Exodus 24:10

And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
saw	וַיִּרְא֕וּ vai.yir.'U	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
God	אֱלֹהֵ֣י 'e.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
feet	רַגְלָ֗יו rag.Lav	H7272	a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
paved	לִבְנָה libnâh	H3840	properly
work	כְּמַעֲשֵׂה֙ ke.ma.'a.Seh	H4639	an action (good or bad) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
stone	הַסַּפִּ֔יר ha.sa.Pir	H5601	a gem (perhaps used for scratching other substances) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
body	וּכְעֶ֥צֶם u.khe.'E.tzem	H6106	a bone (as strong) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
heaven	הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם ha.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
clearness	לָטֹֽהַר la.To.har	H2892	literally brightness · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Ezekiel 10:1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone,…
Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Exodus 33:23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Ezekiel 1:26-28 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness…
Isaiah 6:1-5 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
1 Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and p…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 24:9-11

The people having, besides their submission to the ceremony of the sprinkling of blood, declared their well-pleasedness in their God and his law, again and again, God here gives to their representatives some special tokens of his favour to them (for God meets him that rejoices and works righteousness), and admits them nearer to him than they could have expected. Thus, in the New Testament church, we find the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, honoured with places round the throne, being redeemed unto God by the blood of the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, Rev 4:4, Rev 4:6; Rev 5:8, Rev 5:9. Observe, 1. They saw the God of Israel (Exo 24:10), that is, they had so…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 24:10

And they saw the God of Israel--That there was no visible form or representation of the divine nature, we have expressly intimated (Deu 4:15). But a symbol or emblem of His glory was distinctly, and at a distance, displayed before those chosen witnesses. Many think, however, that in this private scene was discovered, amid the luminous blaze, the faint adumbrated form of the humanity of Christ (Eze 1:26; compare Gal 3:24). sapphire--one of the most valuable and lustrous of the precious gems--of a sky-blue or light azure color and frequently chosen to describe the throne of God (see Eze 1:26; Eze 10:1).

Adam Clarke on Exodus 24:10

They saw the God of Israel - The seventy elders, who were representatives of the whole congregation, were chosen to witness the manifestation of God, that they might be satisfied of the truth of the revelation which he had made of himself and of his will; and on this occasion it was necessary that the people also should be favored with a sight of the glory of God; see Exo 20:18. Thus the certainty of the revelation was established by many witnesses, and by those especially of the most competent kind. A paved work of a sapphire stone - Or sapphire brick-work. I suppose that something of the Musive or Mosaic pavement is here intended; floors most curiously inlaid with variously coloured stones…

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The Church Fathers

Moses, of course, might be thought to have seen God with bodily eyes, if not only the Wisdom of God which is Christ but even the wisdom itself … [which] can be seen with the eyes of the flesh, or because it is written of the elders of Israel that "they beheld the place where the God of Israel had stood" and that there was "under his feet as it were a work of sapphire stone and a likeness of the firmament of heaven." We might therefore be led to imagine that the Word and the Wisdom of God, who extends from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly, stood in his own substance within the space of an earthly place. And thus the Word of God, through whom all things were made, is thought changeable so that now he draws himself together and now he expands. May God cleanse the hearts of his faithful from such thoughts! But, as we have often declared, all these visible and tangible signs were displayed through a creature that has been made subject, in order to signify the invisible and intelligible God, not only the Father but also the Son and the Holy Spirit, from whom are all things, through whom are all things, and in whom are all things. Since the creation of the world, the invisible attributes of God, his everlasting power also and divinity, are seen, being understood through the things that are made.
— Augustine of Hippo, THE TRINITY 2.15.25

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Aaron — The eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before…
Sapphire — Associated with diamonds (Ex. 28:18) and emeralds (Ezek. 28:13); one of the stones in the high priest’s breastplate. It is a precious stone of a sky-blue colour, probably the lapis lazuli, brought…
Aaron · Summoned to Sinai with Nadab, Abihu, and seventy el — Summoned to Sinai with Nadab, Abihu, and seventy el
Colors · B — B
God · .To Moses, at Sinai — .To Moses, at Sinai
Nadab · . — .
Precious Stones · Mentioned in scripture: Sapphire — Mentioned in scripture: Sapphire
Vision · .Of the glory of Go — .Of the glory of Go

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 24:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 24:9-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 24:10

Adam Clarke on Exodus 24:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 24:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 24:9-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 24:10

Adam Clarke on Exodus 24:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 24:10

John Calvin on Exodus 24:9-10

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 24:9-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 24:10

Rashi on Exodus 24:10