How do the people commit to the covenant, and who may approach the Lord on the mountain?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The people promise to do all the Lord’s words, hear the book of the covenant and promise obedience; Moses sprinkles the covenant’s blood upon them. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abiu and seventy elders are summoned to adore from afar, but Moses alone may approach the Lord. He later enters the cloud and remains on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Chapter breakdown

How do the people commit to the covenant, and who may approach the Lord on the mountain? The people promise to do all the Lord’s words, hear the book of the covenant and promise obedience; Moses sprinkles the covenant’s blood upon them. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abiu and seventy elders are summoned to adore from afar, but Moses alone may approach the Lord. He later enters the cloud and remains on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Moses is told to come up to the Lord with Aaron, Nadab, Abiu and seventy of Israel’s elders, and they are to adore from afar. Moses alone may come near the Lord. The others must not come near, and the people must not come up with him.

Moses tells the people all the Lord’s words and judgments. They answer with one voice that they will do all the words the Lord has spoken. Moses writes all the Lord’s words. Rising in the morning, he builds an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve “titles,” according to Israel’s twelve tribes.

Challoner’s note explains that “titles” means pillars.

Moses sends young men of the children of Israel. They offer holocausts and sacrifice pacific victims of calves to the Lord.

Challoner’s note explains holocausts as whole burnt offerings: the whole sacrifice is consumed with fire upon the altar.

Moses puts half the blood into bowls and pours the rest upon the altar. He takes the book of the covenant and reads it in the people’s hearing. They promise to do everything the Lord has spoken and to be obedient. He sprinkles the blood upon the people and calls it the blood of the covenant the Lord has made with them concerning all these words.

Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abiu and seventy elders of Israel go up. They see the God of Israel; under his feet is, as it were, a work of sapphire stone, and as the sky when clear. God does not lay his hand upon those of the children of Israel who have withdrawn afar off. They see God and eat and drink.

The Lord tells Moses to come up into the mountain and stay there. He will give him stone tables, the law and the commandments he has written, so Moses may teach them. Moses rises with his minister Josue and goes up into the mountain of God. He tells the elders to wait until they return. Aaron and Hur are with them; any question that arises is to be referred to those two.

When Moses goes up, a cloud covers the mountain. The Lord’s glory dwells upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud for six days. On the seventh day the Lord calls Moses from the midst of the cloud. In the children of Israel’s eyes, the sight of the Lord’s glory is like a burning fire at the mountain’s top. Moses enters the cloud and goes up into the mountain. He stays there forty days and forty nights.

The story inside

The people’s spoken commitment is followed by a written book and covenant blood. Moses first reports all the words and judgments, and the people answer together. He writes the words and, the next morning, builds the altar and twelve tribal pillars. Young men offer the sacrifices. Moses divides the blood between bowls and the altar, reads the book, hears the people’s promise of obedience, and sprinkles them with blood concerning all the covenant’s words. The chapter then follows the different approaches to the mountain: the named leaders and seventy elders go up, see God and eat and drink, while the command reserves the nearest approach to Moses. Called to receive written stone tables, law and commandments for teaching, Moses rises with Josue and tells the elders to wait, referring questions to Aaron and Hur. The cloud covers Sinai for six days before the seventh-day call. Moses enters the cloud and remains forty days and nights. (Exodus 24:1–18.)

Lessons worth keeping

1
The covenant commitment concerns all the Lord’s words. The people first answer Moses’ report, then hear the written book and again promise obedience before he sprinkles them with covenant blood. This sequence keeps the words and the blood together. (24:3–8.)
2
The chapter distinguishes who may approach. Aaron, Nadab, Abiu and seventy elders are called with Moses to adore from afar, while Moses alone may come near. The account of seeing God keeps the sapphire and clear-sky comparisons, rather than explaining how the vision worked. (24:1–2, 9–11.)
3
Moses is to receive the written law and commandments so he can teach them. Before going up, he tells the elders to wait until they return and directs questions to Aaron and Hur. The account then gives six days of cloud, the seventh-day call, and forty days and nights on the mountain. (24:12–18.)

Test your recall

Why is Moses to receive the stone tables, law and commandments? So he may teach them. What response follows the public reading of the book? The people promise to do everything the Lord has spoken and to be obedient. What happens to the two portions of blood? Half goes into bowls; the rest is poured upon the altar, and Moses then sprinkles blood upon the people. Who handles questions while the elders wait? Aaron and Hur. When does the call from the cloud come?

Show answer

On the seventh day, after six days of cloud. (24:6–8, 12–16.)

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 8519–8524
Exodus Chapter 24 Moses writeth his law; and after offering sacrifices, sprinkleth the blood of the testament upon the people: then goeth up the mountain which God covereth with a fiery cloud.
Lines 8525–8531
24:1. And he said to Moses: Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel, and you shall adore afar off. 24:2. And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people come up with him.
Lines 8532–8539
24:3. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice: We will do all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken. 24:4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord: and rising in the morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Lines 8540–8541
Titles.... That is, pillars.
Lines 8542–8544
24:5. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord.
Lines 8545–8547
Holocausts.... Whole burnt offerings, in which the whole sacrifice was consumed with fire upon the altar.
Lines 8548–8558
24:6. Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls; and the rest he poured upon the altar. 24:7. And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people: and they said: All things that the Lord hath spoken, we will do, we will be obedient. 24:8. And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.
Lines 8559–8568
24:9. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel went up: 24:10. And they saw the God of Israel: and under his feet as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as the heaven, when clear. 24:11. Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the children of Israel, that retired afar off, and they saw God, and they did eat and drink.
Lines 8569–8579
24:12. And the Lord said to Moses: Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 24:13. Moses rose up, and his minister Josue: and Moses going up into the mount of God, 24:14. Said to the ancients: Wait ye here till we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you: if any question shall arise, you shall refer it to them.
Lines 8580–8592
24:15. And when Moses was gone up, a cloud covered the mount. 24:16. And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud six days: and the seventh day he called him out of the midst of the cloud. 24:17. And the sight of the glory of the Lord, was like a burning fire upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel. 24:18. And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into the mountain: And he was there forty days and forty nights.