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But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.
Exodus 24:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
  • KJV And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
  • NKJV But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
  • NASB Yet He did not reach out with His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.
  • NLT And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!

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

God did not strike the leaders down, and they ate and drank in His presence. The covenant meal celebrates fellowship and peace with God.

Overview

That God 'didn't lay his hand' on the nobles is remarkable, since sinful people normally cannot survive His presence; this mercy rests on the covenant blood. Eating and drinking before God signifies reconciliation, communion, and shared fellowship. It is a covenant meal sealing the relationship just established. This anticipates the table fellowship believers enjoy with God through Christ, climaxing in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Luke 15:23–24Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate.
  • Exod 18:12Then Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.
  • Gen 31:54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.
  • Gen 16:13So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”
  • Deut 12:7There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.
  • 1 Cor 10:16–18Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
  • Eccl 9:7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
  • Exod 19:21and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
  • Gen 32:24–32So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
  • Judg 13:22“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”
  • Exod 33:20–23But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
  • Num 21:18The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,
  • Gen 18:18Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
  • Jer 14:3The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
  • Neh 2:16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.
  • Deut 4:33Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?
  • Exod 24:9–10Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
  • 1 Kgs 21:8Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
  • Exod 24:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
  • Judg 5:13Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.
  • 2 Chr 23:20He also took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate. They seated King Joash on the royal throne,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 24:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 24:11 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.