And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people come up with him.
וְנִגַּ֨שׁ מֹשֶׁ֤ה לְבַדּוֹ֙ אֶל־יְהוָ֔ה וְהֵ֖ם לֹ֣א יִגָּ֑שׁוּ וְהָעָ֕ם לֹ֥א יַעֲל֖וּ עִמּֽוֹ׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The Lord approaches everyone through His grace, yet we distance ourselves through our transgressions. As it is written, ‘He that removeth himself from Thee shall perish’ (Psalm 72:27). This is why it is mentioned that Moses ‘came near’ to God; anyone who mirrors Moses in courage and righteous actions is drawn closer to the Divine.
Moses was the only one who approached the Lord, as the people were forbidden to ascend the mountain. Access to God is permitted solely to those capable of bearing His glory, such as Moses. From the outset of the law, the scene was filled with trumpet blasts, flashes of lightning, thunder, darkness, and the mountain billowing smoke (see Exodus 19:16). There were grave warnings that any animal that touched the mountain would face punishment by stoning (see Exodus 19:13), and these ominous signs deterred the others from coming closer. They could only hear God's voice after undergoing proper purification. In contrast, Moses ascended the mountain, entered the cloud, and received the Law along with the tablets (see Exodus 31:18). For most, these were tablets inscribed with letters, but for those in higher spiritual standing, they represented the tablets of the Spirit (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Scholars have struggled to understand why these two verses disrupt the continuity of the 'book of the covenant,' beginning with verse 23 of chapter 20 and concluding with verse 8 of chapter 24. Many, such as Ewald, have suggested that the verses were rearranged, proposing that verse 3 of the current chapter should follow the last verse of the previous chapter, while verses 1 and 2 ought to start a new section that precedes verse 9. However, we contend that such an interpretation is unnecessary. By the time we reach verse 33 of chapter 23, the directive commands are complete; Moses is instructed to ascend the mountain.
He then completes his task by formally affirming the people's commitment to adhere to the contents of the book of the covenant (verses 5-8), finalizing it right after receiving the divine revelation (verse 4), before ascending with the elders. It appears that the narrative adheres to a chronological order.
In verses 1 and 2, further inquiries arise: who was it that told Moses, “Go up to the Lord?” Many interpret this as a reference to the glory that overshadowed Moses; in Onkelos, this concept is conveyed by the term Memra, which signifies the Logos, the Word of God communicated to humanity. Others associate the term "He" with verse 23 from chapter 20, referring to the Angel bearing the name of Jehovah. However, we have previously established that the Angel guiding Israel was indeed the Lord Himself. Thus, it seems prudent to distinguish the speaker from Jehovah in verse 1, indicating that it refers to the Angel commanding the completion of the codes and the ascent of the elders, a task Moses fulfills by first presenting the book of the covenant to the people.
The seventy elders, who were privileged to ascend the mountain and stand before God's presence, hold significant status within Jewish tradition, particularly in the esoteric teachings of Kabbalistics. This mystical philosophy, which devolved into shamanistic practices during the Middle Ages, represented a bold intellectual doctrine masquerading as an interpretation of sacred scripture, hinting at a continuity of understanding passed down verbally from the seventy elders to their disciples. As per the Kabbalistic tradition, each initiate was expected to have only one disciple throughout their lifetime. Although the Talmud elucidates the origins of this teaching, references to the doctrine itself are scarce within the Mishnah or Gemara, which mainly recount legendary tales about the Kabbalists. It is more plausible that Kabbalistic philosophy emerged during the Babylonian exile, subsequently influencing the thoughts of Philo and the Alexandrian Jews, as suggested by Frank.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS