Tablets of Stone

Covenantal interpretation in Jewish tradition

In rabbinic and medieval Jewish thought, the tablets are seen as covenantal documents formalizing the relationship between God and Israel. The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael calls them testimony of the Sinai covenant, while the Sifre Deuteronomy emphasizes their role as a witness to mutual obligations. Nachmanides, commenting on Exodus 24:12, explains that the tablets contain the written terms of the brit (covenant), with the Ten Commandments as foundational stipulations akin to ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties. Placing the tablets in the Ark parallels the practice of depositing treaty documents in temples as sacred witnesses.

Breaking of the first tablets

Rabbinic interpretation portrays Moses' breaking of the first tablets not as uncontrolled anger but as a necessary, divinely sanctioned response to Israel's violation of the covenant through the golden calf. The Talmud (Shabbat 87a) records God affirming Moses' action with the words 'Well done for breaking them.' Rashi explains that Moses reasoned that if a single non-idolatrous Israelite could not eat the Passover offering, the entire nation should be denied the tablets after committing idolatry. Exodus Rabbah compares the breaking to annulling a marriage contract when one party violates its terms, reflecting the spiritual rupture that had already occurred.

Appearance of the tablets

Recent popular depictions often show the tablets as round-topped rectangles, but rabbinic tradition describes them as rectangles with sharp corners, as seen in 3rd-century paintings at the Dura-Europos Synagogue and in early Christian art. Round-topped depictions appeared in the Middle Ages, modeled on contemporary hinged writing-tablets with wax interiors.

Michelangelo and Andrea Mantegna still depicted sharp corners, while later artists like Rembrandt combined rounded shapes with larger sizes. According to the Talmud, each tablet was square, six tefachim (about 50 cm) wide and high, and three tefachim (about 25 cm) thick, though some sources say they were rectangular. The words were bored fully through the stone, not engraved on the surface.

In the Quran

The Quran states that tablets were given to Moses, without quoting their contents explicitly. It mentions that God wrote on them instruction and explanation for all things. Unlike the biblical account, these tablets are not broken; Moses threw them down in anger but later picked them up. After his anger subsided, Moses took up the tablets, and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who fear the Lord.

Did You Know?

• The first tablets were entirely divine in origin, while the second required Moses to hew the stone himself.
• The tablets are referred to as luhot ha-berit ('tablets of the covenant') and luhot ha-edut ('tablets of testimony').