Exodus 32:16

Good News Translation

God himself had made the tablets and had engraved the commandments on them.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.

King James Version
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

Lexham English Bible
And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

New Century Version
God himself had made the tablets, and God himself had written the commands on the tablets.

New English Translation
Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Amplified Bible
The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

New American Standard Bible
The tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And these Tables were the worke of God, and this writing was the writing of God grauen in the Tables.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

Complete Jewish Bible
The tablets were the work of God; and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Darby Translation
And the tables [were] God's work, and the writing was God's writing, engraven on the tables.

Easy-to-Read Version
God himself made the stones, and God himself wrote the commandments on them.

English Standard Version
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

George Lamsa Translation
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.

Christian Standard Bible®
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.

Literal Translation
And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God; it was engraved on the tablets.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and were Gods worke, & the wrytinge was the wrytinge of God therin.

American Standard Version
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

Bible in Basic English
The stones were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, cut on the stones.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the same tables were written in both the leaues, [euen] on the one side, & on the other, were they written: And these tables were the worke of God, and the writing was the writing of God, grauen in the tables.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

King James Version (1611)
And the Tables were the worke of God; and the writing was the writing of God, grauen vpon the Tables.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing the writing of God written on the tables.

English Revised Version
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

Berean Standard Bible
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and maad bi the werk of God; and the writyng of God was grauun in tablis.

Young's Literal Translation
and the tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.

Update Bible Version
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the tables [were] the work of God, and the writing [was] the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

World English Bible
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.

New King James Version
Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

New Living Translation
These tablets were God's work; the words on them were written by God himself.

New Life Bible
The stone writings were God's work. The writing was God's writing cut into the stones.

New Revised Standard
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now as for, the tables, the work of God, they were, - and, as for the writing, the writing of God, it was, graven upon the tables.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And made by the work of God; the writing also of God was graven in the tables.

Revised Standard Version
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ Moses went back down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets with the commandments written on both sides. ¹⁶ God himself had made the tablets and had engraved the commandments on them. ¹⁷ Joshua heard the people shouting and said to Moses, "I hear the sound of battle in the camp." ¹⁸ Moses said, "That doesn't sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it's the sound of singing." ¹⁹ When Moses came close enough to the camp to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing, he became furious. There at the foot of the mountain, he threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them. ²⁰ He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Exodus 31:18, Exodus 34:1, Exodus 34:4, Deuteronomy 9:9-11, Deuteronomy 9:15, Deuteronomy 10:1, 2 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 3:7, Hebrews 8:10

Reciprocal: Exodus 24:12 - tables Exodus 34:28 - he wrote Deuteronomy 9:8 - Also in Horeb 2 Chronicles 5:10 - save Job 19:24 - graven

Cross-References

Genesis 32:8
He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks the first group, the other may be able to escape."

Genesis 32:9
Then Jacob prayed, "God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac, hear me! You told me, Lord , to go back to my land and to my relatives, and you would make everything go well for me.

Genesis 32:20
You must say, ‘Yes, your servant Jacob is right behind us.'" Jacob was thinking, "I will win him over with the gifts, and when I meet him, perhaps he will forgive me."

Psalms 112:5
Happy is the person who is generous with his loans, who runs his business honestly.

Proverbs 2:11
Your insight and understanding will protect you

Isaiah 28:26
They know how to do their work, because God has taught them.

Matthew 10:16
"Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the tables were the work of God,.... And not of angels or men; the stones were made and formed by God into the shape they were:

and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables; the letters in which the law was written were of his framing, devising, and engraving; and this was to show that this law was his own, and contained his mind and will; and to give the greater dignity and authority to it, and to deter men from breaking it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord’s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in consequence of his natural disposition. See Numbers 12:3; and compare Exodus 3:11. With this trial of Moses repeated in a very similar manner Numbers 14:11-23, may be compared the trial of Abraham Genesis 22:0 and of our Saviour Matthew 4:8-10.

Exodus 32:8

These be thy gods ... have brought - This is thy god, O Israel, who has brought ...

Exodus 32:10

Let me alone - But Moses did not let the Lord alone; he wrestled, as Jacob had done, until, like Jacob, he obtained the blessing Genesis 32:24-29.

Exodus 32:14

This states a fact which was not revealed to Moses until after his second intercession when he had come down from the mountain and witnessed the sin of the people Exodus 32:30-34. He was then assured that the Lord’s love to His ancient people would prevail God is said, in the language of Scripture, to “repent,” when His forgiving love is seen by man to blot out the letter of His judgments against sin (2 Samuel 24:16; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:10, etc.); or when the sin of man seems to human sight to have disappointed the purposes of grace (Gen 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:35, etc.). The awakened conscience is said to “repent,” when, having felt its sin, it feels also the divine forgiveness: it is at this crisis that God, according to the language of Scripture, repents toward the sinner. Thus, the repentance of God made known in and through the One true Mediator reciprocates the repentance of the returning sinner, and reveals to him atonement.

Exodus 32:17-18

Moses does not tell Joshua of the divine communication that had been made to him respecting the apostasy of the people, but only corrects his impression by calling his attention to the kind of noise which they are making.

Exodus 32:19

Though Moses had been prepared by the revelation on the Mount, his righteous indignation was stirred up beyond control when the abomination was before his eyes.

Exodus 32:20

See Deuteronomy 9:21. What is related in this verse must have occupied some time and may have followed the rebuke of Aaron. The act was symbolic, of course. The idol was brought to nothing and the people were made to swallow their own sin (compare Micah 7:13-14).

Exodus 32:22

Aaron’s reference to the character of the people, and his manner of stating what he had done Exo. 5:24, are very characteristic of the deprecating language of a weak mind.

Exodus 32:23

Make us gods - Make us a god.

Exodus 32:25

Naked - Rather unruly, or “licentious”.

Shame among their enemies - Compare Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4; Deuteronomy 28:37.

Exodus 32:26-29

The tribe of Levi, Moses’ own tribe, now distinguished itself by immediately returning to its allegiance and obeying the call to fight on the side of Yahweh. We need not doubt that the 3,000 who were slain were those who persisted in resisting Moses. The spirit of the narrative forbids us to conceive that the act of the Levites was anything like an indiscriminate massacre. An amnesty had first been offered to all by the words: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Those who were forward to draw the sword were directed not to spare their closest relations or friends; but this must plainly have been with an understood qualification as regards the conduct of those who were to be slain. Had it not been so, they who were on the Lord’s side would have had to destroy each other. We need not stumble at the bold, simple way in which the statement is made.

Exodus 32:29

Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord ... - The margin contains the literal rendering. Our version gives the most probable meaning of the Hebrew, and is supported by the best authority. The Levites were to prove themselves in a special way the servants of Yahweh, in anticipation of their formal consecration as ministers of the sanctuary (compare Deuteronomy 10:8), by manifesting a self-sacrificing zeal in carrying out the divine command, even upon their nearest relatives.

Exodus 32:31

Returned unto the Lord - i. e. again he ascended the mountain.

Gods of gold - a god of gold.

Exodus 32:32

For a similar form of expression, in which the conclusion is left to be supplied by the mind of the reader, see Daniel 3:15; Luke 13:9; Luke 19:42; John 6:62; Romans 9:22. For the same thought, see Romans 9:3. It is for such as Moses and Paul to realize, and to dare to utter, their readiness to be wholly sacrificed for the sake of those whom God has entrusted to their love. This expresses the perfected idea of the whole burnt-offering.

Thy book - The figure is taken from the enrolment of the names of citizens. This is its first occurrence in the Scriptures. See the marginal references. and Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, etc.

Exodus 32:33, Exodus 32:34

Each offender was to suffer for his own sin. Compare Exodus 20:5; Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20. Moses was not to be taken at his word. He was to fulfill his appointed mission of leading on the people toward the land of promise.

Exodus 32:34

Mine Angel shall go before thee - See the marginal references and Genesis 12:7.

In the day when I visit ... - Compare Numbers 14:22-24. But though the Lord chastized the individuals, He did not take His blessing from the nation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 32:16. The tables were the work of God — Because such a law could proceed from none but himself; God alone is the fountain and author of LAW, of what is right, just, holy, and good. See the meaning of the word LAW, Exodus 12:49. Exodus 12:49.

The writing was the writing of God — For as he is the sole author of law and justice, so he alone can write them on the heart of man. This is agreeable to the spirit of the new covenant which God had promised to make with men in the latter days: I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel - I will PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS, Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10; 2 Corinthians 3:3. That the writing of these tables was the writing of God, see proved at the conclusion of the last chapter.