explain difference between 10 commandments in Ex 20 and Ex 34?

Question

In Exodus 20, Moses goes up and God makes the t ablets, he comes down, see the worship of idols, and then, after some new instructions, makes his own stone tablets and when he comes down, the Exodus 34 Ten Commandments are very different. - why?

It appears that everyone has a very simplisitic answer, but nowhere in chapter 34 does it say something like "let me add a few on here." You will notice that there are duplicates in Chapter 34, but not that many and such commandments as "thou shalt no seeth a kid in its mother's milk" is absurd unless you understand Judaism. And, by the way, it was Yahweh in Ex 20 and Elohim in Exodus 34

As for staying awake in Sunday School, the dichotomy that exists here in not explained away in most Sunday Schools. Other dichotomies that exist are never explained either, like the two creation stories, the two Noah stories and even more. I have studied theology also and have never seen any mention of this in theology books that I have read. It appears to me that Christian churches seem to pick and choose what best suits them and avoid controversy. This is certainly a fact when you read Matthew 5 and then flip to Luke 6 where you have the beatitudes in a completely different light.

They even pick and choose what other commandments are given in the books of Moses, certainly not obeying all of them. If anyone, like President Carter, lust for a woman in his heart, he is coveting, or breaking one of the big ten.

Answer 1

Exodus 20 contains a ritual Decalogue that is likely meant to be parallel to the ethical Decalogue, and Ex. 34 as a whole is a narrative of the renewal of the covenant following the golden calf incident. The ritual Decalogue is an addition in light of that incident, and note that Moses is commanded to write them, whereas it is God who will write the new copy of the ethical set (34:1, 28; the subject of "he wrote upon the tables" in the last verse is God -- it is because critics understand the subject as "Moses"... that they are missing the point).

You really oughta stay awake in Sunday School.

Answer 2

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RE:
explain difference between 10 commandments in Ex 20 and Ex 34?
In Exodus 20, Moses goes up and God makes the t ablets, he comes down, see the worship of idols, and then, after some new instructions, makes his own stone tablets and when he comes down, the Exodus 34 Ten Commandments are very different. - why?

Answer 3

Ten Commandments Exodus 34

Answer 4

It's contradiction, which is normal for the Bible. The bottom line, however, is that Moses is fictional and the Exodus never happened. It also doesn't matter which set of Commandments you choose, no one follows them today. A big takeaway for me is the fact that Exodus 20 starts out with a speech that people call the "10" and leads into a bunch of laws. Christians like to slap a big bold label above this section that reads "The 10 Commandments" which obviously isn't part of the actual scripture. Exodus 34, however, blatantly states at the end in verse 28 that these are "the 10 commandments". Of course apologists overlook this because no one wants to put statues of the actual 10 in courthouses and classrooms since they are completely irrelevant and ridiculous.

Answer 5

In Exodus 20 Moses receives the original 10 Commandments. But he broken the tablets on which they were written in anger. He returns to the mountain where God rewrites the tablets, but also gives him additional commandments, 10 of which are listed in Exodus 34. The others are in the chapters which follow. The traditional count for those laws of 614 of them. While they were given at the time of the rewriting of the 10 Commandments, they are NOT what was written on the tablets. The original 10 were written, the scriptures just do not repeat them at that time. It only list the additional rules Moses received at the time.

Answer 6

Exodus 34:1 "The LORD said to Moses, Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke."

They were the same as those in Exodus 20. Later down in the chapter God made a covenant with Moses which was different from the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets.

Answer 7

Exodus chapter 32 ends without forgiveness.
Moses came down the mountain and broke the two tablets on the ground. The covenant was broken. The Ten Commandments, which are the covenant of God with Israel, had been violated. Not just by an individual (that could be covered by a sacrifice), but by the whole community. In the covenant at Sinai, individual covenant breaking could be dealt with, but if the whole community broke the covenant together, there was no redress. Israel was the son of God. As long as the community was faithful, individual faithlessness could be dealt with. But what happens when the community itself was faithless?

God tells Moses and all Israel that he will indeed give them the land that he promised. But while He will send an angel before them, He Himself will not go among them. They are a stiff-necked people. The community as a whole is stubborn and rebellious. God cannot dwell in such a people without consuming them.

Once again, Moses is summoned into the divine council. This is described for us in v7-11 (esp v 11) God is coming to his friend and discussing the situation. What will he do with this sinful people? Moses pleads his status as covenant mediator (v 12-13). God agrees (v14): But the "you" is singular. My presence will go with you, Moses (singular). So Moses pushes even further. He is grateful for the promise of God's presence with him, But he pleads his status as covenant mediator again (v 15-16). How will God reveal that Moses has found favor in his sight, unless Israel has also found favor with God. After all, a mediator does not represent himself alone! But here in verses 15-16 we are given a clear example of what a covenant mediator does. Without the intercession of Moses, Israel has no future. Israel only survives the wilderness because Moses has found favor in the sight of the LORD

Then in Chapter 34 God commands Moses to come back up the mountain, so that the covenant can be renewed. Yahweh appears before Moses, and reveals his glory, declaring his name: v5-7. And Moses replies with his formal prayer of repentance, asking God to pardon the sin of the whole community, that they might be restored as the inheritance of God. It is not simply that God has promised to give Israel an inheritance. But also that Israel himself is God's own inheritance. This is what it means to be the Son of God. It is the adoption of Israel--once again--and the restoration to the promise. And then God renews the covenant with Israel. He declares the terms of the covenant and the blessings and curses (v11-26). These verses echo the emphases of Exodus 20-23, the Book of the Covenant.

What is the difference between Exodus 20-23 and Exodus 34? In Exodus 20-23 the covenant is made with Israel. In Ex 34:27 we hear God say, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." The first covenant is made between God and Israel, with Moses as the mediator. The second covenant is made between God and Moses and all Israel with him (or in him?). This is an accurate way to describe the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is made between God and the elect, with Christ as the mediator. But it is also proper to say that the covenant of grace is made between God and Christ, with all the elect in him. Moses here reflects this foreshadowing Christ.

And indeed, Whereas God had written the Ten Commandments the first time with his own finger, this time Moses will write out the Ten Commandments (v28). He now has become the finger of God. And through this transfiguration, Moses himself begins to shine with the glory of God. (v29-35)

Answer 8

Interesting thread!

Answer 9

I think it's that the commandments in ch. 34 are an expanded version of what's in ch. 20.