One of the film’s credited screenwriters, Jeffrey Caine, makes it clear in the commentary track that this version of the story is not one where Moses receives two sets of tablets. Rather, the two sets of tablets have been collapsed into one. The infamous worship of the golden calf (which, in the Biblical telling, causes Moses to toss the tablets in anger) is but a minor pause in the journey up the mountain.
But I focused on that second tablet. Assuming that the filmmakers really knew on which tablet the first group of commandants was written (and they may not have known), there would likely have been a reason why the second set already had writing on it, even while Moses was inscribing the first. But what could that reason have been?
First, my initial assumption that the second tablet had been previously inscribed may have been accurate-- but it’s difficult to tell from its quick appearance in the dark whether it was, indeed, inscribed, or if the text is merely written on the tablet in preparation for the work of inscription. And if the text on it was written rather than inscribed, it would allow for the possibility that it was God who wrote on the tablets and Moses who gave them permanence. This would mean that in this action (along with others), Moses was something of a partner with God.
Though not the author of the text, Moses is shown to be deeply engaged with it, if only in a physical manner. I am rather comfortable with this particular interpretation. However, if the second tablet was already engraved while Moses worked on the first tablet, then what we are shown may simply be an error on the part of the filmmakers.
I decided to take a closer look at that second tablet. That was not as simple as it seems. The lack of light in that scene and the perspective of the tablet make it difficult to read without some fancy Photoshop work.
Though the first tablet was riddled with errors (as was discussed and described in an earlier blog post), that which can be read with certainty on the second tablet are accurate quotations from the Hebrew Bible.
I should note that, even though I was able to determine who provided the information about the tablets to the filmmakers , that same individual chose not to answer my questions, citing a signed confidentiality form. So, it seems that we are left to wonder...