An objection has been raised that since these were tablets that God Himself had written on, Moses would never dare to smash such a holy object.

While the tablets were indeed deeply sacred, the smashing of the tablets was right in line with the procedure which accompanied the breaking of any covenant or treaty agreement in the Ancient Near East. Moses' action was a profound prophetic sign demonstrating that the people had already broken the covenant. Two other parallels worth noting, which establish Deuteronomy as a treaty form:

1. Moses is said to break the tablets 'before the eyes' of the people, a phrase which is used the same way regarding other treaty texts.
2. The second copy of the tablets was placed in the Ark, which corresponds to the extra-biblical practice of placing copies of treaty texts in the sanctuaries of the treaty partners.