Deuteronomy 10:4

Deu 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.

Ver. 4. Out of the midst of the fire.] The law was given in fire; it is "a law of fire," {Deu 33:2} given by God, who is "a consuming fire," {Heb 12:29} and hath a tribunal of fire, {Eze 1:27} and shall plead with transgressors in flames of fire; {Isa 66:15-16} the trial of our works shall be by fire. {1Co 3:13} "Let us therefore have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear." It is the apostle’s use. {Heb 12:28}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When you were assembled to receive the Law.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Ten commandments] See Clarke on Ex 20:1, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. And he wrote on the tables … the ten words] Exo_34:28, J. This adds the words of the covenant, for which D has according to the first writing, cp. Deu_9:10.

the ten words] See above p. 81.

in the mount out of the midst of the fire] Above Deu_9:10.

in the day of the assembly] See on Deu_9:10, Deu_5:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To me. God had already promulgated the same laws in the hearing of all, Exodus xix. 17. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

4. He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing — In Deu_9:10, it reads, “written with the finger of God.”

It is held by some of the critics that Deu_10:6-7 are out of place, that they interrupt the order of the narrative, and that no satisfactory reason for their being introduced can be given. They would indeed be difficult to account for on the theory of some critics, that the work is of a later origin. Moses recalls the death of Aaron. But though Aaron dies the high priesthood is continued. “His aim throughout is to prove the patient mercy of the Lord to his people in spite of their aggravated sins. The calf worship had brought on them a double token of the divine displeasure. First, the tables of the covenant were broken, and the covenant itself dissolved almost as soon as made; but in answer to the intercession of Moses new tables were provided, written upon by the finger of God, and placed in the ark. Next, the Lord had been angry with Aaron to have destroyed him; and with such a judgment on the high priest the covenant of grace to Israel would have come doubly to an end. But Moses prayed for Aaron at that time, and he was forgiven. Not only so, but when the time of death arrived there was a new token of God’s restored and enduring favour, when ‘Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his [Aaron’s] stead.’ Thus doubly, at the close of their wanderings, by the presence of the new tables in the ark, and by the high priesthood of Eleazar in the place of Aaron, mercy had rejoiced against judgment. These verses, then, are natural in a retrospect by Moses himself at the close of his life, and on this hypothesis alone.” BIRKS, The Pentateuch and its Anatomists, pp. 261, 262.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.