Exodus31:18

Translation

When He had finished speaking with him on MOUNT SINAI,

He (God) gave to MOSES the two tablets of the testimony,

tablets of stone,

written with the finger

of ELOHIM.

Paraphrase

When He had finished speaking with him on THE MOUNTAIN WHERE GOD SHOWED HIS WILL FOR HIS PEOPLE, God gave THE RESCUED ONE both tablets that served as proof of the new covenant relationship; they were

tablets of stone as was customary for the summary of such a covenant, but this time they were carved by the amazing power of God.

Footnotes

1

The meaning of the name Sinai is hard to determine decisively; in fact it is so unclear that I refuse to venture a guess. Some scholars have made a guess at it, but none of them seem convincing to me; most however, simply say it was a word from an unknown origin, and that it was the place where God gave Moses the law. When I run into situations like this that are very unclear, I assume God wanted his people to focus on what happened there, not the meaning of the name itself. It would appear that God wanted to fill this name with His own new meaning based on what He did there. It was more than the place of the giving of the Law; it was the place “where God showed His will for His people.” Many modern Americans may not like the sound of that because they have a negative view of the Law given through Moses, but as we come to understand it correctly, that negative feeling will be replaced by a sense of awe at what God did.

This mountain has another name, Horeb. That name has a meaning, but if the author had wanted the reader to focus on the meaning of Horeb he would have used the name Horeb instead of Sinai.

2

The finger of God was a sign of His power, showing that even with one of His fingers He can do more than anyone else, including the fictional gods of the pagans. The story of God bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt is rife with this terminology – “the finger of God.” Pharaoh was usually depicted in carvings with an upraised arm as a sign of his power and authority, indicating, “Don’t mess with Pharaoh or you will pay the ultimate price.” However, as we know, just one finger of our God was able to show all the major deities of the Egyptians to be nothing, and it was able to destroy the most powerful army in the world at that time. Here the power of God was used to carve stone. We should not miss the fact that this powerful finger, which destroyed the Egyptian army, will also deal harshly with us if we become antagonistic toward Him and refuse to obey what He has asked us to do.