Exo 25:16 | KD | STEP | Into this ark Moses was to put “the testimony” (העדת; cf. ). This is the name given to the two tables of stone, upon which the ten words spoken by God to the whole nation were written, and which Moses was to receive from God ( ). Because these ten words were the declaration of God upon the basis of which the covenant was concluded ( ; ; ), these tables were called the tables of testimony (ch. ; ), or tables of the covenant ( ; ).

‏ Exodus 25:16

Into this ark Moses was to put “the testimony” (העדת; cf. Exo 40:20). This is the name given to the two tables of stone, upon which the ten words spoken by God to the whole nation were written, and which Moses was to receive from God (Exo 24:12). Because these ten words were the declaration of God upon the basis of which the covenant was concluded (Exo 34:27-28; Deu 4:13; Deu 10:1-2), these tables were called the tables of testimony (ch. Exo 31:18; Exo 34:29), or tables of the covenant (Deu 9:9; Deu 11:15).