Matthew Henry on Exodus 34:18-27
Here is a repetition of several appointments made before, especially relating to their solemn feasts. When they had made the calf, they proclaimed a feast in honour of it; now, that they might never do so again, they are here charged with the observance of the feasts which God had instituted. Note, Men need not be drawn from their religion by the temptation of mirth, for we serve a Master that has abundantly provided for the joy of his servants: serious godliness is a continual feast, and joy in God always.
I. Once a week they must rest (Exo 34:21), even in earing time, and in harvest, the most busy times of the year. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; harvest-work will pr…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 34:27
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words--that is, the ceremonial and judicial injunctions comprehended above (Exo. 34:11-26); while the rewriting of the ten commandments on the newly prepared slabs was done by God Himself (compare Deu 10:1-4).
Adam Clarke on Exodus 34:27
Write thou these words - Either a transcript of the whole law now delivered, or the words included from Exo 34:11 to Exo 34:26. God certainly wrote the ten words on both sets of tables. Moses either wrote a transcript of these and the accompanying precepts for the use of the people, or he wrote the precepts themselves in addition to the ten commandments which were written by the finger of God. See Clarke on Exo 34:1 (note). Allowing this mode of interpretation, the accompanying precepts were, probably, what was written on the back side of the tables by Moses; the ten commandments, what were written on the front by the finger of Jehovah: for we must pay but little attention to the supposition…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Exodus 34:27
And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Being still with him on the mount:
write thou these words; expressed in the preceding verses, from Exodus 34:11, as he before had written in a book all those laws, contained in Exodus 21:1 called the book of the covenant, Exodus 24:4 and which perhaps might be destroyed, as well as the two tables were broken; and therefore upon the renewal of the covenant here, there is a repetition made of the principal laws before given, which are ordered also to be written in a book, which may very well be called by the same name, since it follows:
for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel, with Moses, as their representative an…
