Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.
- KJV And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.
- BSB So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, shattering them before your eyes.
- NASB So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands, and smashed them to pieces before your eyes!
- NLT So I took the stone tablets and threw them to the ground, smashing them before your eyes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses threw down and shattered the two tablets of the law before Israel's eyes. The broken tablets dramatized that Israel had already broken the covenant.
Overview
The shattering of the stone tablets was a vivid sign that the covenant had been violated at its inception. Moses' action declared the gravity of idolatry and the rupture between a holy God and a sinful people. That a broken law required restoration anticipates the gospel, in which Christ keeps the law perfectly on behalf of those who could not.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 9:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.