Exodus 34:10-26

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 34:10-17

Reconciliation being made, a covenant of friendship is here settled between God and Israel. The traitors are not only pardoned, but preferred and made favourites again. Well may the assurances of this be ushered in with a behold, a word commanding attention and admiration: Behold, I make a covenant. When the covenant was broken, it was Israel that broke it; now that it comes to be renewed, it is God that makes it. If there be quarrels, we must bear all the blame; if there be peace, God must... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:10

And he said, behold, I will make a covenant ,.... Or renew the covenant before made the people had broke; which on his part was, that he would, as Moses had entreated, forgive the sin of the people, go along with them, and introduce them into the land of Canaan, and drive out the inhabitants of it before them; and, on their part, that they should avoid idolatry, and everything that led unto it, particularly making covenants, and entering into alliances with the idolatrous nations cast out: ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:11

Observe thou that which I command thee this day ,.... Which words are either said to Moses personally, as Aben Ezra thinks, as a direction to him to observe what had been said to him, and declare them to the children of Israel; or rather to the children of Israel, and respect the commands which are afterwards delivered out to be observed by them in the following verses; and what is expressed in the next clause is such as was not done by the ministry of Moses, nor in his time: behold, I... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:12

Take heed to thyself ,.... This is said not to Moses, but to the people of Israel, as a caution to them when they should enter the land of Canaan, and possess it: lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest : enter into a league and alliance, to live friendly and amicably, and support and assist each other against the common enemy; whereas they were to smite the seven nations and destroy them, and show them no mercy, Deuteronomy 7:1 . lest it be for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:13

But ye shall destroy their altars ,.... On which they had sacrificed to their idols; since, if they were allowed to continue, they might be temptations to offer sacrifice thereon, contrary to the command of God: break their images : of gold or silver, wood or stone, which they made for themselves, and worshipped as deities; seeing if these continued, the sight of them might lead to the worship of them, and so bring under the divine displeasure, as a breach of the command of God given... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:14

For thou shall worship no other god ,.... Than the Lord their God, the one only living and true God, which was the first command given to the people of Israel, and binding upon all men: for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God ; his name and nature answer to one another; he admits of no rival or competitor in worship; he will not give his glory to another god, or one so called, nor his praise to graven images; and in this he is distinguished from all nominal and fictitious... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:15

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land ,.... A marriage covenant, taking their daughters in marriage to their sons, and "vice versa", as the following words show; here the caution is to be understood and the words supplied from Exodus 34:12 and inserted and connected thus, "take heed to thyself, lest thou make", &c.; and they go a whoring after their gods ; that is, the inhabitants of the land, and particularly those with whom the Israelites made a covenant, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:16

And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons ,.... That is, marry them to them, which explains what is meant by making a covenant with them, entering into such a near relation, and joining families, and thus intermixing with one another: and their daughters go a whoring after their gods ; the worship of whom they have been trained up in from their infancy, and therefore hanker after them, and commit whoredom in a spiritual sense with them: and make thy sons go a whoring after their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 34:17

Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. Made of a melted liquid, whether gold, or silver, or brass, poured into a mould; and though graven images are not mentioned, they are included, a part being put for the whole, as appears not only from the injunction to break images in general, whether graven or molten, Exodus 34:13 but from the second command, which expressly forbids the making and worshipping of them; but "molten" ones are particularly mentioned, because it is probable they were... read more

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