Deuteronomy 10:4

And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) According to the first writing, the ten commandments.—The words written on the second tables were the same which had been written on the first.

In the day of the assembly.—Or, in New Testament language, “the day of the Church.” The Pentecost of the Old Testament was the day when “the letter” was given; the Pentecost of the New Testament was the day of the “Spirit that giveth life.” Each of these aspects of God’s covenant produced a Church after its kind.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:1-11 Moses reminded the Israelites of God's great mercy to them, notwithstanding their provocations. There were four things in and by which the Lord showed himself reconciled to Israel. God gave them his law. Thus God has intrusted us with Bibles, sabbaths, and sacraments, as tokens of his presence and favour. God led them forward toward Canaan. He appointed a standing ministry among them for holy things. And now, under the gospel, when the pouring forth of the Spirit is more plentiful and powerful, the succession is kept up by the Spirit's work on men's hearts, qualifying and making some willing for that work in every age. God accepted Moses as an advocate or intercessor for them, and therefore appointed him to be their prince and leader. Moses was a type of Christ, who ever lives, pleading for us, and has all power in heaven and in earth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These verses are closely connected with the preceding chapter, and state very briefly the results of the intercession of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 9:25-29. The people are reminded that all their blessings and privileges, forfeited by apostasy as soon as bestowed, were only now their own by a new and most unmerited act of grace on the part of God, won from Him by the self-sacrificing mediation of Moses himself Deuteronomy 10:10.

Deuteronomy 10:1-5. The order for making the ark and tabernacle was evidently given before the apostasy of the people (Exodus 25ff); but the tables were not put in the ark until the completion and dedication of the tabernacle Exodus 40. But here as elsewhere (compare the Deuteronomy 9:1 note) Moses connects transactions closely related to each other and to his purpose without regard to the order of occurrence.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4, 5. he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing—that is, not Moses, who under the divine direction acted as amanuensis, but God Himself who made this inscription a second time with His own hand, to testify the importance He attached to the ten commandments. Different from other stone monuments of antiquity, which were made to stand upright and in the open air, those on which the divine law was engraven were portable, and designed to be kept as a treasure. Josephus says that each of the tables contained five precepts. But the tradition generally received, both among Jewish and Christian writers is, that one table contained four precepts, the other six.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he wrote on the tables according to the first writing,.... The same laws, in the same letters:

the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mount; in Mount Sinai, on which he descended, and from whence he delivered the decalogue by word of mouth in an audible manner, that all the people could hear it:

out of the midst of the fire; in which he descended, and where he continued, and from whence he spake, so that it was indeed a fiery law:

in the day of the assembly; when all the people of Israel were assembled together at the bottom of the mount to hear it:

and the Lord gave them unto me; the two tables, when he had wrote upon them the ten commands.

Geneva Study Bible

And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the {b} assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.

(b) When you were assembled to receive the Law.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. And he wrote on the tables … the ten words] Exodus 34:28, J. This adds the words of the covenant, for which D has according to the first writing, cp. Deuteronomy 9:10.

the ten words] See above p. 81.

in the mount out of the midst of the fire] Above Deuteronomy 9:10.

in the day of the assembly] See on Deuteronomy 9:10, Deuteronomy 5:22.

Deuteronomy 10:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In Deuteronomy 10:1-5 Moses briefly relates the success of his earnest intercession. "At that time," of his intercession, God commanded him to hew out new tables, and prepare an ark in which to keep them (cf. Exodus 34:1.). Here again Moses links together such things as were substantially connected, without strictly confining himself to the chronological order, which was already well known from the historical account, inasmuch as this was not required by the general object of his address. God had already given directions for the preparation of the ark of the covenant, before the apostasy of the nation (Exodus 25:10.); but it was not made till after the tabernacle had been built, and the tables were only deposited in the ark when the tabernacle was consecrated (Exodus 40:20).