Exodus 24:16

16 and the glory of the Lord dwelled upon Sinai, and covered it with a cloud (for) six days; forsooth in the seventh day (and on the seventh day), the Lord called (to) him from the midst of the cloud;

Exodus 24:16 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 24:16

And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai
The divine Shechinah or Majesty, some visible token of it, an exceeding great brightness and splendour:

and the cloud covered it six days;
either the glory of the Lord, so that it could not be seen it had been; or the mount, as Jarchi; but that is observed before, unless repeated for the sake of the time it covered it, six days; or him, Moses, as some in Jarchi, who for six days together was covered with a thick cloud, so that he was not seen by any while on the mountain; and thus he remained, until he was admitted into the immediate presence of God, for which he was now preparing: what he did, or was made known to him during this time, is not said; it is probable his thoughts were employed about the glory and greatness of the divine Being; and as he was abstracted from earthly men and things, he was more at leisure to contemplate on divine and heavenly things, and so was more fitted for an intercourse with God, and had more courage and presence of mind to enter into it:

and on the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the
cloud;
in which the glory of God was, and which seems to favour the first sense of the preceding clause, that it was the glory of God the cloud covered.

Exodus 24:16 In-Context

14 and said to the elder men, Abide ye here, till we turn again to you; ye have Aaron and Hur with you, if anything of question be made, ye shall tell [it] to them. (and he said to the elders as he left, Wait here, until we return to you; ye have Aaron and Hur with you, if any question ariseth, ask ye it of them.)
15 And when Moses had gone up, a cloud covered the hill (a cloud covered the mountain),
16 and the glory of the Lord dwelled upon Sinai, and covered it with a cloud (for) six days; forsooth in the seventh day (and on the seventh day), the Lord called (to) him from the midst of the cloud;
17 forsooth the likeness of the glory of the Lord was as fire burning on the top of the hill in the sight of the sons of Israel. (and the glory of the Lord was like a fire burning on the top of the mountain before all the Israelites.)
18 And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the hill, and he was there forty days and forty nights. (And Moses went up the mountain, and into the midst of the cloud, and he was there for forty days and forty nights.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.