Bible Strands
Exodus 34:29
And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses descends Mount Sinai after forty days and forty nights with the LORD, carrying the two tablets of the Testimony he inscribed. The words — בְּ/רֶ֤דֶת (be./Re.det) means "when he came down," marking the physical descent. לֻחֹ֤ת (lu.Chot) translates to "tablets," identifying the stone objects holding the covenant. The thread — The descent from Sinai connects to Exodus 32:15, while the radiant face prefigures the transfiguration accounts in Matthew 17:2 and Luke 9:29. Why it lands — The text records that Moses did not know his face shone after speaking with God, requiring the observer to notice the visible change before any theological explanation. It demands recognition that divine encounter leaves a physical mark on the mediator.
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 it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
Cross-references
- Matthew 17:2 There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
- Luke 9:29 And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became radiantly white.
- Exodus 32:15 Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
- Revelation 1:16 He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
- 2 Corinthians 3:7 Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,
- 2 Corinthians 3:13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.
- Revelation 10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.
- Acts 6:15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
- John 5:13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
- Acts 12:9 So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision.