Exodus 32 · Verse 15

Exodus 32:15

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

Exodus 32:15, King James Version

Exodus 32:15 in other translations

BSB	Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
WEB	Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other.
ASV	And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
YLT	And Moses turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony are in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that are they written;
DARBY	And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand — tables written on both their sides: on this side and on that were they written.
BBE	Then Moses came down the mountain with the two stones of the law in his hand; the stones had writing on their two sides, on the front and on the back.
Webster	And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

What does Exodus 32:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 32:15-18

15-18. Moses turned, and went down from the mount--The plain, Er-Raheh, is not visible from the top of Jebel Musa, nor can the mount be descended on the side towards that valley; hence Moses and his companion, who on duty had patiently waited his return in the hollow of the mountain's brow, heard the shouting some time before they actually saw the camp.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 15 The tables were written on both their sides - If we take this literally, it was certainly a very unusual thing; for in ancient times the two sides of the same substance were never written over. However, some rabbins suppose that by the writing on both sides is meant the letters were cut through the tables, so that they might be read on both sides, though on one side they would appear reversed. Supposing this to be correct, if the letters were the same with those called Hebrew now in common use, the ס samech, which occurs twice, and the final ם mem which occurs twenty-three times in the ten commandments, both of these being close letters, could not be cut through on both sides without falling out, unless, as some of the Jews have imagined, they were held in by miracle; but if this ancient character were the same with the Samaritan, this through cutting might have been quite practicable, as there is not one close letter in the whole Samaritan alphabet. On this transaction there are the three following opinions: 1. We may conceive the tables of stone to have been thin slabs or a kind of slate, and the writing on the back side to have been a continuation of that on the front, the first not being sufficient to contain the whole. 2. Or the writing on the back side was probably the precepts that accompanied the ten commandments; the latter were written by the Lord, the former by Moses; see Clarke's note on Exo 34:1. See Clarke's note on Exo 34:27. 3. Or the same words were written on both sides, so that when held up, two parties might read at the same time.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 32:15-20

What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Exodus 32:15 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּ֜פֶןvai.Yi.fenand he turnedH6437

וַיֵּ֤רֶדvai.Ye.redand he went downH3381

מֹשֶׁה֙mo.ShehMosesH4872

מִן\־min-fromH4480

הָהָ֔רha.Harthe mountainH2022

וּשְׁנֵ֛יu.she.Neiand [the] twoH8147

לֻחֹ֥תlu.Chot[the] tablets ofH3871

הָעֵדֻ֖תha.'e.Dutthe testimonyH5715

בְּיָד֑וֹbe.ya.Do[were] in hand hisH3027

לֻחֹ֗תlu.ChottabletsH3871

כְּתֻבִים֙ke.tu.VimwrittenH3789

מִשְּׁנֵ֣יmi.she.Neifrom [the] twoH8147

עֶבְרֵיהֶ֔ם'ev.rei.Hemsides theirH5676

מִזֶּ֥הmi.Zehfrom thisH2088

וּמִזֶּ֖הu.mi.Zehand from thisH2088

הֵ֥םhemtheyH1992

כְּתֻבִֽים\׃ke.tu.Vim[were] writtenH3789

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 32:15

Deuteronomy 9:15
So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
Deuteronomy 5:22
These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
Exodus 40:20
And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
Exodus 24:18
And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Psalms 19:7
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
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.
Exodus 16:34
As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
Revelation 5:1
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

turned.
24:18; De 9:15
the testimony.
16:34; 40:20; De 5:22; Ps 19:7
written.
Re 5:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Exodus 32:14
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Exodus 32:15
And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
Exodus 32:16
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

Read all of Exodus 32

Exodus 32:15 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y volvióse Moisés, y descendió del monte trayendo en su mano las dos tablas del testimonio, las tablas escritas por ambos lados; de una parte y de otra estaban escritas.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et Moïse se tourna, et descendit de la montagne, les deux tables du témoignage dans sa main: les tables étaient écrites de leurs deux côtés; elles étaient écrites deçà et delà.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und Mose wandte sich und stieg von dem Berge hinab, die zwei Tafeln des Zeugnisses in seiner Hand, Tafeln, beschrieben auf ihren beiden Seiten: auf dieser und auf jener Seite waren sie beschrieben.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et reversus est Moyses de monte, portans duas tabulas testimonii in manu sua, scriptas ex utraque parte,