The Covenant Confirmed

Chapter 24

1 But to Moses the Lord said, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,⁠ and seventy of the elders of Israel,⁠ and worship from a distance.⁠ 2 Moses alone may come near the Lord, but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him.” 3 Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said,” 4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones—according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings to the Lord.⁠ 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people,⁠ and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.” 8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people⁠ and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”⁠ 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up,⁠ 10 and they saw the God of Israel.⁠ Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of blue sapphire, clear like the sky itself.⁠ 11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank.⁠ 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written,⁠ so that you may teach them.”⁠ 13 So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you.⁠ Here are Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute can approach them.” 15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord resided on Mount Sinai,⁠ and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.⁠ 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view of the people. 18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 24:10 and Pseudo Jonathan Exodus 24:10

Hebrew Bible · Targum

Summary

Exodus 24 says that Moses and the elders saw the God of Israel, using language that suggests a physical encounter. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan avoids this by specifying that they only saw the Glory of God, not God himself.

Passages

Exodus 24:10

Hebrew Bible

8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of blue sapphire, clear like the sky itself. 11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank. 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.”

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Pseudo Jonathan Exodus 24:10

Targum

And he took the Book of the Covenant of the Law and read before the people; and they said, All the words which the Lord hath spoken we will perform and obey. And Mosheh took half of the blood which was in the basins, and sprinkled upon the altar, to expiate the people, and said, Behold, this is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you upon all these words. And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, went up. And Nadab and Abihu lifted up their eyes, and saw the glory of the God of Israel; and under the footstool of His feet which was placed beneath His throne, was like the work of sapphire stone a memorial of the servitude with which the Mizraee had made the children of Israel to serve in clay and bricks, (what time) there were women treading clay with their husbands; the delicate young woman with child was also there, and made abortive by being beaten down with the clay. And thereof did Gabriel, descending, make brick, and, going up to the heavens on high, set it, a footstool under the cathedra of the Lord of the world whose splendour was as the work of a precious stone, and as the power of the beauty of the heavens when they are clear from clouds.

300–1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Jonathan Exodus

References

"... Pseudo-Jonathan is the only Targum of this verse to specify that Nadab and Abihu (but not Moses) saw the Glory of God; see Exodus Rabbah 3:1; Leviticus Rabbah 20:10; PRK 26; Tanchuma A, Ahare Mot 6. See also Pseudo-Jonathan’s version of verse 11 ... According to Jerusalem Sukkot 4:54c and Leviticus Rabbah 23:8, the pavement, which was a reminder of the harsh slavery of Egypt, disappeared when Israel was redeemed ... Pirke Rabbi Eliezar identified the angel as Michael. Gabriel is mentioned by Pseudo-Jonathan Genesis 37:15; Deuteronomy 32:9; 34:6 ..."

Martin McNamara, Targum Neofiti 1 & Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Exodus, ArBib 2 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994), 231–232.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

The Covenant Confirmed

Exodus40 chapters

Compare Exodus 24:10 and Pseudo Jonathan Exodus 24:10

Summary

Passages

Exodus 24:10

Pseudo Jonathan Exodus 24:10

References

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