Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.”
- KJV And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
- NKJV And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”
- NASB Moses alone, however, shall approach the Lord, but they shall not approach, nor shall the people come up with him.”
- NLT Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”
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
Only Moses could come near to the LORD; the elders and people had to keep their distance. Access to God was carefully restricted, highlighting His holiness.
Overview
Moses alone ascends as covenant mediator, while the leaders worship farther off and the people remain below. These gradations of access dramatize that a holy God cannot be approached casually by sinners. Moses foreshadows the unique role of a mediator between God and people. This anticipates Christ, the one Mediator through whom all believers may now draw near with confidence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 24:18Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
- Exod 24:13So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.
- Exod 24:15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
- Heb 10:21–22and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
- Jer 49:19Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
- Heb 9:24For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
- Jer 30:21Their leader will be one of their own, and their ruler will arise from their midst. And I will bring him near, and he will approach Me, for who would dare on his own to approach Me?” declares the LORD.
- Num 16:5Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses, He will bring near to Himself.
- Exod 20:21And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
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 24:2 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.