(1) Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, and bow low from afar. (2) Moses alone shall come near the LORD; but the others shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.” (3) Moses went and repeated to the people all the commands of the LORD and all the rules; and all the people answered with one voice, saying, “All the things that the LORD has commanded we will do!” (4) Moses then wrote down all the commands of the LORD. Early in the morning, he set up an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. (5) He designated some young men among the Israelites, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as offerings of well-being to the LORD. (6) Moses took one part of the blood and put it in basins, and the other part of the blood he dashed against the altar. (7) Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will faithfully do!” (8) Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD now makes with you concerning all these commands.” (9) Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended; (10) and they saw the God of Israel: under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. (11) Yet He did not raise His hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank. (12) The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and commandments which I have inscribed to instruct them.” (13) So Moses and his attendant Joshua arose, and Moses ascended the mountain of God. (14) To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; let anyone who has a legal matter approach them.” (15) When Moses had ascended the mountain, the cloud covered the mountain. (16) The Presence of the LORD abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. (17) Now the Presence of the LORD appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. (18) Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

(10) ויראו את אלהי ישראל NOW THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL — They gazed intently and failing in this they peeped in their attempt to catch a glimpse of the Supreme Being, and thereby made themselves liable to death. But it was only because God did not wish to disturb the joy caused by the Giving of the Torah, that He did not punish them instantly, but waited (postponed the punishment) for Nadab and Abihu until the day when the Tabernacle was dedicated, when they were stricken with death, and for the elders until the event of which the text relates, (Numbers 11:16) “And when the people complained …. and the fire of the Lord burned among them and destroyed בקצה המחנה” — those who were the קצינים “nobles” of the camp (Midrash Tanchuma 4:3:16)., כמעשה לבנת הספיר AS IT WERE THE BRICKWORK OF SAPPHIRE — This had been before Him during the period of Egyptian slavery as a symbol of Israel’s woes — for they were subjected to do brick-work (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Succah 6:3; Leviticus Rabbah 23:8)., וכעצם השמים לטהר AND AS IT WERE AS THE BODY OF HEAVEN FOR PURITY — This implies that as soon as they (the Israelites) were delivered there was radiance and rejoicing before Him., וכעצם — Translate it as the Targum does: “as the appearance”., לטהר means FOR BRIGHTNESS AND CLEARNESS.

(11) ואל אצילי AND UPON THE NOBLES — these were Nadab and Abihu and the elders —, לא שלח ידו HE LAID NOT HIS HAND — This implies that they well deserved that God should stretch forth His hand against them (Midrash Tanchuma 4:3:16)., ויחזו את האלהים AND THEY BEHELD GOD [AND DID EAT AND DRINK] — They gazed at him intimately as though their association with Him were a matter of eating and drinking. Thus does the Midrash Tanchuma 4:3:16 explain it. Onkelos, however, does not translate the passage this way (i. e. he does not take it in a depreciative sense that Nadab and Abihu and the elders acted improperly. His translation is: they beheld God’s Glory and rejoiced in their offerings which were accepted as though they were eating and drinking). —, אצילי means “the great men”, as, (Isaiah 41:9) “I called thee from the chief men (אציליה) thereof”; (Numbers 11:17) “And he increased (ויאצל) some of the spirit” (cf. Rashi on Numbers 11:17 and Onkelos on 11:25); (Ezekiel 41:8) “six cubits in its size (largeness) (אצילה‎)”.

THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL- Ibn Ezra explains that this "sight" is that of prophecy as in "I saw God standing by the alter" (Amos 9:1)

UNDER HIS FEET LIKE A PAVEMENT OF SAPPHIRE- This is like what Ezekial saw[in his vision] "appearance like sapphire, a semblance of a throne (Ezek. 1:26)

LIKE THE VERY SKY FOR PURITY- That they saw under the pavement of sapphire like the very sky for purity, that is the expanse which is the "expanse, with an awe inspiring gleam as of crystal, was spread above their heads" (Ezek. 1:22)...Essentially, this is like Ezekial's vision

V'AL DERECH HAEMET- Because it repeats during the giving of the Torah "God spoke" (Ex. 19:25/20:1) and it says "God has shown us His Glory and Majestic Presence and we heard His voice from amidst the fire."(Deut. 5:21) It is explained there that they saw "Elohei Yisrael" and it doesn't say as it says in every other place "Adonai Elohei Yisrael", in mentioning this it means to say that the elders received a vision that was more intense than the rest of the people that saw "on the earth the great fire." (Deut. 4:36)