Exodus 31:18 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 31:18
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Sinai
סִינַ֔יsi.Nai
H5514
Sinai · proper noun, a place name
two
שְׁנֵ֖יshe.Nei
H8147
two · cardinal number, both genders dual construct
tables
לֻחֹ֣תlu.Chot
H3871
probably meaning to glisten · noun, common feminine plural construct
testimony
הָעֵדֻ֑תha.'e.Dut
H5715
testimony · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
tables
לֻחֹ֣תlu.Chot
H3871
probably meaning to glisten · noun, common feminine plural construct
stone
אֶ֔בֶן'E.ven
H68
a stone · noun, common feminine singular absolute
written
כְּתֻבִ֖יםke.tu.Vim
H3789
to grave · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
finger
בְּאֶצְבַּ֥עbe.'etz.Ba'
H676
something to sieze with · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהִֽים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural 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
Deuteronomy 4:13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
Exodus 32:15-16 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their…
Deuteronomy 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a…
Exodus 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments…
Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LO…
2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the livin…
Exodus 34:1-4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in th…
Exodus 34:28-29 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the word…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 31:12–end
Here is, I. A strict command for the sanctification of the sabbath day, Exo 31:13-17. The law of the sabbath had been given them before any other law, by was of preparation (Exo 16:23); it had been inserted in the body of the moral law, in the fourth commandment; it had been annexed to the judicial law (Exo 23:12); and here it is added to the first part of the ceremonial law, because the observance of the sabbath is indeed the hem and hedge of the whole law; where no conscience is made of that, farewell both godliness and honesty; for, in the moral law, it stands in the midst between the two tables. Some suggest that it comes in here upon another account. Orders were now given that a taberna…
tables of stone, written with the finger of God--containing the ten commandments (Exo 24:12), called "tables of testimony," because God testified His will in them.
Next: Exodus Chapter 32
Adam Clarke on Exodus 31:18
When he had made an end of communing - When the forty days and forty nights were ended.
Two tables of testimony - See Clarke's note on Exo 34:1. Tables of stone - That the record might be lasting, because it was a testimony that referred to future generations, and therefore the materials should be durable.
Written with the finger of God - All the letters cut by God himself. Dr. Winder, in his History of Knowledge, thinks it probable that this was the first writing in alphabetical characters ever exhibited to the world, though there might have been marks or hieroglyphics cut on wood, stone, etc., before this time; see Exo 17:14. That these tables were written, not by the commandment but by th…
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him on Mount Sinai,.... After all those laws, orders, and instructions before related, which having done, he ceased to converse with him any longer in that manner he had, and at parting gave him
two tables of testimony; the two tables of the law, which is a testimony of the will of God, and contained the duty of the Israelites both towards God and man, and are reducible to these two, love to God, and love to our neighbour: five of the commands of the decalogue were written on one table, and five on the other; or it may be rather four on one table, the first being the largest, and containing the duty owing to God, and six on t…
The Church Fathers
This law was "written with the finger of God," and this finger of God the New Testament explicitly identifies with the Holy Spirit. For when one Evangelist has "By the finger of God, I cast out devils," another says this same thing thus: "By the spirit of God, I cast out devils." Who would not have this joy in the divine mysteries, when the redemptive doctrine shines with so clear a light, rather than all the powers of this world though they be infused with unwonted peace and happiness?
Now, to make our statement all the clearer, let us look at the Decalogue itself. It is certain, then, that Moses on the mount received the law, that he might deliver it to the people, written on tables of stone by the finger of God. It is summed up in these ten commandments, in which there is no precept about circumcision, nor anything concerning those animal sacrifices which have ceased to be offered by Christians. Well, now, I should like to be told what there is in these ten commandments, except the observance of the Sabbath, which ought not to be kept by a Christian,—whether it prohibit the making and worshipping of idols and of any other gods than the one true God, or the taking of God's name in vain; or prescribe honour to parents; or give warning against fornication, murder, theft, false witness, adultery, or coveting other men's property? Which of these commandments would any one say that the Christian ought not to keep? Is it possible to contend that it is not the law which was written on those two tables that the apostle describes as "the letter that killeth," but the law of circumcision and the other sacred rites which are now abolished? But then how can we think so, when in the law occurs this precept, "Thou shall not covet," by which very commandment, notwithstanding its being holy, just, and good, "sin," says the apostle, "deceived me, and by it slew me?" What else can this be than "the letter" that "killeth"?
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
Ten Commandments — The popular name in this, as in so many instances, is not that of Scripture. There we have the “TEN WORDS,” (Exodus 34:28; 4:13; 10:4) the ”Covenant,” Ex., Deut. 11. cc.; (1 Kings 8:21; 2 Chronicles…
Decalogue · Written by Go — Written by Go
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Moral law written on tables — Moral law written on tables
Law · .Engraved on stone — .Engraved on stone
Law Of God, The · Given: Through Moses — Given: Through Moses
Mountains · Mentioned in scripture: Sinai — Mentioned in scripture: Sinai
Stones · Commandments engraved upon — Commandments engraved upon
Table · 3. Of testimony — 3. Of testimony
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 31:18
18. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
18. Et dedit Deus Most, quum finem fecisset loquendi cum eo in monte Sinai, duas tabulas Testimonii, tabulas lapideas scriptas digito Dei.
18 And he gave unto Moses. It must be observed, that, after the voice of God had been heard from the midst of the fire, and He had delivered the Ten Commandments, and the form of the tabernacle had been described, and the work had been already finished by the artificers, though its dedication had not yet taken place, Moses was again withdrawn from the sight and intercourse of…
When Moses had received all the instructions respecting the sanctuary to be erected, Jehovah gave him the two tables of testimony-tables of stone, upon which the decalogue was written with the finger of God. It was to receive these tables that he had been called up the mountain (Exo 24:12). According to Exo 32:16, the tables themselves, as well as the writing, were the work of God; and the writing was engraved upon them (חרוּת from חרת = χαράττειν), and the tables were written on both their sides (Exo 32:15). Both the choice of stone as the material for the tables, and the fact that the writing was engraved, were intended to indicate the imperishable duration of these words of God. The divi…
Normally, each party to a covenant received a written copy of the terms of the covenant. So it may be that the two stone tablets were identical, one being God’s copy and the other the people’s copy, to be kept together in the Ark of the Covenant. • finger of God: See 34:28.
Rashi on Exodus 31:18
ויתן אל משה וגו׳ AND HE GAVE UNTO MOSES etc. — There is no “earlier” or “later” (no chronological order) in the events related in the Torah: in fact the incident of the golden calf (related in ch. 32) happened a considerable time before the command regarding the work of the Tabernacle was given (ch. 25 and the following chapters). For on the seventeenth of Tammuz were the Tablets broken (when the people were worshipping the calf) and on the Day of Atonement God became reconciled with Israel (after Moses had prayed 80 days for forgivenness; so that it is very unlikely that the command for the building of the Tabernacle should have been given before that day) and on the next day, the eleventh…
