Exodus 34:27 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. Write thou these words - Either a transcript of the whole law now delivered, or the words included from Exodus 34:11 to Exodus 34:26. God certainly wrote the ten words on both sets of tables. Moses either wrote a transcript of these and the accompanying precepts for the use of the people, or he wrote the precepts themselves in addition to the ten commandments which were written by the finger of God. See Clarke on Exodus 34:1 (note). Allowing this mode of interpretation, the accompanying precepts were, probably, what was written on the back side of the tables by Moses; the ten commandments, what were written on the front by the finger of Jehovah: for we must pay but little attention to the supposition of the rabbins, that the letters on each table were cut through the stone, so as to be legible on each side. See Clarke on Exodus 32:15 (note).