (עדות being P’s term for ברית). It must be conceded, however, that the P texts never state explicitly what was inscribed on the עדות, or even that this term consistently refers to tablets.

Saadiah was not the only person in the Geonic period to write such a poem. For more on azharoti poems, see Marc Herman, “The Origins and Use of the 613 Mitzvot,” TheTorah (2017).

Ramban’s central proof-text for this is Deuteronomy 5:28, which presents the words that God tells Moses just after the people ask not to continue hearing the divine voice directly:

והוא כאשר אמר במשנה תורה (דברים ה’:כ”ח) ואדברה אליך את כל המצוה והחקים והמשפטים אשר תלמדם.

And this is what it means in Deuteronomy (5:28): “I will give you the whole commandment, the laws and the rules, that you shall impart to them.”

The final phrase, “that you shall impart to them” (אשר תלמדם) nicely parallels “to teach them” (להורותם) in our verse. Similarly, Deuteronomy’s “the whole commandment, the laws and the rules” (כל המצוה והחקים והמשפטים) closely parallels “the instruction and the commandment” (והתורה והמצוה) in our passage.

Several significant scholars, such as Shadal in his Commentary on the Torah (ad loc.), Arnold B. Ehrlich, in his Mikra Ke-Pheshutto (ad loc.), and Arie Toeg, in his Lawgiving at Sinai ([Jerusalem: Magnes, 1977], 79-80 [Hebrew]), follow Ramban’s reading of our verse.

Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus (OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1974), 499.

No textual witnesses to this verse—not MT, SP, or LXX—specify a number of tablets. Jubilees 1:1 adds the reference to “two,” but this is probably harmonistic.

The didactic use of written laws as a whole, not those of the Decalogue alone, appears also in Deuteronomy’s description of the reading aloud of the written law every seven years (Deut 31:9-13). Though the reference here is to the Torah written by Moses, the purpose of the reading – to teach – is the same, and the document that is read encompasses much more than the Decalogue alone. Deuteronomy 27:1-8 instructs the Israelites to write “all the words of this Torah” on large plastered stones (cf. also Joshua 8:30-35); here too what is written is much more comprehensive that the Decalogue alone.

There is absolutely no warrant, within the context of Exod 19-24:8, to take the words “And Moses wrote all the words of YHWH” (וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֵת כָּל דִּבְרֵי יְ־הוָה; Exod 24:4) as somehow excluding the Decalogue. Whereas Deuteronomy has the Decalogue on tablets, it seems clear that Exodus—at least in this verse—envisions them being written on a scroll along with the Covenant Collection.

Verses 15b (or 16) – 18 are commonly assigned to P. The formulation, “brief tradition” is not meant to imply that these verses cannot be associated with others. On the contrary, the reference to tablets and to Joshua both here and at Exodus 32:17 would seem to imply an organic connection between the texts. On the other hand, the fact that Exodus 32 fails to mention either Hur or the elders renders the connection somewhat problematic. One might also consider the possibility (suggested by Marc Brettler, personal communication) that the words לוחות האבן in Exodus 24:12 were added by an editor:

ויאמר י־הוה אל משה עלה אלי ההרה והיה שם ואתנה לך // התורה והמצוה אשר כתבתי להורותם.

YHWH said to Moses: “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I might give you // the teaching and the commandment that I have written to teach them.”

The words may have been added to foster the link with Exodus 32. This possibility is supported by the fact that no mention of tablets is found in the parallel text of 2 Kings 17:37 and by the fact that Exodus 31:18 also gives the impression of being an editorial link. In its original form, Exodus 24:12 could have referred to God writing the “Torah and commandment” either on tablets or in a scroll. If we follow this approach, the originality of the connection with Exodus 32 becomes very tenuous.

As far as I can tell, it has not been noticed that Exodus 24:12 assigns Moses a priestly role of teaching the law (להורותם= the priestly task of יורו משפטיך ליעקב), which connects with the golden calf story that presents the Levites as those who win the priesthood, in opposition to Aaron.

Though some have understood these words as addressed to the foreigners who were colonized in Samaria referred to in verses 24-33, it seems clear that this is impossible. For a full analysis of the entire section see David Frankel, The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel (Siphrut 4; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 200-217. See also, Marc Z. Brettler, “Ideology, History and Theology in 2 Kings XVII 7-23” Vetus Testamentum 39 (1989): 268-282.

There is no reason to interpret the Kings passage as a reference to the Decalogue. We may compare this with passages such as Exodus 15:25b and Joshua 24:25, both of which mention the giving of law to Israel without bothering to identify the contents of that law.

The Rabbis note that Exodus 32:15 says that the tablets were written upon (כתבים) and the next verse (v. 16) says that the writing (מכתב) was divine. The Rabbis understand this as two different things, and list them separately as miracles prearranged by God during twilight of the sixth day of creation (m. Avot 5:6).

We do not know the source of this particular midrash, as it seems to have no direct parallels (see the notes in the Margolis edition). Moreover, it is not included by Epstein and Melamed in their Mekhilta de-Rashbi, much of which comes from unidentified midrashim in Midrash HaGadol that presumably derived from the Mekhilta de-Rashbi of which the author of Midrash HaGadol made extensive use.

See discussion in, Florentino García Martínez, “The Heavenly Tablets in the Book of Jubilees,” in Between Philology and Theology (eds, Hindy Najman and Eibert Tigchelaar; JSJsupp 162; Leiden: Brill, 2012), 49-69.

Admittedly, most of the heavenly tablets of the ancient Near East determine the destinies of people or nations, or record their good or evil deeds, and are not legal in character. Note, for example, the prayer of Nabuchadrezzar:

On your unchangeable tablet, which established the boundaries of heaven and earth, proclaim length of days for me, inscribe long life.

See discussion in, Shalom M. Paul, “Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Studies 5 (1973): 345-353 (for the citation see at note 11). Among the various references in the Bible to God’s scroll, see in particular, Exodus 32:32-33; Isaiah 34:16-17; Malachi 3:16-17.

The text describes the tablets in the following manner:

^{שמות לב:טו} וַיִּפֶן וַיֵּרֶד מֹשֶׁה מִן הָהָר וּשְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָעֵדֻת בְּיָדוֹ לֻחֹת כְּתֻבִים מִשְּׁנֵי עֶבְרֵיהֶם מִזֶּה וּמִזֶּה הֵם כְּתֻבִים.^לב:טז וְהַלֻּחֹת מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹהִים הֵמָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹהִים הוּא חָרוּת עַל הַלֻּחֹת…

^{Exod 32:15} Thereupon Moses turned and went down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other. ^32:16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, incised upon the tablets…

Once again, the narrative never identifies the tablets with the Decalogue, and there is no compelling reason to assume that it is not picturing the same “teaching and commandment” described in Exod 24:12. And yet, there are problems with connecting these verses with the tablets of Exodus 24:12.

1. Exodus 32 speaks of two tablets while Exodus 24:12 does not. Admittedly, this is not a large problem, since Exodus 24 is not specific and could be picturing two.

1. Exodus 32:15 refers to the tablets as לוחות העדות (tablets of testimony; following 25:21, 31:18) which may imply the Decalogue (see n. 7 above). Nevertheless, the term עדות is likely not original to the text but rather reflects a late Priestly editing of the passage.

1. The most serious problem is that v. 15 refers to the tablets, i.e., not just the writing, as מעשה אלוהים, which may indicate not only that they were hewn by God, but also that they were produced from heavenly materials, like the heavenly manna. Exodus 24:12, in contrast, presents the divinely inscribed tablets as made of regular stone.

Thus, the identity of the tablets of Exodus 32 with the “teaching and commandment” of Exodus 24:12 remains less than certain. Either way, though, Exod 32:15-16, in its unredacted form, is not about the Decalogue.

Again, save the phrase לוחות העדות of verse 15, which is editorial (see previous note).

See notes 15 and 23.

As mentioned above, it is certain that Deuteronomy understands the tablets Moses received to have been the Decalogue (see, e.g., Deut 4:13 and 10:4), but Deuteronomy is reinterpreting Exodus 24:12; this is not what the text itself says.

See Richard Elliott Friedman, The Bible with Sources Revealed (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2003), 177-179.

Also, we must assume that the first part of verse 4 is editorial:

וַיִּפְסֹל שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים כָּרִאשֹׁנִים

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones;

וַיַּשְׁכֵּם מֹשֶׁה בַבֹּקֶר וַיַּעַל אֶל הַר סִינַי כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְ־הוָה אֹתוֹ וַיִּקַּח בְּיָדוֹ שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים.

He rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as YHWH had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.

Originally, Moses rose early in the morning and followed God’s command to make tablets and ascend up the mountain with them.

I skip here, vv. 5-9, that connect to the theme of God’s accompanying Israel in the previous chapter and is not an original part of the covenant of 34.

Perhaps a tradition that affirmed that Israel was once in possession of divinely inscribed tablets, but that they forever lost them when they sinned against the Lord, might have suited the interests of certain groups who would have sought to challenge the authority of those who claimed to be in possession of those tablets.