Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
- KJV And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
- NKJV So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
- NASB Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
- NLT Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
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 entered the cloud and remained on the mountain forty days and nights. The mediator stays in God's presence to receive His full instructions.
Overview
Moses' bold entry into the cloud shows his unique role as mediator who meets God face to face on the people's behalf. The forty days, a period associated with testing and preparation, allow God to give the detailed pattern of the tabernacle. This prolonged communion underscores the depth of revelation entrusted to Moses. The motif of forty days reappears with Christ in the wilderness, the greater Mediator prepared for His saving work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Deut 9:9When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.
- Deut 10:10I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.
- Exod 34:28So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
- Deut 9:25So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
- Deut 9:18Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
- Matt 4:2After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
- Exod 9:29Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
- Exod 9:33Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.
- 1 Kgs 19:8So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Exod 19:20The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the summit. So Moses went up,
- Exod 24:17And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.
- Luke 4:2where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
- Mark 1:13and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.
- Prov 28:1The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 24:18 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.