Exodus 31:18

 Exodus 31:18

And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

a. NASB 1995: When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified Bible: And He gave to Moses, when He had ceased communing with him on Mount Sinai, the two tables of the Testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: When He finished speaking to him on Mount Sinai. He gave Moses the two Tablets of Testimony, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God.    [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. ESV: And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”

a. [And he] gave [Strong: 5414  נָתַן nâthan, naw-than'; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):—add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, × avenge, × be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, × doubtless, × without fail, fasten, frame, × get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), × have, × indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), lie, lift up, make, O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, × pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), sing, slander, strike, (sub-) mit, suffer, × surely, × take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, weep, willingly, withdraw, would (to) God, yield.]

b. unto [Strong: 413 אֵל ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

c. Moses [Strong: 4872 מֹשֶׁה Môsheh, mo-sheh'; from H4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued; Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver:—Moses.]

d. [when he had made] an end [Strong: 3615 כָּלָה kâlâh, kaw-law'; a primitive root; to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume):—accomplish, cease, consume (away), determine, destroy (utterly), be (when... were) done, (be an) end (of), expire, (cause to) fail, faint, finish, fulfil, × fully, × have, leave (off), long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make clean riddance, spend, quite take away, waste.]

e. [of] communing [Strong: 1696 דָבַר dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

f. [with] him [Strong: 854 אֵת ʼêth, ayth; probably from H579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:—against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

g. [upon] mount [Strong: 2022 הַר har, har; a shortened form of H2042; a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively):—hill (country), mount(-ain), × promotion.]

h. Sinai [Strong: 5514 סִינַי Çîynay, see-nah'-ee; of uncertain derivation; Sinai, mountain of Arabia:—Sinai.]

i. two [Strong: 8147 שְׁנַיִם shᵉnayim, shen-ah'-yim; dual of H8145; feminine שְׁתַּיִם shᵉttayim; two; also (as ordinal) twofold:—both, couple, double, second, twain, twelfth, twelve, twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.]

j. tables [Strong: 3871 לוּחַ lûwach, loo'-akh; or לֻחַ luach; from a primitive root; probably meaning to glisten; a tablet (as polished), of stone, wood or metal:—board, plate, table.]

k. [of] testimony [Strong: 5715 עֵדוּת ʻêdûwth, ay-dooth'; feminine of H5707; testimony:—testimony, witness.]

l. tables [Strong: 3871 לוּחַ lûwach, loo'-akh; or לֻחַ luach; from a primitive root; probably meaning to glisten; a tablet (as polished), of stone, wood or metal:—board, plate, table.]

m. [of] stone [Strong: 68 אֶבֶן ʼeben, eh'-ben; from the root of H1129 through the meaning to build; a stone:— carbuncle, mason, plummet, (chalk-, hail-, head-, sling-) stone(-ny), (divers) weight(-s).]

n. written [Strong: 3789 כָּתַב kâthab, kaw-thab'; a primitive root; to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe):—describe, record, prescribe, subscribe, write(-ing, -ten).]

o. [with the] finger [Strong: 676 אֶצְבַּע ʼetsbaʻ, ets-bah'; from the same as H6648 (in the sense of grasping); something to sieze with, i.e. a finger; by analogy, a toe:—finger, toe.]

p. [of] God [Strong: 430 אֶצְבַּע ʼetsbaʻ, ets-bah'; from the same as H6648 (in the sense of grasping); something to sieze with, i.e. a finger; by analogy, a toe:—finger, toe.]

1).  ICR 11/3/11  All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16), but this portion of Scripture was given by direct inscription of God! Moses testified: "The LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly" (Deuteronomy 9:10). "He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments" (Exodus 34:28). Thus, out of all the Holy Scriptures, God chose to write this section, not through one of His prophets, but with His own finger! It should, therefore, be taken literally and most seriously. It is also significant that these commandments were structured around a weekly day of rest, "remembering" God's creation week--six days of creating and making everything in heaven and earth, followed by a sanctified day of rest and refreshment (note also Exodus 20:8-11 and Genesis 1:31-2:3). Ever since the creation, people have observed a weekly calendar. The seven-day week (unlike the day, month, and year) has no astronomical basis at all. People keep time in weeks simply because God did! Even those who deny the six-day week of creation must observe it, for their biological rhythms are constructed that way by God. "The sabbath was made for man," said Jesus (Mark 2:27). Since God considered the truth of the literal creation week so important that He inscribed it Himself, we should believe this portion of His Word first of all. HMM