God’s Word Translation
Exodus 32:16
16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing inscribed on the tablets.
Exodus 32:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
- New International Version (NIV)The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
Context of Exodus 32:16
14So the Lord reconsidered his threat to destroy his people. 15Moses turned and went down the mountain carrying the two tablets with God’s words. They were written on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing inscribed on the tablets. 17Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It’s the sound of war in the camp!” 18Moses replied, “It’s not the sound of winners shouting. It’s not the sound of losers crying. It’s the sound of a wild celebration that I hear.”
Read all of Exodus 32Exodus 32:16 word by word
וְהַ֨לֻּחֹ֔ת מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים הֵ֑מָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּ֗ב מִכְתַּ֤ב אֱלֹהִים֙ ה֔וּא חָר֖וּת עַל־הַלֻּחֹֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 32:16
- Exodus 31:18The Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then he gave him the two tablets with his words on them, stone tablets inscribed by God himself.
- Exodus 34:1The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two ⌞more⌟ stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed.
- Deuteronomy 9:9When I went up on the mountain to get the stone tablets, the tablets of the promise that the Lord made to you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights without food or water.
- Deuteronomy 10:1At that time the Lord said to me, “Cut two ⌞more⌟ stone tablets like the first ones, and come up to me on the mountain. Also make an ark out of wood.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3It’s clear that you are Christ’s letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
- Hebrews 8:10But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Commentaries on Exodus 32:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16The tables were the work of God - Because such a law could proceed from none but himself; God alone is the fountain and author of Law, of what is right, just, holy, and good. See the meaning of the word Law, Exodus 12:49; (note). The writing was the writing of God - For as he is the sole author of law and justice, so he alone can write them on the heart of man. This is agreeable to the spirit of the new covenant which God had promised to make with men in…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-35Verses 7-35 The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord‘s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-20Verses 15-20 What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The tablets were the work of God: The covenant was more than just a human agreement.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-1815-18. Moses turned, and went down from the mount--The plain, Er-Raheh, is not visible from the top of Jebel Musa, nor can the mount be descended on the side towards that valley; hence Moses and his companion, who on duty had patiently waited his return in the hollow of the mountain's brow, heard the shouting some time before they actually saw the camp.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 32:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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