Talk:Tablets of stone

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[edit] Confusion

This is confusing: it refers to the tablets being inscribed with the ten commandments, but Exodus 31:18 merely refers to "two tablets of the Testimony," and there are ten chapters' worth of additional commandments before that happens. Please clarify. - Montréalais 10:24, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)

• Hi, are you aware that there are a few references and descriptions of these Tablets of Stone involved here? In Hebrew (the language of the Hebrew Bible of course) a "stone" is an even (plural avanim). For example: Book of Exodus (24:12) says: "God said to Moses, 'Come up to Me, to the mountain, and remain there. I will give you the stone tablets (Luchot HaEven in Hebrew), the Torah and the commandment that I have written for [the people's] instruction.' [1], then again in the Book of Deuteronomy (4:13) "He announced to you His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two stone tablets (Luchot Avanim in Hebrew). [2] . And then Moses says, also in the Book of Deuteronomy (9:9) "I had climbed the mountain to get the stone tablets (Luchot HaAvanim in Hebrew) - tablets of the covenant that God had made with you. I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights without eating food or drinking water." [3] . So these three Primary source references should suffice to show that calling them the "Tablets of stone" is A-OK. 11:55, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)

That's not what I mean. That they're stone is fine, but I'm inquiring as to the scriptural justification of the belief that these stones contained only the Ten Commandments, rather than the books of the several chapters of the law that are mentioned in connection with them in Exodus. - Montréalais 07:14, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Ok then, it does EXPLICITLY say in the Book of Exodus (34:28) "[Moses] remained there with God [on the mountain] for 40 days and 40 nights without eating bread nor drinking water. [God] wrote the words of the covenant, consisting of the Ten Commandments, on the Tablets." [4] and in the Book of Deuteronomy (4:12-13) "Then God spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no image; there was only a voice. He announced to you His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two stone tablets." [5] , so as they say, "it --the Ten Commandments -- is written in stone". Hope this answers your question, if that's what it was. IZAK 07:56, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yes, well, of course you are leaving out the fact that Ex 34:28 EXPLICITY ref to the "ritual 10 commandments", NOT the ten commandments that you have hypertexted to. Now, be careful how you cook your kid! I think your diritions is missplaced on such a tenuous purchase on the facts.