John Calvin Commentary Exodus 24:1

"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:" — Exodus 24:1 (ASV)

Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu. Before Moses erected the tabernacle and consecrated it by a solemn ceremony, it was necessary for him to retrieve the Tables of the Covenant, which were a pledge of God’s favor. Otherwise, if the ark had nothing in it, the sanctuary would have been, in a way, empty. For this reason, he is commanded to go up into the mount, but not without a splendid train of companions, so that an appropriate preparation might arouse their minds for a fitting reception of this special blessing.

He is, therefore, commanded to take with him Aaron his brother, and Nadab and Abihu, together with seventy of the elders of the people. This was the number of witnesses selected to behold the glory of God. Before they ascended the mount, however, a sacrifice was offered by the whole people, and the Book of the Law was read. Finally, Moses alone was received at the top of the mount to bring from there the Tables written by the hand of God.

Here, however, (see Numbers 11:16 below for further discussion of this subject) a question arises concerning the seventy elders. For we shall see elsewhere that the seventy were not chosen until the people had departed from Mount Sinai; yet, mention is made of them here before the promulgation of the Law, which seems not at all consistent.

But this difficulty is removed if we accept what we gather from this passage: that even before they came to Mount Sinai, each tribe had appointed its governors (who would make up this number, as there were six from every tribe), and that when Moses later desired to be relieved of his burdens, part of the government was transferred ³⁰⁵ to these seventy persons, since this number was already sanctioned by custom and use. Certainly, since it is plainly stated that there were ³⁰⁶ seventy from the very first, it is probable that this number of assistants was given to Moses to make as little change as possible. For we know that when a custom has become established, people are very unwilling to depart from it.

But it might also have been that the desire and intention of the Israelites was thus to celebrate the memory of their origin. For seventy persons had gone down into Egypt with Jacob, and in less than two hundred and twenty years after they arrived there, their descendants had increased to six hundred thousand, besides women and children. It is not, therefore, improbable that seventy persons were appointed to preside over the whole people, so that such a marvelous blessing of God might continue to be attested in all ages, as if tracing the beginning of their nation back to its very source.

³⁰⁵ “A ceux, qui desia estoyent en degre d’honneur;” to those who were already honourably distinguished. — Fr..

³⁰⁶ “Septante et deux;” seventy-two. — Fr..