71. The incident referred to here is the following. When Moses went to the
mountain he had been ordered to bring with him seventy elders of Israel. Later,
when God bestowed upon Moses the Book and the Criterion, he presented them to
the people. Some mischief-makers, according to the Qur'an, began to complain
that they could not believe in something just because Moses claimed that God
had spoken to him. This invited the wrath of God and they were punished. The
Old Testament, however, has the following account:
'And they saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet as it were a pavement
of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his
hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and
drank' (Exodus 24: 10-11),
Interestingly, it is stated later in the same book that when Moses requested
God to show him His glory, God rejected the request and said: 'You cannot see
my face; for man shall not see me and live'. (See Exodus 33: 18-23)