Exodus 24:2

2 but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

Exodus 24:2 in Other Translations

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

2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him."

2 Only Moses is allowed to come near to the LORD . The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”

2 only Moses will approach God. The rest are not to come close. And the people are not to climb the mountain at all."

2 Moses alone is to approach the Lord, but the others are not to approach, and the people are not to go up with him."

Exodus 24:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 24:2

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.

Exodus 24:2 In-Context

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance,

2 but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”

4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 12:6-8