Deuteronomy chapter 10

vs 1

This time, Moses has to make the tablets. He also needs to bring a chest, which we call an ark, because "chest of the covenant" just sounds strange. But don't worry, it's not a boat - the words in Hebrew are different, if I recall.

vs 2

Unlike Mormonism, I have no doubt that the tablets actually had the same stuff written on them. This was God hand-writing the tablets, after all - not some guy wearing magic sunglasses and looking into a hat.

vs 3

Moses made that ark with his own hands, and chiselled out the stone tablets too. I know it's not like he built a boat or anything (Noah style), but still, it's more than he had to do last time. This time, he is going up the mountain to God with more expectation of what's going to happen, and probably hoping that the rest of the Israelites can keep their pants on for 20 minutes.

vs 4

And of course we all imagine that, as Moses held the tablets, God struck them with lightning and they were etched with perfect Hebrew. Why not, eh? Although we have no evidence that Moses looked like Charlton Heston. I wonder if there was a particularly solid and solemn tradition of copying the 10 commandments, since they were a written word directly from God's hand? Who knows.

vs 5

Being put in the ark before the people makes them special, I guess. It means that people can look and see the ark (rather than Moses having to lug around two big stone tablets), and say "Ah, there's the laws of God that we were given."

vs 6

This is put into brackets, I assume, because it is written in a certain way in Hebrew. I saw this when we translated Ruth. It's hard to explain in English, because, well, we just have brackets. But ther is a method in Hebrew writing where a point is made, and then a bit of it can be a sub-point, sort of tangential to the topic, and it is marked by certain things. So this is probably marked that way. I'd check, but I'm on the train and hence lazy.

It's interesting that God chose an inherited system for the priests, but that Moses was succeeded directly by choice.

vs 7

Sounds nice.

vs 8

Those little "as they still do today" notes could indicate that this is a later editorial addition, and that Moses didn't say this stuff. It's possible, but obviously unprovable. And even if it is a later addition, that shouldn't rock your faith in it being God's word. I wonder who carried the ark before the Levites? Again, normally I'd go check, but it's slightly more difficult between Strathfield and Sydney.

vs 9

It's a mixed blessing, really. It sounds good, but I don't know how valuable it was during the years of the Judges.

vs 10

That's a fairly short summary of 40 days and 40 nights. Moses has balls staying up there that long again. After all, who knows what Israel is getting up to at this time? But God has relieved him a bit, by saying that he doesn't want to destroy Israel. That is what you've really got to be afraid of, I suppose.

vs 11

Why did we come back to this again? I know it's putting it all into context, and probably we're looking more deeply at the context of the laws given to Israel and the attitude with which they treated them. But we are now 10 chapters into the book. It does make it sort of feel like Deuteronomy was The Book - like it was used to summarise the rest of the pentateuch so it could be more easily used liturgically. Again, who knows.