Exodus 34:3

Exo 34:3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

Ver. 3. Neither let any man be seen.] {See Trapp on "Exo 19:12"}

Neither let the flocks.] Moses comes alone to God, and leaves the flocks. Jacob ferrieth over all belonging to him on the other side of the river, before he wrestleth with God. Abraham leaveth the servant and asses at the foot of the hill, &c. Men must lay aside all, and prepare, before they draw nigh to God in holy duties.

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.

Or, about.

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

no man shall come up with thee . . . neither . . . flocks nor herds--All these enactments were made in order that the law might be a second time renewed with the solemnity and sanctity that marked its first delivery. The whole transaction was ordered so as to impress the people with an awful sense of the holiness of God; and that it was a matter of no trifling moment to have subjected Him, so to speak, to the necessity of re-delivering the law of the ten commandments.

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

(3) No man shall come up with thee . . . —These stringent commands were new. On the previous occasion, Aaron, Hur, and the elders had ascended the mount part of the way (Exo_24:9-11); and Joshua had accompanied his master almost to the summit (Exo_24:13), and had apparently remained in some part of the mountain during the whole time of Moses’ stay (Exo_32:17). Now Moses was to be quite alone, and no one was to be seen in any part of the mount. The stringency of the new orders must be connected with the promised revelation to Moses of God’s glory (Exo_33:21-23).

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

3. The precautions are similar to those taken in Exo_19:12 f.

before] rather, in front of, i.e. on the slopes in front of the mountain, towards its foot.

As was pointed out on p. 347, the historical retrospect in Deu_9:8-29 is based largely upon Exodus 32, and contains numerous verbal excerpts from it; and a comparison of Deu_10:1-3 with Exo_34:1; Exo_34:4 makes it practically certain that in the text of Exo_34:1; Exo_34:4 which lay before the author of Dt., there was mention of the ark as made at this time by Moses. Here is the text of Deu_10:1-3, with the words excerpted from Exo_34:1-2; Exo_34:4 printed in italics:—‘(Deu_10:1) At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me to the mount, and make thee an ark of wood; (2) that I may write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. (3) And I made an ark of acacia-wood; and I hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and I went up to the mount; and the two tables were in my hand.’ Thus in Dt. Moses is instructed to make, and actually does make, the ark, before ascending the mount the second time to receive the tables of stone (Exo_34:4); whereas in Ex. the command to make the ark is both given to Bezalel and executed by him, after Moses’ return from the mountain (Exo_35:30 ff., Exo_36:2, Exo_37:1—all passages belonging to P). The two accounts are evidently discrepant: and there can be no reasonable doubt that the notices of the ark contained in the original text of Exo_34:1; Exo_34:4 were omitted by the compiler, as inconsistent with the more detailed particulars, which he preferred, contained in the narrative of P.

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 no man shall come up with thee,.... Before, Aaron and his two sons, and the seventy elders of Israel, went up with Moses, though they did not go so near the Lord as he did; but now having sinned in the matter of the golden calf, though a reconciliation was made, they were not allowed to go with him, nor even Joshua his servant, though he had no concern in the sin; Moses must be alone, that the ministration of the law might be by him only, and in order to receive a peculiar favour in answer to his request:

neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; in any part of it, as Joshua was before in some part of it, even all the while that Moses was there; but now not a single person must be seen anywhere, not only because of the giving of the law to Moses, but because of the display of the divine glory, which was to be made particularly to him:

neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount; or over against it, or rather "near" it (f); which was ordered, not so much on the account of the flocks themselves, who were not capable of any moral guilt; nor that they might not come to any hurt, since they were to be stoned or thrust through with a dart if they touched it, which order it is highly probable was in force as before; but on the account of their keepers, that there might be none of them on the spot, or near, to observe what passed; and chiefly this was said to command fear and reverence in the minds of the people, while this solemn affair was transacting between God and Moses, and to check all curiosity in them.

(f) , Sept. "prope montem illum", Noldius, p. 80.

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

Let no, &c. This was to impress all with sentiments of reverence.

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).

This is said, not for the beasts, which are not capable of a law, but to restrain the presumption and curiosity of the people, by this argument, that even the beasts that come too near shall be destroyed, and much more man, whose knowledge aggravates his sin and punishment.

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

3. No man… with thee — As contrasted with Exo_24:9-13. Not even Joshua accompanied Moses now. He probably remained at the tent of the congregation. Exo_33:11.

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

No man shall come up with thee. This time, no one, not even Joshua, was to accompany Moses. The new manifestation of the glory of God was to be made to him alone. Neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount, etc. Compare the injunctions given in Exo_19:12, Exo_19:13. The present orders are even more stringent.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Moses.

Do not let anyone else be seen anywhere on the mountain

Being seen doing something represents doing that. AT: "Do not let anyone else be anywhere on the mountain" (See: Metonymy)

No flocks or herds are even to graze in front of the mountain

"Even flocks or herds are not allowed to come near the mountain to eat."

translationWords

flocks

Moses

Sinai

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ואיש לא יעלה עמך AND NO MAN SHALL GO UP WITH THEE — Because the first tablets were given amidst great noises and alarms and a vast assembly the “evil eye” had power over them (they did not endure) — there is no finer quality than to be unostentatious! (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:31).

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 NO MAN SHALL COME UP WITH THEE. None of the elders of Israel at all should go up with you, as they had done at the first Tablets of the Law.

NEITHER LET ANY MAN BE SEEN THROUGHOUT ALL THE MOUNT — even at the foot of the mountain, where Israel had stood at first [during the Revelation].

NEITHER LET THE FLOCKS NOR HERDS FEED BEFORE THAT MOUNT — in front of it. For at [the giving of] the first Tablets they had been warned only, no hand shall touch it [i.e., the mountain] … whether it be beast or man, 19:13. and now they were still under that admonition, for the Glory was always on the mountain until the last Tablets of the Law were given. However, at the giving of these Tablets He was now more stringent than at the first Revelation [in requiring that none of the elders accompany Moses]. The reason for all this was that at the first Tablets the Revelation was for all Israel, whereas this one was only for Moses, because of his merit and his prayer, and the Glory revealed on the mountain for [the giving of] the last Tablets would be greater than that of the first ones.

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.