The table below presents two contradictory verses/verselets. Both verses/verselets speak about the emotional reaction to meeting Divine people or communication with God. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse/verselet says the Jews beheld God without fear while the other verse/verselet says the Jews were afraid to come near to Moses after his prophetic experiences. We see the contradiction: Which is it? Is meeting Divine people or communication with God something fearful or not? Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 aspects method: a) Before the sin of the Golden calf the Jews beheld God and were not afraid; b) After the sin of the Golden calf the Jews were afraid to even speak to Moses after his prophecies.

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
The Jews were afraid to speak to Moses after the sin of worshipping the golden calf	Ex34-30a	And when Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come closer to him. [Note: This verse is stated after the sin of worshipping the golden calf.]
The Jews beheld God (apparently without fear)	Ex24-10,11,17	And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet a kind of paved work of a sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And upon the nobles of the people of Israel he laid not his hand; also they saw God, and ate and drank. .... And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the people of Israel.[Note, this verse is stated prior to the sin of the golden calf.]
Resolution:	2 Aspects	a) Before the sin of the Golden calf the Jews beheld God and were not afraid; b) After the sin of the Golden calf the Jews were afraid to even speak to Moses after his prophecies.

Advanced Rashi: Rashi simply cites the contrast that before sin they were not afraid of speaking to God while after the sin of the golden calf they were afraid to even speak to Moses. Accordingly we have explained this Rashi in rule #5, contradiction. However, it is proper to find further support for Rashi in other verses. The most superior treatment of this Rashi would be by the database method - however, the database method would require several examples of the inference that prior to sin man is not afraid of speaking to God while after sin man is so afraid. Accordingly we have sufficed with the contradiction and reference method. In rule #1, reference above we have shown that Rashi's comment finds support in the Adam/Eve story: Before the sin of eating from the tree Adam and Eve spoke to God without fear; after the sin of eating from the tree of life Adam and Eve were afraid to speak to God as evidenced by their hiding when they heard God's voice, as mentioned in Gn03-08.