The Torah as Foundation (סוֹדְיּ ַה, HaYesod)
By Tim Hegg used with Permission Torahresource.com
The first notice of writing the word of God is found in Exodus
Ex. 31:18 When He (God) had finished speaking with him
(Moses) upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the
testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God. (cf. Ex
32:15f)
This was a monumental moment: the eternal word of God had been
committed to writing in the normal, inadequate language of humans. Contained
in strokes of letters, phrases, and paragraphs (as we now know them), the thoughts
of the Almighty had been set in stone. As Moses descended with the tablets, the
sin of Israel in their worship of the golden calf and the gods it represented caused
him to smash the tablets—the word of God, only moments ago inscribed for the
first time, was lost in the dust of the earth. By God’s mercy, a second set of tablets
were given to Moses by God (Ex 34:1), and these were eventually deposited into
the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 40:20).
But an interesting notice is found in Exodus 24:7 –
Then he (Moses) took the book of the covenant and read it in
the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has
spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”
What was formerly referred to as “tablets” (לוּחוֹת, luchot) is now called “the book
of the covenant” ( sepher hab’rit). What was it that Moses read to the
people? Exodus 24:3 notes:
Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of
the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered
with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has
spoken we will do!”
Obviously, the words which Moses read to the people were more than what was
contained on the tablets. Moses has apparently composed additional words,
recounting his conversation with God on the mountain, words which explained
and detailed the revelation of which the Ten Words were a summary. Thus began
the long history of commiting the word of God to written form.