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Exodus 24:9

in Exodus 24

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

KJV

Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

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This verse in Exodus 24

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
It would appear that Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and seventy of the elders Exo 19:7 went a short distance up the mountain to eat the meal of the covenant (compare Gen 31:43-47), which must have consisted of the flesh of the peace offerings Exo 24:5. Joshua accompanied Moses as his servant Exo 24:13.

This site's exposition

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu

on Exodus 24:9-10

Seventy-four men go up, and the text says plainly that “they saw the God of Israel”. What it then describes is the pavement “made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself,” with no form and no face.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,.... After the above things were done, the words of the Lord were told the people, and the book of the covenant read unto them, to which they agreed, sacrifices were offered, and the blood of them sprinkled on the altar, and on the people. The Samaritan version adds to these, Eleazar and Ithamar, the two younger sons of Aaron: and seventy of the elders of Israel, who were called up to the mountain to the Lord, Exo 24:1.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Nadab, and Abihu--the two oldest sons of Aaron [Ex 6:23]. seventy of the elders--a select number; what was the principle of selection is not said; but they were the chief representatives, the most conspicuous for official rank and station, as well as for their probity and weight of character in their respective tribes.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “They saw Him in a prophetic vision, this being similar to the verse: I saw the Eternal standing beside the altar. 529 Amos:1. — And there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Exodus 24:10:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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

8 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיַּ֥עַלand he went up

    vaiyaalH5927 →890 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֖הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • וְאַהֲרֹ֑ןand Aaron

    veaharonH175 →347 times

  • נָדָב֙Nadab

    nadavH5070 →20 times

  • וַאֲבִיה֔וּאand Abihu

    vaavihu'H30 →12 times

  • וְשִׁבְעִ֖יםand seventy

    veshivimH7657 →91 times

  • מִזִּקְנֵ֥יof [the] elders of

    mizikneiH2205 →178 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 11:16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.6 worksLeviticus 10:1Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.5 worksExodus 6:23And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.3 worksExodus 28:1“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.2 works1 Chronicles 24:2But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.2 worksEzekiel 8:11Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 24:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.2 worksLeviticus 4:15The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD.2 worksExodus 19:24And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 24:1

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 11:16

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them…

    • Exodus 6:23

      And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

    • Leviticus 10:1–2

      Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.

    • Exodus 19:24

      And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”

    • Exodus 28:1

      “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 24 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 24 →