Exodus 24:2
in Exodus 24Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Moses alone shall come near unto Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him.
KJV
And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
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This verse in Exodus 24
Commentary
5 notes on this verseFor it is not everyone who may draw near to God but only one who, like Moses, can bear the glory of God. Moreover, before this, when the law was first given, the trumpet blasts, and lightnings, and thunders, and darkness, and the smoke of the whole mountain, and the terrible threats that if even a beast touched the mountain it should be stoned, and other like alarms kept back the rest of the people, for whom it was a great privilege, after careful purification, merely to hear the voice of God.
This site's exposition
and worship ye afar off
on Exodus 24:1-2
The summons sets three distances at once. Seventy elders with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu are called up the mountain and told to worship afar off, the people stay below, and Moses alone comes near. Nadab and Abihu are named here among the men who will see God, and named again at Leviticus 10:1-2, where fire goes out from the LORD and kills them for offering strange fire.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Moses alone shall come near the Lord,.... Into the cloud where he was, and talk with him face to face, as a man talketh with his friend; which was great nearness indeed, and a peculiar favour and high honour was this: but they shall not come nigh; Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel: neither shall the people go up with him; not any of them, much less the whole body.
In the following verses, we have the solemn covenant made between God and Israel, and the exchanging of the ratifications; and a very solemn transaction it was, typifying the covenant of grace between God and believers through Christ.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Moses alone shall come near - The people stood at the foot of the mountain. Aaron and his two sons and the seventy elders went up, probably about half way, and Moses alone went to the summit.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
‘COME UP UNTO THE ETERNAL etc.’ “This section was told to Moses before the giving of the Ten Commandments, on the fourth day of Sivan.” This is Rashi’s language.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִגַּ֨שׁ | venigash | and he will draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֤ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| לְבַדּוֹ֙ | levado | to only him | H905 → | 200 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְהֵ֖ם | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִגָּ֑שׁוּ | yigashu | they will draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| וְהָעָ֕ם | vehaam | and the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲל֖וּ | yaalu | they will come up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עִמּֽוֹ׃ | imo | with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
וְנִגַּ֨שׁand he will draw near
venigashH5066 →125 times
מֹשֶׁ֤הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
לְבַדּוֹ֙to only him
levadoH905 →200 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְהֵ֖םand they
vehemH1992 →553 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִגָּ֑שׁוּthey will draw near
yigashuH5066 →125 times
וְהָעָ֕םand the people
vehaamH5971 →1873 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲל֖וּthey will come up
yaaluH5927 →890 times
עִמּֽוֹ׃with him
imoH5973 →1050 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 16:5Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one…
it leads to
- Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the one You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! We are filled with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.
- Numbers 17:5
The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”
- Leviticus 10:3
Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I…
- Psalms 65:4
Through
Exodus 24:15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
it leads to
- Exodus 19:9
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in…
- Exodus 19:9
Through
Exodus 24:18Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:9
When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.…
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 10:10
I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.
- Deuteronomy 9:9
Through
Exodus 24:13So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.
it leads to
- Numbers 11:28
Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
- Numbers 11:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Gregory of Nazianzus, ORATION 2.92; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.