23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
23 And it came to pass, when ye heard H8085 the voice H6963 out of the midst H8432 of the darkness, H2822 (for the mountain H2022 did burn H1197 with fire,) H784 that ye came near H7126 unto me, even all the heads H7218 of your tribes, H7626 and your elders; H2205
24 And ye said, H559 Behold, the LORD H3068 our God H430 hath shewed H7200 us his glory H3519 and his greatness, H1433 and we have heard H8085 his voice H6963 out of the midst H8432 of the fire: H784 we have seen H7200 this day H3117 that God H430 doth talk H1696 with man, H120 and he liveth. H2425
25 Now therefore why should we die? H4191 for this great H1419 fire H784 will consume H398 us: if we hear H8085 the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 our God H430 any more, H3254 then we shall die. H4191
26 For who is there of all flesh, H1320 that hath heard H8085 the voice H6963 of the living H2416 God H430 speaking H1696 out of the midst H8432 of the fire, H784 as we have, and lived? H2421
27 Go thou near, H7126 and hear H8085 all that the LORD H3068 our God H430 shall say: H559 and speak H1696 thou unto us all that the LORD H3068 our God H430 shall speak H1696 unto thee; and we will hear H8085 it, and do H6213 it.
23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 and ye said, Behold, Jehovah our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth speak with man, and he liveth.
25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 Go thou near, and hear all that Jehovah our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that Jehovah our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
23 `And it cometh to pass as ye hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and of the mountain burning with fire, that ye come near unto me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders,
24 and say, Lo, Jehovah our God hath shewed us His honour, and His greatness; and His voice we have heard out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God doth speak with man -- and he hath lived.
25 `And, now, why do we die? for consume us doth this great fire -- if we add to hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more -- then we have died.
26 For who of all flesh `is' he who hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire like us -- and doth live?
27 Draw near thou, and hear all that which Jehovah our God saith, and thou, thou dost speak unto us all that which Jehovah our God speaketh unto thee, and we have hearkened, and done it.
23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, and the mountain burned with fire, that ye came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 and ye said, Behold, Jehovah our God has shewn us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God talks with man, and he lives.
25 And now, why should we die? for this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we, and has lived?
27 Come thou near, and hear all that Jehovah our God will say; and speak thou to us all that Jehovah our God will speak to thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
23 It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 and you said, Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God does speak with man, and he lives.
25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 Go you near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say: and speak you to us all that Yahweh our God shall speak to you; and we will hear it, and do it.
23 And after hearing the voice which came out of the dark while the mountain was burning with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your chiefs came to me,
24 And said, The Lord has let us see his glory and his power, and his voice has come to us out of the fire: today we have seen that a man may go on living even after hearing the voice of God.
25 Why then is death to be our fate? For if the voice of the Lord our God comes to us any more, death will overtake us, and we will be burned up in this great fire.
26 For what man is there in all the earth, who, hearing the voice of the living God as we have, out of the heart of the fire, has been kept from death?
27 Do you go near: and after hearing everything which the Lord our God has to say, give us an account of all he has said to you, and we will give ear, and do it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 5
Commentary on Deuteronomy 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
De 5:1-29. A Commemoration of the Covenant in Horeb.
1. Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments—Whether this rehearsal of the law was made in a solemn assembly, or as some think at a general meeting of the elders as representatives of the people, is of little moment; it was addressed either directly or indirectly to the Hebrew people as principles of their peculiar constitution as a nation; and hence, as has been well observed, "the Jewish law has no obligation upon Christians, unless so much of it as given or commanded by Jesus Christ; for whatever in this law is conformable to the laws of nature, obliges us, not as given by Moses, but by virtue of an antecedent law common to all rational beings" [Bishop Wilson].
3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us—The meaning is, "not with our fathers" only, "but with us" also, assuming it to be "a covenant" of grace. It may mean "not with our fathers" at all, if the reference is to the peculiar establishment of the covenant of Sinai; a law was not given to them as to us, nor was the covenant ratified in the same public manner and by the same solemn sanctions. Or, finally, the meaning may be "not with our fathers" who died in the wilderness, in consequence of their rebellion, and to whom God did not give the rewards promised only to the faithful; but "with us," who alone, strictly speaking, shall enjoy the benefits of this covenant by entering on the possession of the promised land.
4. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount—not in a visible and corporeal form, of which there was no trace (De 4:12, 15), but freely, familiarly, and in such a manner that no doubt could be entertained of His presence.
5. I stood between the Lord and you at that time—as the messenger and interpreter of thy heavenly King, bringing near two objects formerly removed from each other at a vast distance, namely, God and the people (Ga 3:19). In this character Moses was a type of Christ, who is the only mediator between God and men (1Ti 2:5), the Mediator of a better covenant (Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24).
to show you the word of the Lord—not the ten commandments—for they were proclaimed directly by the Divine Speaker Himself, but the statutes and judgments which are repeated in the subsequent portion of this book.
6-20. I am the Lord thy God—The word "Lord" is expressive of authority or dominion; and God, who by natural claim as well as by covenant relation was entitled to exercise supremacy over His people Israel, had a sovereign right to establish laws for their government. [See on Ex 20:2.] The commandments which follow are, with a few slight verbal alterations, the same as formerly recorded (Ex 20:1-17), and in some of them there is a distinct reference to that promulgation.
12. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee—that is, keep it in mind as a sacred institution of former enactment and perpetual obligation. [See on Ex 20:8].
14. that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou—This is a different reason for the observance of the Sabbath from what is assigned in Ex 20:8-11, where that day is stated to be an appointed memorial of the creation. But the addition of another motive for the observance does not imply any necessary contrariety to the other; and it has been thought probable that, the commemorative design of the institution being well known, the other reason was specially mentioned on this repetition of the law, to secure the privilege of sabbatic rest to servants, of which, in some Hebrew families, they had been deprived. In this view, the allusion to the period of Egyptian bondage (De 5:15), when they themselves were not permitted to observe the Sabbath either as a day of rest or of public devotion, was peculiarly seasonable and significant, well fitted to come home to their business and bosoms.
16. that it may go well with thee—This clause is not in Exodus, but admitted into Eph 6:3.
21. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, … house, his field—An alteration is here made in the words (see Ex 20:17), but it is so slight ("wife" being put in the first clause and "house" in the second) that it would not have been worth while noticing it, except that the interchange proves, contrary to the opinion of some eminent critics, that these two objects are included in one and the same commandment.
22. he added no more—(Ex 20:1). The pre-eminence of these ten commandments was shown in God's announcing them directly: other laws and institutions were communicated to the people through the instrumentality of Moses.
23-28. And … ye came near unto me—(See on Ex 20:19).
29. Oh, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me—God can bestow such a heart, and has promised to give it, wherever it is asked (Jer 32:40). But the wish which is here expressed on the part of God for the piety and steadfast obedience of the Israelites did not relate to them as individuals, so much as a nation, whose religious character and progress would have a mighty influence on the world at large.