1 At that time Yahweh said to me, "Cut two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
At that time the Lord said unto me He had had intercourse with the people for some time, before he returned into the mount with the second tables; and therefore he now begins to relate more fully what he had already mentioned in the inverted order of time, i.e., that he stayed in the mount forty days to make entreaty for them. And this also the repetition in the 10th verse more clearly demonstrates, where he says, that he stayed in the mount "according [1] to the first days." But, although he there says that he was hearkened to when he interceded in the mount, still he includes the prayers which he had previously offered when he heard of the people's revolt, and after he had broken the tables and taken away God's tabernacle, in which he prayed apart to obtain pardon for their sin. What is also here said respecting the ark is not in its proper place; for it was a part of the tabernacle, as we have elsewhere seen. It is, therefore, exacting too much to require that the things which are related together, should be referred to the same instant of time.
1 - See Margin, A.V.
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.
Hew thee two tables of stone - See the notes on Exodus 34:1.
At that time the Lord said unto me,.... On the fortieth day, mentioned in the preceding chapter, as Aben Ezra, or at the end of forty days, as Jarchi; not of the first forty, for then were given him the first two tables of stone, with the law written on them, which he broke when he came down; but at the end of the second forty days, as some think, when he had fallen before the Lord, and entreated him for the people, and, as a token of his reconciliation to them, gave the following order:
hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, &c. Of the same sort of stone, of the same size and form with those God gave him in the mount the first time he was there, and which he broke in his descent from thence; they were the work of God, but these were to be hewed by Moses: the order seems to be given between the request Moses made to see the glory of the Lord, and the proclamation made of it, see Exodus 34:1, and come up unto me into the mount; Mount Sinai; this was certainly the third time of his going up there, and where he continued forty days and nights; but whether he continued there so long the second time may be a matter of question, though he certainly did the third time; see Exodus 32:30.
and make thee an ark of wood; Jarchi thinks this was not the ark Bezaleel made, but made after, and is that which went out to battle; and some take it to be a temporary ark, made for the present purpose till that was finished; but Aben Ezra is of opinion it is the same that Bezaleel made: and it may be said to be made by Moses, because he was not only ordered to make it, but it was by his orders and the direction he gave to Bezaleel that it was made; and this seems the more probable, because there the tables remained, Deuteronomy 10:5.
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.
GOD'S MERCY IN RESTORING THE TWO TABLES. (Deuteronomy. 10:1-22)
At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first--It was when God had been pacified through the intercessions of Moses with the people who had so greatly offended Him by the worship of the golden calf. The obedient leader executed the orders he had received as to the preparation both of the hewn stones, and the ark or chest in which those sacred archives were to be laid.
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).
*More commentary available at chapter level.