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Êxodo 34

ARC · Chapter 34/40

1Então disse o Senhor a Moysés: Lavra-te duas taboas de pedra, como as primeiras; e eu escreverei nas taboas as mesmas palavras que estavam nas primeiras taboas, que tu quebraste.

2E apparelha-te para ámanhã, para que subas pela manhã ao monte de Sinai, e ali põe-te diante de mim no cume do monte.

3E ninguem suba comtigo, e tambem ninguem appareça em todo o monte; nem ovelhas nem bois se apascentem defronte do monte.

4Então elle lavrou duas taboas de pedra, como as primeiras; e levantou-se Moysés pela manhã de madrugada, e subiu ao monte de Sinai, como o Senhor lhe tinha ordenado: e tomou as duas taboas de pedra na sua mão.

5E o Senhor desceu n'uma nuvem, e se poz ali junto a elle: e elle apregoou o nome do Senhor.

6Passando pois o Senhor perante a sua face, clamou: Jehovah o Senhor, Deus misericordioso e piedoso, tardio em iras e grande em beneficencia e verdade;

7Que guarda a beneficencia em milhares; que perdoa a iniquidade, e a transgressão, e o peccado; que o culpado não tem por innocente; que visita a iniquidade dos paes sobre os filhos e sobre os filhos dos filhos até á terceira e quarta geração.

8E Moysés apressou-se, e inclinou a cabeça á terra, encurvou-se,

9E disse: Senhor, se agora tenho achado graça aos teus olhos, vá agora o Senhor no meio de nós: porque este é povo obstinado; porém perdoa a nossa iniquidade e o nosso peccado, e toma-nos pela tua herança.

10Então disse: Eis que eu faço um concerto; farei diante de todo o teu povo maravilhas que nunca foram feitas em toda a terra, nem entre gente alguma: de maneira que todo este povo, em cujo meio tu estás, veja a obra do Senhor; porque coisa terrivel é o que faço comtigo.

11Guarda o que eu te ordeno hoje: eis que eu lançarei fóra diante de ti os amorrheos, e os cananeos, e os hetheos, e os pereseos, e os heveos e os jebuseos.

12Guarda-te que não faças concerto com os moradores da terra aonde has de entrar; para que não seja por laço no meio de ti.

13Mas os seus altares transtornareis, e as suas estatuas quebrareis, e os seus bosques cortareis.

14Porque te não inclinarás diante d'outro deus: pois o nome do Senhor é Zeloso: Deus zeloso é elle:

15Para que não faças concerto com os moradores da terra, e não forniquem após os seus deuses, nem sacrifiquem aos seus deuses, e tu, convidado d'elles, comas dos seus sacrificios,

16E tomes mulheres das suas filhas para os teus filhos, e suas filhas, fornicando após os seus deuses, façam que tambem teus filhos forniquem após os seus deuses.

17Não te farás deuses de fundição.

18A festa dos pães asmos guardarás; sete dias comerás pães asmos, como te tenho ordenado, ao tempo apontado do mez de Abib: porque no mez d'Abib sais-te do Egypto.

19Tudo o que abre a madre meu é, até todo o teu gado, que seja macho, abrindo a madre de vaccas e d'ovelhas;

20O burro porém, que abrir a madre, resgatarás com cordeiro: mas, se o não resgatares, cortar-lhe-has a cabeça: todo o primogenito de teus filhos resgatarás. E ninguem apparecerá vazio diante de mim.

21Seis dias obrarás, mas ao setimo dia descançarás: na aradura e na sega descançarás.

22Tambem guardarás a festa das semanas, que é a festa das primicias da sega do trigo, e a festa da colheita á volta do anno.

23Tres vezes no anno todo o macho entre ti apparecerá perante o Senhor, Jehovah, Deus d'Israel;

24Porque eu lançarei fóra as nações de diante de ti, e alargarei o teu termo: ninguem cubiçará a tua terra, quando subires para apparecer tres vezes no anno diante do Senhor teu Deus.

25Não sacrificarás o sangue do meu sacrificio com pão levedado, nem o sacrificio da festa da paschoa ficará da noite para a manhã.

26As primicias dos primeiros fructos da tua terra trarás á casa do Senhor teu Deus: não cozerás o cabrito no leite de sua mãe

27Disse mais o Senhor a Moysés: Escreve-te estas palavras: porque conforme ao teor d'estas palavras tenho feito concerto comtigo e com Israel.

28E esteve ali com o Senhor quarenta dias e quarenta noites: não comeu pão, nem bebeu agua, e escreveu nas taboas as palavras do concerto, os dez mandamentos.

29E aconteceu que, descendo Moysés do monte Sinai (e Moysés trazia as duas taboas do testemunho em sua mão, quando desceu do monte), Moysés não sabia que a pelle do seu rosto resplandecia, depois que fallara com elle

30Olhando pois Aarão e todos os filhos d'Israel para Moysés, eis que a pelle do seu rosto resplandecia; pelo que temeram de chegar-se a elle.

31Então Moysés os chamou, e Aarão e todos os principes da congregação tornaram-se a elle: e Moysés lhes fallou.

32Depois chegaram tambem todos os filhos d'Israel: e elle lhes ordenou tudo o que o Senhor fallára com elle no monte Sinai.

33Assim acabou Moysés de fallar com elles, e tinha posto um véu sobre o seu rosto.

34Porém, entrando Moysés perante o Senhor, para fallar com elle, tirava o véu até que sahia: e, saido, fallava com os filhos de Israel o que lhe era ordenado.

35Assim pois viam os filhos d'Israel o rosto de Moysés, que resplandecia a pelle do rosto de Moysés: e tornou Moysés a pôr o véu sobre o seu rosto, até que entrava para fallar com elle.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God commands Moses to cut new stone tablets and to go up Mount Sinai again, where he proclaims his own name and character; the covenant is renewed, and Moses' face begins to shine after being in God's presence.

Explanation

This chapter marks the restoration of the covenant broken in the golden calf episode: God, in his mercy, orders new tablets to be prepared, and personally proclaims his own character to Moses in one of the richest descriptions in the whole Old Testament of who God is — 'merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth' (v. 6), a text that would be quoted and echoed repeatedly throughout the rest of Scripture. The renewal of the covenant includes specific instructions to avoid any alliance or marriage with the idolatrous peoples of Canaan, recognizing the real risk of spiritual contamination that cultural closeness could bring. The physical phenomenon of Moses' face shining after his prolonged encounter with God, so much so that he needed to wear a veil before the people, visually symbolizes the transformative and visible effect of genuine, close communion with the divine.

Fun facts

  • The proclamation of God's character in this chapter (v. 6-7), known in Jewish tradition as the 'Thirteen Attributes of Mercy,' became one of the most recited texts in Jewish liturgy, especially during the season of repentance around the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
  • The Hebrew word used to describe Moses' shining face has been interpreted in various ways by ancient translators — Saint Jerome's Latin translation (the Vulgate) used a word that can also mean 'horns,' which influenced medieval works of art, including Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Moses, which depicts him with small horns on his head.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 34:1God tells Moses to prepare new stone tablets to replace the ones he had broken, promising to write on them the same content as the first ones.
  2. Êxodo 34:2It sets a new, exact time and place for the meeting: the next morning, at the same top of Mount Sinai as the first time.
  3. Êxodo 34:3This time the restrictions on access to the mountain are even stricter, forbidding even animals from grazing nearby.
  4. Êxodo 34:4Moses follows the instructions exactly, preparing the tablets and going up early, carrying them himself to the top of the mountain.
  5. Êxodo 34:5God comes down in a cloud, repeating the kind of manifestation already seen in earlier encounters, and proclaims His own name before Moses.
  6. Êxodo 34:6The proclamation of God’s name comes with a list of attributes: merciful, gracious, patient, and abounding in goodness and faithfulness.
  7. Êxodo 34:7This line is often read as saying children are punished for their parents’ sins, but the sense most accepted by scholars is about consequences that repeat—a pattern of behavior or a bad situation that stretches across generations when it isn’t interrupted. It comes right after a description of God as patient and “keeping mercy for thousands” of generations, as the KJV phrases it—a deliberate contrast with this more limited reach of punishment.
  8. Êxodo 34:8Moses’s immediate reaction to this revelation is one of deep reverence, bowing down with his face to the ground.
  9. Êxodo 34:9Moses uses the moment to renew his request that God remain present among the people, acknowledging their stubbornness but asking for forgiveness anyway.
  10. Êxodo 34:10God responds by formalizing a renewed covenant, promising to perform before the people wonders never seen in any other nation on earth.
  11. Êxodo 34:11It repeats the instruction to obey the laws given, linking this directly to the promise to drive the peoples of Canaan out of Israel’s way.
  12. Êxodo 34:12It forbids any formal alliance with the inhabitants of the promised land, warning that this kind of agreement would become a spiritual trap for the people.
  13. Êxodo 34:13It calls for the physical destruction of these peoples’ religious symbols: altars torn down, sacred pillars broken, and cult groves cut down.
  14. Êxodo 34:14“Jealous” here—the KJV calls Him, “the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”—doesn’t carry the ordinary sense of personal envy, but a demand for exclusivity, similar to the commitment expected in a marriage. The idea is that the relationship between God and the people of Israel allowed no division with other gods.
  15. Êxodo 34:15It explains the risk behind any alliance with these peoples: being invited to take part in their religious sacrifices, mixing the worship together.
  16. Êxodo 34:16The risk extends to marriages as well: foreign daughters married to Israelite sons could lead the whole family to worship strange gods.
  17. Êxodo 34:17It repeats, briefly and directly, the central prohibition against making molten metal images for worship.
  18. Êxodo 34:18It returns to the instruction about the feast of unleavened bread, already detailed in earlier chapters, linking it once more to the month of the exodus from Egypt.
  19. Êxodo 34:19It repeats the law that the firstborn—of animals and humans alike—belong to God, a theme already explained in more detail in chapter 13.
  20. Êxodo 34:20The firstborn male of a donkey could not be sacrificed, since it wasn’t an animal accepted for offerings, so it had to be “redeemed”—the KJV says, “the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb”—exchanged for a lamb offered in its place, or else killed. In the same way, the firstborn human son had to be redeemed, meaning an offering was given in his place; the law makes clear human sacrifice was never really an option here.
  21. Êxodo 34:21It reinforces the sabbath commandment, specifying that not even the most urgent periods of the farming calendar—plowing and harvest—justify working on the seventh day.
  22. Êxodo 34:22It mentions the Feast of Weeks, tied to the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, rounding out the festival calendar already seen in chapter 23.
  23. Êxodo 34:23It repeats the requirement that every Israelite man appear before God three times a year, the same obligation already established earlier.
  24. Êxodo 34:24It promises that as long as the people kept these annual pilgrimages, no one would try to invade the land left temporarily undefended during those trips.
  25. Êxodo 34:25It repeats technical rules about sacrifices already seen before: no leavened bread offered with the blood, and nothing left over from the Passover sacrifice until morning.
  26. Êxodo 34:26This is the second time this prohibition appears in Exodus, after 23:19, reinforcing the same rule against cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk. Its repetition suggests it was considered a rule important enough not to be forgotten, even though the text never explains exactly why.
  27. Êxodo 34:27God orders Moses to write these words down, since they form the basis of the renewed covenant between God and Israel after the episode of the calf.
  28. Êxodo 34:28This is Moses’s second forty-day period on the mountain, since the first ended with the episode of the golden calf. Going that long without eating or drinking is described as something out of the ordinary, reinforcing that this second climb was sustained by something beyond a person’s normal physical endurance.
  29. Êxodo 34:29After spending so much time in God’s presence, Moses’s face became visibly radiant, and he himself wasn’t aware of it, only noticing it from the people’s frightened reaction. It’s described as a physical side effect of that close contact, not as something Moses had sought to cause.
  30. Êxodo 34:30Seeing Moses’s radiant face, Aaron and the rest of the people react with fear, hesitating to come near him.
  31. Êxodo 34:31Moses has to actively call them to come closer, and first Aaron and the leaders of the people come to him to talk.
  32. Êxodo 34:32After the leaders, the rest of the people also draw near, and Moses passes on to them all the instructions he received from God on the mountain.
  33. Êxodo 34:33Moses began wearing a veil to cover his face after speaking with the people, probably because the radiance intimidated or unsettled them. The following verses show that he removed the veil whenever he went in to speak with God again, and put it back on when he came out to speak with the people.
  34. Êxodo 34:34Whenever he went in to speak with God, Moses removed the veil, and only covered his face again after coming out to relay the instructions to the people.
  35. Êxodo 34:35This pattern of removing and replacing the veil repeated every time Moses entered and left God’s presence, a cycle that continued for the rest of his leadership.

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