These have a special place as having been written on the tables of stone by 'the finger of God.' Exodus 31:18 . Deuteronomy 10:4 margin reads 'the ten words,' and they are often referred to as the DECALOGUE. They are also called 'the words of the covenant,' in Exodus 34:28 . It was after hearing these ten commandments rehearsed by Moses that the Israelites said to him, "Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it and do it." Deuteronomy 5:27 . The two stones are also called the 'tables of the testimony,' Exodus 34:29 , and they were laid up in the ark of the covenant, Exodus 40:20; 1 Kings 8:9; Hebrews 9:4; over which were the two cherubim as guardians of God's rights together with the mercy-seat.
The giving of the two stones to Israel by God (who, though gracious and merciful, would by no means clear the guilty,) amid a measure of glory is referred to by Paul, when he describes the commandments written in letters thereon as 'the ministration of death;' in contrast to which he speaks of the glory of the ministration of the Spirit (that is, of Christ, for the Lord is that Spirit), and of the ministration of righteousness: it is the story of man's failure, and of God's righteousness available to the believer through Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 .