Question 1

What actions does Yahweh command Moses to do in verses 1–2, and what actions does Yahweh promise to do?

Accepted Answer

Verses 1–2 separate Moses’ responsibilities from Yahweh’s. Moses is commanded to cut two stone tablets like the first ones, come up the mountain, and make an ark made of wood. Yahweh’s promised action is that he will write on the new tablets the same words that were on the first tablets. After that writing, Moses is told to put the tablets into the ark. The division of actions highlights both Moses’ obedience and Yahweh’s role as the one who provides the authoritative covenant words.

Question 2

How does the passage describe the relationship between the first tablets and the second tablets?

Accepted Answer

The text stresses continuity. The second tablets are cut “like the first,” and the writing is “according to the first writing.” Yahweh explicitly says the words will be the same as those on the first tablets that Moses broke. That means the second set is not presented as a revision or replacement with different content, but as a reissuing of the same covenant words after the rupture caused by the calf incident. The narrative keeps the focus on restoration and preservation rather than novelty.

Question 3

What does verse 4 say about where the “ten commandments” originally came from and how they were delivered to Israel?

Accepted Answer

Verse 4 links the content on the tablets to a public, earlier event. Moses identifies what was written as “the ten commandments” and says these were the words Yahweh spoke to the people on the mountain “from the midst of the fire” on “the day of the assembly.” So the commandments are rooted in a communal revelation, not merely private instruction to Moses. The verse then adds that Yahweh gave the tablets to Moses, showing Moses’ role as the recipient and carrier of what was spoken to Israel.

Question 4

What role does the ark play in this passage, and how does Moses describe its purpose?

Accepted Answer

In this unit, the ark is the designated container for the tablets. Yahweh commands Moses to make an ark of wood and then instructs him to put the tablets into it. Moses reports that he did this, placing the tablets in the ark he made, and he adds that “there they are” as Yahweh commanded. The purpose emphasized here is custody and safeguarding: the covenant words are not left exposed or scattered but placed in an appointed location under instruction.

Question 5

What sequence of events does Moses report in verses 3–5, and what does that sequence emphasize?

Accepted Answer

Moses reports a clear chain: he makes an ark of acacia wood, cuts two tablets like the first, goes up the mountain with the tablets in hand, Yahweh writes on the tablets, Yahweh gives them to Moses, and Moses comes down and places them in the ark. The sequence emphasizes obedience and order. It also highlights that the writing is Yahweh’s act, not Moses’ authorship, while Moses’ role is to prepare, receive, and store the tablets according to command.

Question 6

What details in the passage connect this moment to the earlier crisis of the broken tablets?

Accepted Answer

The connection is explicit in Yahweh’s words: the new tablets will carry the words that were on the first tablets “which you broke.” That brief reminder assumes the larger story in which Moses shattered the first tablets following Israel’s unfaithfulness. The command to make a new set, and the note that the words are the same, frames the current moment as a response to that rupture. The placement of the tablets into an ark also signals a renewed, stabilized custody after the earlier breakdown.

Deuteronomy 10:1-5

Scripture