12 And thou shalt set bounds H1379 unto the people H5971 round about, H5439 saying, H559 Take heed H8104 to yourselves, that ye go not up H5927 into the mount, H2022 or touch H5060 the border H7097 of it: whosoever toucheth H5060 the mount H2022 shall be surely H4191 put to death: H4191
13 There shall not an hand H3027 touch H5060 it, but he shall surely H5619 be stoned, H5619 or H176 shot H3384 through; H3384 whether it be beast H929 or H518 man, H376 it shall not live: H2421 when the trumpet H3104 soundeth long, H4900 they shall come up H5927 to the mount. H2022
14 And Moses H4872 went down H3381 from the mount H2022 unto the people, H5971 and sanctified H6942 the people; H5971 and they washed H3526 their clothes. H8071
15 And he said H559 unto the people, H5971 Be H1961 ready H3559 against the third H7969 day: H3117 come H5066 not at your wives. H802
16 And it came to pass on the third H7992 day H3117 in the morning, H1242 that there were thunders H6963 and lightnings, H1300 and a thick H3515 cloud H6051 upon the mount, H2022 and the voice H6963 of the trumpet H7782 exceeding H3966 loud; H2389 so that all the people H5971 that was in the camp H4264 trembled. H2729
17 And Moses H4872 brought forth H3318 the people H5971 out of the camp H4264 to meet H7125 with God; H430 and they stood H3320 at the nether H8482 part of the mount. H2022
18 And mount H2022 Sinai H5514 was altogether on a smoke, H6225 because H6440 H834 the LORD H3068 descended H3381 upon it in fire: H784 and the smoke H6227 thereof ascended H5927 as the smoke H6227 of a furnace, H3536 and the whole mount H2022 quaked H2729 greatly. H3966
19 And when the voice H6963 of the trumpet H7782 sounded H6963 long, H1980 and waxed louder H2390 and louder, H3966 Moses H4872 spake, H1696 and God H430 answered H6030 him by a voice. H6963
20 And the LORD H3068 came down H3381 upon mount H2022 Sinai, H5514 on the top H7218 of the mount: H2022 and the LORD H3068 called H7121 Moses H4872 up to H413 the top H7218 of the mount; H2022 and Moses H4872 went up. H5927
21 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Moses, H4872 Go down, H3381 charge H5749 the people, H5971 lest they break through H2040 unto the LORD H3068 to gaze, H7200 and many H7227 of them perish. H5307
22 And let the priests H3548 also, which come near H5066 to the LORD, H3068 sanctify H6942 themselves, lest the LORD H3068 break forth H6555 upon them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 19
Commentary on Exodus 19 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 19
Ex 19:1-25. Arrival at Sinai.
1. In the third month—according to Jewish usage, the first day of that month—"same day."—It is added, to mark the time more explicitly, that is, forty-five days after Egypt—one day spent on the mount (Ex 19:3), one returning the people's answer (Ex 19:7, 8), three days of preparation, making the whole time fifty days from the first passover to the promulgation of the law. Hence the feast of pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day, was the inauguration of the Old Testament church, and the divine wisdom is apparent in the selection of the same reason for the institution of the New Testament church (Joh 1:17; Ac 2:1).
2. were come to the desert of Sinai—The desert has its provinces, or divisions, distinguished by a variety of names; and the "desert of Sinai" is that wild and desolate region which occupies the very center of the peninsula, comprising the lofty range to which the mount of God belongs. It is a wilderness of shaggy rocks of porphyry and red granite, and of valleys for the most part bare of verdure.
and there Israel camped before the mount—Sinai, so called from Seneh, or acacia bush. It is now called Jebel Musa. Their way into the interior of the gigantic cluster was by Wady Feiran, which would lead the bulk of the hosts with their flocks and herds into the high valleys of Jebel Musa, with their abundant springs, especially into the great thoroughfare of the desert—the longest, widest, and most continuous of all the valleys, the Wady-es-Sheikh, while many would be scattered among the adjacent valleys; so that thus secluded from the world in a wild and sublime amphitheatre of rocks, they "camped before the mount." "In this valley—a long flat valley—about a quarter of a mile in breadth, winding northwards, Israel would find ample room for their encampment. Of all the wadys in that region, it seems the most suitable for a prolonged sojourn. The 'goodly tents' of Israel could spread themselves without limit" [Bonar].
3-6. Moses went up unto God—the Shekinah—within the cloud (Ex 33:20; Joh 1:18).
Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, &c.—The object for which Moses went up was to receive and convey to the people the message contained in these verses, and the purport of which was a general announcement of the terms on which God was to take the Israelites into a close and peculiar relation to Himself. In thus negotiating between God and His people, the highest post of duty which any mortal man was ever called to occupy, Moses was still but a servant. The only Mediator is Jesus Christ [1Ti 2:5; Heb 12:24].
6. ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests—As the priestly order was set apart from the common mass, so the Israelites, compared with other people, were to sustain the same near relation to God; a community of spiritual sovreigns.
an holy nation—set apart to preserve the knowledge and worship of God.
7, 8. Moses came and called for the elders of the people—The message was conveyed to the mighty multitude through their elders, who, doubtless, instructed them in the conditions required. Their unanimous acceptance was conveyed through the same channel to Moses, and by him reported to the Lord. Ah! how much self-confidence did their language betray! How little did they know what spirit they were of!
9-15. The Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come … in a thick cloud, &c.—The deepest impressions are made on the mind through the medium of the senses; and so He who knew what was in man signalized His descent at the inauguration of the ancient church, by all the sensible tokens of august majesty that were fitted to produce the conviction that He is the great and terrible God. The whole multitude must have anticipated the event with feelings of intense solemnity and awe. The extraordinary preparations enjoined, the ablutions and rigid abstinence they were required to observe, the barriers erected all round the base of the mount, and the stern penalties annexed to the breach of any of the conditions, all tended to create an earnest and solemn expectation which increased as the appointed day drew near.
16. on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, &c.—The descent of God was signalized by every object imagination can conceive connected with the ideas of grandeur and of awe. But all was in keeping with the character of the law about to be proclaimed. As the mountain burned with fire, God was exhibited as a consuming fire to the transgressors of His law. The thunder and lightning, more awful amid the deep stillness of the region and reverberating with terrific peals among the mountains, would rouse the universal attention; a thick cloud was an apt emblem of the dark and shadowy dispensation (compare Mt 17:5).
the voice of a trumpet—This gave the scene the character of a miraculous transaction, in which other elements than those of nature were at work, and some other than material trumpet was blown by other means than human breath.
17. Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God—Wady-er-Raheh, where they stood, has a spacious sandy plain; immediately in front of Es Suksafeh, considered by Robinson to be the mount from which the law was given. "We measured it, and estimate the whole plain at two geographical miles long, and ranging in breadth from one-third to two-thirds of a mile, or as equivalent to a surface of one square mile. This space is nearly doubled by the recess on the west, and by the broad and level area of Wady-es-Sheikh on the east, which issues at right angles to the plain, and is equally in view of the front and summit of the mount. The examination convinced us that here was space enough to satisfy all the requisitions of the Scripture narrative, so far as it relates to the assembling of the congregation to receive the law. Here, too, one can see the fitness of the injunction to set bounds around the mount, that neither man nor beast might approach too near, for it rises like a perpendicular wall." But Jebel Musa, the old traditional Sinai, and the highest peak, has also a spacious valley, Wady Sebaiyeh, capable of holding the people. It is not certain on which of these two they stood.
21. the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people—No sooner had Moses proceeded a little up the mount, than he was suddenly ordered to return, in order to keep the people from breaking through to gaze—a course adopted to heighten the impressive solemnity of the scene. The strict injunctions renewed to all, whatever their condition, at a time and in circumstances when the whole multitude of Israel were standing at the base of the mount, was calculated in the highest degree to solemnize and awe every heart.