Exodus 24:4

And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Moses wrote.—Comp. Exodus 17:14. The familiarity of Moses with writing is throughout presumed in the Pentateuch. One “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” under the nineteenth dynasty could not well be ignorant of this ordinary Egyptian accomplishment.

Under the hill.—Heb., the mountain. The Ras Sufsafeh is intended.

Twelve pillars.—As the altar symbolised and indicated the presence of Jehovah, one party to the Covenant, so the twelve pillars—probably long stones set up on end (Genesis 28:18)—symbolised the presence of the twelve tribes, the other party. (For another instance of the employment of such symbolism see Joshua 4:3; Joshua 4:9; Joshua 4:20.)

Benson Commentary

Exodus 24:4. And Moses wrote the words of the Lord — That there might be no mistake; as God dictated them on the mount, where, it has been thought by many, God taught him the use of letters; these Moses taught the Israelites, from whom they afterward travelled to Greece and other nations. As soon as God had separated to himself a peculiar people, he governed them by a written word, as he has done ever since, and will do while the world stands. Pillars according to the number of the tribes — These were to represent the people, the other party to the covenant; and we may suppose they were set up over against the altar, and that Moses, as mediator, passed to and fro between them. Probably each tribe set up and knew its own pillar, and their elders stood by it. He then appointed sacrifices to be offered upon the altar.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:1-8 A solemn covenant was made between God and Israel. Very solemn it was, typifying the covenant of grace between God and believers, through Christ. As soon as God separated to himself a peculiar people, he governed them by a written word, as he has done ever since. God's covenants and commands are so just in themselves, and so much for our good, that the more we think of them, and the more plainly and fully they are set before us, the more reason we may see to comply with them. The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the altar, on the book, and on the people. Neither their persons, their moral obedience, nor religious services, would meet with acceptance from a holy God, except through the shedding and sprinkling' of blood. Also the blessings granted unto them were all of mercy; and the Lord would deal with them in kindness. Thus the sinner, by faith in the blood of Christ, renders willing and acceptable obedience.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Twelve pillars - As the altar was a symbol of the presence of Yahweh, so these twelve pillars represented the presence of the Twelve tribes with whom He was making the covenant.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3, 4. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord—The rehearsal of the foregoing laws and the ten commandments, together with the promises of special blessings in the event of their obedience, having drawn forth from the people a unanimous declaration of their consent, it was forthwith recorded as the conditions of the national covenant. The next day preparations were made for having it (the covenant) solemnly ratified, by building an altar and twelve pillars; the altar representing God, and the pillars the tribes of Israel—the two parties in this solemn compact—while Moses acted as typical mediator.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Moses wrote, to wit, in a book, Hebrews 9:19. And the ten commandments God himself wrote also in tables of stone, Exodus 31:18.

Builded an altar; representing God in Christ, as one party in the covenant.

Twelve pillars; representing the people of Israel, the other party. So here are the outward signs and symbols of a covenant made between God and the Israelites.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord,.... Jarchi says, all from the creation, to the giving of the law, and the commands at Marah; but though these were written by him, yet not at this time; but as Aben Ezra more truly observes, what are mentioned in this "parashah", or section, or what is contained in the two preceding chapters, he not only related to them from his memory, but he wrote them in a book, which is after mentioned, that they might be seen and read hereafter; for these were not the ten commands, they were written as well as spoken by the Lord himself, but the judicial laws before mentioned:

and rose up early in the morning: not on the fifth of Sivan, as Jarchi, the day before the giving of the law, but on the eighth of that month, two days after it:

and built an altar under the hill: under Mount Sinai, about the place where the bounds were set, beyond which the people were not to go:

and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel: to answer to them, and which were to represent them, as seems by the following account; these probably were made of marble stone, of which Mount Sinai consisted, and of which there was plenty thereabout.

Geneva Study Bible

And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. wrote] that they might be preserved in a tangible form, and form the basis of a permanent covenant (v. 7).

builded an altar] Cf. Exodus 17:15; and on Exodus 20:24.

under the mount] Cf. Exodus 19:17.

pillars] or standing-stones (see on Exodus 23:24); partly, as the usual adjunct of an altar, partly, perhaps, that they might be witnesses of the ratification of the covenant (cf. Genesis 31:45; also Joshua 24:27).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. We may presume that they were miraculously brought to his remembrance by that Spirit of Truth which guided all the Prophets (2 Peter 1:21; John 14:26). Having written the words, he waited till the next day, and then rose up early and builded an altar, in preparation for the sacrifice without which no covenant was regarded as binding. And twelve pillars. Symbolical of the twelve tribes. Compare Joshua 4:3, 9, 20. Exodus 24:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The ceremony described in Exodus 24:3-11 is called "the covenant which Jehovah made with Israel" (Exodus 24:8). It was opened by Moses, who recited to the people "all the words of Jehovah" (i.e., not the decalogue, for the people had heard this directly from the mouth of God Himself, but the words in Exodus 20:22-26), and "all the rights" (ch. 21-23); whereupon the people answered unanimously (אחד קול), "All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do." This constituted the preparation for the conclusion of the covenant. It was necessary that the people should not only know what the Lord imposed upon them in the covenant about to be made with them, and what He promised them, but that they should also declare their willingness to perform what was imposed upon them. The covenant itself was commenced by Moses writing all the words of Jehovah in "the book of the covenant" (Exodus 24:4 and Exodus 24:7), for the purpose of preserving them in an official record. The next day, early in the morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and erected twelve boundary-stones or pillars for the twelve tribes, most likely round about the altar and at some distance from it, so as to prepare the soil upon which Jehovah was about to enter into union with the twelve tribes. As the altar indicated the presence of Jehovah, being the place where the Lord would come to His people to bless them (Exodus 20:24), so the twelve pillars, or boundary-stones, did not serve as mere memorials of the conclusion of the covenant, but were to indicate the place of the twelve tribes, and represent their presence also.