while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:
3. And Moses went up. It is probable that Moses sought, as he was wont, retirement., in order to take counsel of God; for he speaks not as of some new or unusual circumstance, but of a custom previously observed; because he dared not stop anywhere, nor make any further advances, except as far as was prescribed him by the mouth of God.
God set up His pavilion on a barren mountaintop in the wilderness, not in any city or palace men had built, and thus put contempt upon all our magnificence. The Israelites reckoned on a three days' journey to sacrifice, yet took nearly two months; we are always miscounting the time such things require.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 19:1-8
And Moses went up unto God,.... Who was in the pillar of cloud upon the top of the mount; this was on the second day, according to the Targum of Jonathan: "the Lord called unto him out of the mountain"; or had called unto him, as Aben Ezra, since without his leave he could not have gone up.