Bible Strands
Exodus 34:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks to Moses, commanding him to prepare for an ascent to Mount Sinai. The text places this command sequentially after the breaking of the first tablets, noting it follows the prior events without specifying an immediate timeframe.
The words — פְּסָל (pe.sol) means "cut out" or "chisel," and לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים (lu.chot a.vanim) denotes "stone tablets." These terms specify the physical preparation required for the new covenant documents.
The thread — This command parallels the initial giving of the tablets in Exodus 31:18 and echoes Moses' later recollection of the same instruction in Deuteronomy 10:1. The narrative also references the prior destruction of the first set in Exodus 32:19.
Why it lands — The text requires Moses to physically prepare new stone tablets so the LORD can inscribe the original words. The reader must recognize the command as a directive for tangible restoration rather than a spontaneous renewal.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:19 As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- Exodus 31:18 When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
- Deuteronomy 10:1 At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
- Psalms 119:89 Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens.
- Exodus 34:28 So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
- Exodus 32:16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
- Deuteronomy 9:15 So I went back down the mountain while it was blazing with fire, with the two tablets of the covenant in my hands.