The Meaning of Exodus 24:1 Explained

Exodus 24:1

KJV: And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.

YLT: And unto Moses He said, 'Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and ye have bowed yourselves afar off;'

Darby: And he said to Moses, Go up to Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship afar off.

ASV: And he said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And he said  unto Moses,  Come up  unto the LORD,  thou, and Aaron,  Nadab,  and Abihu,  and seventy  of the elders  of Israel;  and worship  ye afar off. 

What does Exodus 24:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Exodus 24:1-11 - The Covenant Made And Sealed By Blood
Moses remained in communion with God while receiving the laws of the preceding chapters. When they were concluded he descended to ratify with all solemnity the Covenant between Jehovah and Israel. If the altar represented God's side of the transaction, the twelve pillars stood for Israel. The young men filled the priestly office according to Exodus 13:2, and until the Levites were appointed. It must have been a solemn spectacle as the sprinkled blood sealed the covenant. But let us turn from that first covenant, sealed with the blood of beasts, to the New Covenant, by which all the Church of the Redeemed are bound to God, and which was sealed by the shedding of the precious blood of Christ. "This is my blood of the Covenant," said Jesus, when handing round the wine. See Hebrews 9:18-20, and Exodus 13:20. The Lord's Supper is a perpetual reminder of our obligations. [source]

Chapter Summary: Exodus 24

1  Moses is called up into the mountain
3  The people promise obedience
4  Moses builds an altar, and twelve pillars
6  He sprinkles the blood of the covenant
9  The glory of God appears
14  Aaron and Hur have the charge of the people
15  Moses goes into the mountain, where he continues forty days and forty nights

What do the individual words in Exodus 24:1 mean?

And to Moses He said come up to Yahweh you and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel and worship from afar
וְאֶל־ מֹשֶׁ֨ה אָמַ֜ר עֲלֵ֣ה אֶל־ יְהוָ֗ה אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹן֙ נָדָ֣ב וַאֲבִיה֔וּא וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים מִזִּקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם מֵרָחֹֽק

וְאֶל־  And  to 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
מֹשֶׁ֨ה  Moses 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֹשֶׁה  
Sense: the prophet and lawgiver, leader of the exodus.
אָמַ֜ר  He  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
עֲלֵ֣ה  come  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
יְהוָ֗ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וְאַהֲרֹן֙  and  Aaron 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַהֲרֹון  
Sense: brother of Moses, a Levite and the first high priest.
נָדָ֣ב  Nadab 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: נָדָב  
Sense: eldest son of Aaron by Elisheba; struck dead before the sanctuary in the wilderness for kindling the censers with strange fire.
וַאֲבִיה֔וּא  and  Abihu 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲבִיהוּא  
Sense: a son of Aaron destroyed for sacrificing strange fire to God.
וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים  and  seventy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, common plural
Root: שִׁבְעִים  
Sense: seventy.
מִזִּקְנֵ֣י  of  the  elders 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: זָקֵן  
Sense: old.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם  and  worship 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hitpael, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: שָׁחָה  
Sense: to bow down.
מֵרָחֹֽק  from  afar 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רָחֹוק  
Sense: remote, far, distant, distant lands, distant ones.