Commentary on Exodus 34: Covenant Renewal, Worship, and God’s Glory

Bible Commentary

Commentary on Exodus 34: Covenant Renewal, Worship, and God’s Glory

Exodus 34 · King James Version

Quick Answer: This commentary on exodus 34 shows God renewing the covenant after Israel’s failure, proclaiming His character, and giving worship and community commandments. Moses’ face shines because he has been with the LORD, reminding believers that real worship reshapes us. God’s holiness requires exclusive loyalty, while His mercy invites humble repentance.

Exodus 34 (King James Version)

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon
these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.
And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear
the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth
generation.
And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it
is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou
art shall see the work of the LORD: for it
is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name
is Jealous,
is a jealous God:
Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and
one
call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
All that openeth the matrix
is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle,
whether ox or sheep,
that is male.
But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem
him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
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.
And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
And
till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel
that which he was commanded.
And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.”

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Exodus 34 covenant renewal explanation in its setting

Exodus 34 occurs after a serious breach: while Moses was away, Israel fashioned and worshiped a golden calf. That crisis had consequences, yet God’s mercy did not erase His purpose. Instead, the LORD renews the covenant, signaling that God’s promises are deeper than human inconsistency.

Covenant renewal in the ancient Near East often involved reaffirming terms, re-declaring the relationship, and establishing a worship framework. In Exodus 34, the repeated emphasis on covenant words, boundaries around Mount Sinai, and a renewed proclamation of God’s name all function as covenant “anchors.” The people learn that access to God is not casual; it is governed by holiness.

Culturally, the passage also addresses Israel’s surrounding environment. The command not to make covenants with local inhabitants and the repeated warnings about other gods reflect the reality that neighboring religions would pressure Israel’s identity. Worship practices, feasts, and festivals were not merely private devotions; they shaped the life of the whole nation.

Finally, Moses’ shining face highlights a common biblical theme: encountering God’s glory leaves a lasting imprint. The visible result is fear among the people, but the deeper issue is spiritual—will Israel respond with obedience, humility, and renewed trust?