Éxodo 34

VBL · Chapter 34/40

1El Señor le dijo a Moisés: “Corta dos tablas de piedra como las primeras, y escribiré en ellas de nuevo las mismas palabras que estaban en las primeras tablas, las que tú rompiste.

2Prepárate por la mañana, y luego sube al Monte Sinaí. Ponte delante de mí en la cima de la montaña.

3Nadie más puede subir contigo. No quiero ver a nadie en ningún lugar de la montaña, y ningún rebaño o manada debe pastar al pie de la montaña”.

4Entonces Moisés cortó dos tablas de piedra como las anteriores y subió al monte Sinaí por la mañana temprano como el Señor le había ordenado, llevando consigo las dos tablas de piedra.

5El Señor descendió en una nube, se puso de pie con él, y llamó el nombre “Yahvé”.

6El Señor pasó por delante de él, gritando: “¡Yahvé! Yahvé! ¡Soy el Dios de la gracia y la misericordia! Soy lento para enojarme, lleno de amor eterno, siempre fiel.

7Sigo mostrando mi amor fiel a miles de personas, perdonando la culpa, la rebelión y el pecado. Pero no dejaré a los culpables impunes, el impacto del pecado afectará no sólo a los padres, sino también a sus hijos y nietos, hasta la tercera y cuarta generación”.

8Moisés se inclinó rápidamente hasta el suelo y adoró.

9Dijo: “Señor, si es verdad que eres feliz conmigo, por favor acompáñanos. Es cierto que este es un pueblo rebelde, pero por favor perdona nuestra culpa y nuestro pecado. Acéptanos como algo que te pertenece especialmente”.

10El Señor dijo: “Verás que estoy haciendo un pacto contigo. Frente a todos ustedes haré milagros que nunca se han hecho, ni entre nadie en ningún lugar de la tierra. Todos aquí y los que están alrededor verán al Señor trabajando, porque lo que voy a hacer por ustedes será increíble.

11Pero deben seguir cuidadosamente lo que les digo que hagan hoy. ¡Presten atención! Voy a expulsar delante de ustedes a los amorreos, cananeos, hititas, ferezeos, heveos y jebuseos.

12Asegúrense de no acordar un tratado de paz con el pueblo que habite en la tierra a la que van. De lo contrario, se convertirán en una trampa para ustedes.

13Porque deben derribar sus altares, derribar sus pilares idólatras y cortar sus postes de Asera,

14porque no debes adorar a ningún otro dios que no sea el Señor. Su nombre significa exclusivo, porque es un Dios que exige una relación exclusiva.

15“Asegúrense de no hacer un acuerdode paz con el pueblo que habita enesa tierra, porque cuando se prostituyen adorando y sacrificándose a sus dioses, los invitarán a unirse a ellos, y comerás de sus sacrificios paganos.

16Cuando hagas que sus hijas se casen con tus hijos y esas hijas se prostituyan con sus dioses, harán que tus hijos adoren a sus dioses de la misma manera.

17Nohagan ningún ídolo.

18“Guardarán el Festival de los Panes sin Levadura. Durante siete días comerán panes sin levadura, como se los he ordenado. Lo harán en el momento indicado en el mes de Abib, porque ese fue el mes en que salieron de Egipto.

19Todo primogénito es mío. Eso incluye a todos los primogénitos de su ganado, de sus manadas y rebaños.

20Pueden redimir el primogénito de un asnoa cambio de un cordero, pero si no lo hacen, deberán romperle el cuello. Todos tus primogénitos deben ser redimidos. Nadie debe presentarse ante mí sin una ofrenda.

21Trabajarás durante seis días, pero descansarás el séptimo día. Incluso durante el tiempo de la siembra y la cosecha descansarás.

22“Guarden el Festival de las Semanas cuando ofrezcan las primicias de la cosecha de trigo, y el Festival de la Cosecha al final del año agrícola.

23Tres veces al año todos tus varones deben presentarse ante el Señor Yahvé, el Dios de Israel.

24Expulsaré las naciones que están delante de ti y ampliaré tus fronteras, y nadie vendrá a tomar tu tierra cuando vayas tres veces al año a presentarte ante el Señor tu Dios.

25No ofrezcas pan hecho con levadura cuando me presentes un sacrificio, ni guardes ningún sacrificio de la fiesta de la Pascua hasta la mañana siguiente.

26Cuando oseches tus cosechas, llevalas primicias a la casa del Señor tu Dios.

27Entonces el Señor le dijo a Moisés: “Escribe estas palabras, porque son la base del acuerdo que he hecho contigo y con Israel”.

28Moisés pasó allí cuarenta días y cuarenta noches con el Señor sin comer pan ni beber agua. Escribió en las tablas las palabras del acuerdo, los Diez Mandamientos.

29Cuando Moisés bajó del Monte Sinaí llevando las dos tablas de la Ley, no se dio cuenta de que su rostro brillaba con fuerza porque había estado hablando con el Señor.

30Cuando Aarón y los israelitas vieron a Moisés con su rostro tan brillante que se asustaron al acercarse a él.

31Pero Moisés los llamó, así que Aarón y todos los líderes de la comunidad se acercaron a él y él habló con ellos.

32Después todos los israelitas se acercaron y él les dio todas las instrucciones del Señor que había recibido en el Monte Sinaí.

33Cuando Moisés terminó de hablar con ellos, se puso un velo sobre su rostro.

34Sin embargo, cada vez que Moisés entraba a hablar con el Señor, se quitaba el velo hasta que volvía a salir. Entonces les decía a los israelitas las instrucciones del Señor,

35y los israelitas veían su rostro brillar con fuerza. Así que se ponía el velo en la cara hasta la próxima vez que fuera a hablar con el Señor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God commands Moses to cut new stone tablets and to go up Mount Sinai again, where he proclaims his own name and character; the covenant is renewed, and Moses' face begins to shine after being in God's presence.

Explanation

This chapter marks the restoration of the covenant broken in the golden calf episode: God, in his mercy, orders new tablets to be prepared, and personally proclaims his own character to Moses in one of the richest descriptions in the whole Old Testament of who God is — 'merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth' (v. 6), a text that would be quoted and echoed repeatedly throughout the rest of Scripture. The renewal of the covenant includes specific instructions to avoid any alliance or marriage with the idolatrous peoples of Canaan, recognizing the real risk of spiritual contamination that cultural closeness could bring. The physical phenomenon of Moses' face shining after his prolonged encounter with God, so much so that he needed to wear a veil before the people, visually symbolizes the transformative and visible effect of genuine, close communion with the divine.

Fun facts

  • The proclamation of God's character in this chapter (v. 6-7), known in Jewish tradition as the 'Thirteen Attributes of Mercy,' became one of the most recited texts in Jewish liturgy, especially during the season of repentance around the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
  • The Hebrew word used to describe Moses' shining face has been interpreted in various ways by ancient translators — Saint Jerome's Latin translation (the Vulgate) used a word that can also mean 'horns,' which influenced medieval works of art, including Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Moses, which depicts him with small horns on his head.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Éxodo 34:1God tells Moses to prepare new stone tablets to replace the ones he had broken, promising to write on them the same content as the first ones.
  2. Éxodo 34:2It sets a new, exact time and place for the meeting: the next morning, at the same top of Mount Sinai as the first time.
  3. Éxodo 34:3This time the restrictions on access to the mountain are even stricter, forbidding even animals from grazing nearby.
  4. Éxodo 34:4Moses follows the instructions exactly, preparing the tablets and going up early, carrying them himself to the top of the mountain.
  5. Éxodo 34:5God comes down in a cloud, repeating the kind of manifestation already seen in earlier encounters, and proclaims His own name before Moses.
  6. Éxodo 34:6The proclamation of God’s name comes with a list of attributes: merciful, gracious, patient, and abounding in goodness and faithfulness.
  7. Éxodo 34:7This line is often read as saying children are punished for their parents’ sins, but the sense most accepted by scholars is about consequences that repeat—a pattern of behavior or a bad situation that stretches across generations when it isn’t interrupted. It comes right after a description of God as patient and “keeping mercy for thousands” of generations, as the KJV phrases it—a deliberate contrast with this more limited reach of punishment.
  8. Éxodo 34:8Moses’s immediate reaction to this revelation is one of deep reverence, bowing down with his face to the ground.
  9. Éxodo 34:9Moses uses the moment to renew his request that God remain present among the people, acknowledging their stubbornness but asking for forgiveness anyway.
  10. Éxodo 34:10God responds by formalizing a renewed covenant, promising to perform before the people wonders never seen in any other nation on earth.
  11. Éxodo 34:11It repeats the instruction to obey the laws given, linking this directly to the promise to drive the peoples of Canaan out of Israel’s way.
  12. Éxodo 34:12It forbids any formal alliance with the inhabitants of the promised land, warning that this kind of agreement would become a spiritual trap for the people.
  13. Éxodo 34:13It calls for the physical destruction of these peoples’ religious symbols: altars torn down, sacred pillars broken, and cult groves cut down.
  14. Éxodo 34:14“Jealous” here—the KJV calls Him, “the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”—doesn’t carry the ordinary sense of personal envy, but a demand for exclusivity, similar to the commitment expected in a marriage. The idea is that the relationship between God and the people of Israel allowed no division with other gods.
  15. Éxodo 34:15It explains the risk behind any alliance with these peoples: being invited to take part in their religious sacrifices, mixing the worship together.
  16. Éxodo 34:16The risk extends to marriages as well: foreign daughters married to Israelite sons could lead the whole family to worship strange gods.
  17. Éxodo 34:17It repeats, briefly and directly, the central prohibition against making molten metal images for worship.
  18. Éxodo 34:18It returns to the instruction about the feast of unleavened bread, already detailed in earlier chapters, linking it once more to the month of the exodus from Egypt.
  19. Éxodo 34:19It repeats the law that the firstborn—of animals and humans alike—belong to God, a theme already explained in more detail in chapter 13.
  20. Éxodo 34:20The firstborn male of a donkey could not be sacrificed, since it wasn’t an animal accepted for offerings, so it had to be “redeemed”—the KJV says, “the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb”—exchanged for a lamb offered in its place, or else killed. In the same way, the firstborn human son had to be redeemed, meaning an offering was given in his place; the law makes clear human sacrifice was never really an option here.
  21. Éxodo 34:21It reinforces the sabbath commandment, specifying that not even the most urgent periods of the farming calendar—plowing and harvest—justify working on the seventh day.
  22. Éxodo 34:22It mentions the Feast of Weeks, tied to the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, rounding out the festival calendar already seen in chapter 23.
  23. Éxodo 34:23It repeats the requirement that every Israelite man appear before God three times a year, the same obligation already established earlier.
  24. Éxodo 34:24It promises that as long as the people kept these annual pilgrimages, no one would try to invade the land left temporarily undefended during those trips.
  25. Éxodo 34:25It repeats technical rules about sacrifices already seen before: no leavened bread offered with the blood, and nothing left over from the Passover sacrifice until morning.
  26. Éxodo 34:26This is the second time this prohibition appears in Exodus, after 23:19, reinforcing the same rule against cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk. Its repetition suggests it was considered a rule important enough not to be forgotten, even though the text never explains exactly why.
  27. Éxodo 34:27God orders Moses to write these words down, since they form the basis of the renewed covenant between God and Israel after the episode of the calf.
  28. Éxodo 34:28This is Moses’s second forty-day period on the mountain, since the first ended with the episode of the golden calf. Going that long without eating or drinking is described as something out of the ordinary, reinforcing that this second climb was sustained by something beyond a person’s normal physical endurance.
  29. Éxodo 34:29After spending so much time in God’s presence, Moses’s face became visibly radiant, and he himself wasn’t aware of it, only noticing it from the people’s frightened reaction. It’s described as a physical side effect of that close contact, not as something Moses had sought to cause.
  30. Éxodo 34:30Seeing Moses’s radiant face, Aaron and the rest of the people react with fear, hesitating to come near him.
  31. Éxodo 34:31Moses has to actively call them to come closer, and first Aaron and the leaders of the people come to him to talk.
  32. Éxodo 34:32After the leaders, the rest of the people also draw near, and Moses passes on to them all the instructions he received from God on the mountain.
  33. Éxodo 34:33Moses began wearing a veil to cover his face after speaking with the people, probably because the radiance intimidated or unsettled them. The following verses show that he removed the veil whenever he went in to speak with God again, and put it back on when he came out to speak with the people.
  34. Éxodo 34:34Whenever he went in to speak with God, Moses removed the veil, and only covered his face again after coming out to relay the instructions to the people.
  35. Éxodo 34:35This pattern of removing and replacing the veil repeated every time Moses entered and left God’s presence, a cycle that continued for the rest of his leadership.

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