Exodus 24:13 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. Moses rose up - In Exodus 24:16 it is said that the glory of the Lord abode on the mount, and the cloud covered it. The glory was probably above the cloud, and it was to the cloud that Moses and his servant Joshua ascended at this time, leaving Aaron and the elders below. After they had been in this region, viz., where the cloud encompassed the mountain, for six days, God appears to have called Moses up higher: compare verses Exodus 24:16 and Exodus 24:18. Moses then ascended to the glory, leaving Joshua in the cloud, with whom he had, no doubt, frequent conferences during the forty days he continued with God on the mount.