Then 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance.
- KJV And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
- NKJV Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.
- NASB Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance.
- NLT Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance.
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 summoned Moses, Aaron, his two sons, and seventy elders to come up and worship at a distance. The covenant is to be solemnly ratified in God's presence.
Overview
This call gathers Israel's leadership to a sacred meeting on Sinai following the giving of the law. Worship 'from a distance' marks the holiness of God and the limits placed on sinful people approaching Him. The scene sets up the covenant ceremony that follows. It points to humanity's need for a mediator to draw near to God, a need fully met in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Num 11:16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.
- Exod 6:23And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
- Lev 10:1–2Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.
- Exod 28:1“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
- Exod 19:24And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”
- Ezek 8:11Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
- 1 Chr 6:3The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
- Luke 10:17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”
- Exod 34:2Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop.
- Num 11:24–25So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent.
- Exod 24:15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
- Exod 1:5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
- Luke 10:1After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit.
- Exod 3:5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
- Exod 19:20The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the summit. So Moses went up,
- Exod 24:9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
- Exod 20:21And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
- Exod 19:9The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the LORD what the people had said.
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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 24:1 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
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