Exodus 24:2

Exo 24:2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

Ver. 2. But they shall not come nigh.] But half-way only. {Exo 24:2} {See Trapp on "Exo 19:12"}

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.

Exo 24:2. And Moses alone shall come near — Being therein a type of Christ, who, as the high-priest, entered alone into the most holy place. In the following verse we have the solemn covenant made between God and Israel, and the exchanging of the ratifications: typifying the covenant of grace between God and believers through Christ.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. Moses alone shall come near] The people stood at the foot of the mountain. Aaron and his two sons and the seventy elders went up, probably about half way, and Moses alone went to the summit.

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

2. they (emph.)] Aaron, his two sons, and the elders.

neither, &c.] Observe the gradation: the people generally are to remain at the foot of the mountain; Aaron, his two sons, and the elders come partly up the mountain; only Moses goes to the top (cf. Exo_19:21, Exo_20:21).

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 Moses alone shall come near the Lord,.... Into the cloud where he was, and talk with him face to face, as a man talketh with his friend; which was great nearness indeed, and a peculiar favour and high honour was this:

but they shall not come nigh; Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel:

neither shall the people go up with him; not any of them, much less the whole body. It seems, by this account, that Moses had been down from the mount after he had received the laws recorded in the two preceding chapters; though as yet he had not related them to the people, but did before he went up again by the above order, as appears from what follows.

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

Moses alone, i.e. without the persons now mentioned, though not without Joshua his minister, as some conceive from Exo 24:13, though even there Moses seems to ascend into the mount without Joshua.

Neither shall the people go up with him to any part of the mount, as Aaron, and Nadab, &c. did, but they shall tarry at the bottom. See Exo 19:12.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Moses alone shall come near the Lord — Here was a symbolical outline of what was afterward formally fixed in the Levitical code. Moses represented the highpriest, who went alone into the most holy place, (Lev_16:17,) and these others the ordinary consecrated priests who might minister in the holy place, and at the altar, while the people were required to remain in the distance.

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

And Moses alone shall come near - Being therein a type of Christ, who as the high priest entered alone into the most holy place. In the following verses we have the solemn covenant made between God and Israel and the exchanging of the ratifications: typifying the covenant of grace between God and believers through Christ.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

ונגש משה לבדו AND MOSES ALONE SHALL STEP NEAR unto the thick darkness (cf. Exodus 20:18).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND MOSES ALONE SHALL COME NEAR UNTO THE ETERNAL. In the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra this too is a case where a proper name is used instead of a pronoun, for after the expression, Come up unto the Eternal, it should have said, “and you alone shall come near,” but such is the Scriptural style, as I have mentioned. Similarly: And the Eternal caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Eternal, which means “from Him;” And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, which means “his father-in-law.” Also: And the Eternal sent Jerubaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and similarly: Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes… unto King Solomon. The correct interpretation here appears to me to be that this commandment was addressed also to Aaron, and he too heard the Voice of G-d saying to Moses, Come up unto the Eternal, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And if so, it was necessary that the name of the one who was to draw near [i.e., Moses] be expressly mentioned, for it was he alone who was to come near [and not Aaron]. And even if [we were to explain that when G-d said, Come up unto the Eternal etc.] He spoke to Moses directly [and Aaron did not hear it], it would still be necessary to explain that “you Moses alone shall come near unto the Eternal,” and the mere pronoun “thou” would not have sufficed. Therefore He said, And Moses alone shall come near; but they shall not come near. This is the reason for the word l’vado (alone), to exclude Aaron who had been included previously with Moses as far as the commandment [to “come up”].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.