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Exodus 19

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Israel Arrives at Mount Sinai 1–2

1
In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. ​
2
For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. ​

God Proposes the Covenant 3–8

3
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. ​
5
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ​
6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. ​
7
And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
8
And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. ​

Commands for Sanctification and Boundaries 9–15

9
And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. ​
10
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, ​
11
And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. ​
12
And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: ​
13
There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
14
And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
15
And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. ​

The Great Theophany at Sinai 16–25

16
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. ​
17
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. ​
19
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20
And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. ​
21
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. ​
22
And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. ​
23
And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. ​
24
And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. ​
25
So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 19

Verse 1

the third month — Counted from the Passover month, 'the beginning of months' (Ex 12:2). Israel reaches 'the wilderness of Sinai' 'the same day' and stays there until the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, when the cloud is taken up (Num 10:11–12). The commandments of Leviticus were given 'in mount Sinai' (Lev 27:34).

Verse 2

Israel camped before the mount — Rephidim (Ex 17:1) to Sinai is the stage listed in Num 33:15. The people stand where the LORD had promised Moses at the bush: 'ye shall serve God upon this mountain' (Ex 3:12). Jethro had already come to 'the mount of God' (Ex 18:5).

Verse 4

on eagles' wings — Nasa is to lift and carry. The figure is drawn out in Deut 32:11–12: an eagle 'taketh them, beareth them on her wings… So the LORD alone did lead him.' 'Brought you unto myself' names the end of the journey: the mount, where Moses brings the people 'to meet with God' (v.17).

Verse 5

a peculiar treasure — Segullah, a possession set apart as one's own treasure; the word of Ps 135:4, 'Israel for his peculiar treasure', and of Mal 3:17, 'my jewels'. It is joined to hearing and keeping the covenant, and rests on the LORD's ownership of all things: 'for all the earth is mine'. Paul uses 'a peculiar people' of the redeemed (Titus 2:14).

Verse 6

a kingdom of priests — The charge falls on the whole nation: a 'kingdom of priests, and an holy nation'. Peter gives the words to the church, 'a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people' (1 Pet 2:9), and John hears the redeemed called 'kings and priests' (Rev 5:10). These are 'the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel'.

Verse 8

All that the LORD hath spoken we will do — The people answer 'together' before any commandment has been given (Ex 20). They repeat the vow at the reading of the book of the covenant: 'All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient' (Ex 24:7). Looking back, the LORD says of their words, 'O that there were such an heart in them' (Deut 5:29).

Verse 9

a thick cloud — The cloud is how the LORD comes down (v.16; Ex 24:15–16). Its purpose is stated: 'that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever'. At the sea they had 'believed the LORD, and his servant Moses' (Ex 14:31); Moses recalls that 'Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice' (Deut 4:36).

Verse 10

sanctify them — Qadash, to set apart as holy; the same verb is used of the people here, of the priests (v.22) and of the mount itself (v.23). The washing of clothes is carried out in v.14. Jacob gave a like charge before going up to Bethel: 'be clean, and change your garments' (Gen 35:2).

Verse 11

the LORD will come down — Yarad, to descend, the verb again in vv.18 and 20. It will happen 'in the sight of all the people', not to Moses alone. Nehemiah recalls it in his prayer: 'Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven' (Neh 9:13).

Verse 12

set bounds unto the people — Gabal, to mark a boundary as with a line. Touching the mount is fatal to man and beast alike (v.13). Hebrews 12:18–20 recalls it: 'ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched', and 'they could not endure that which was commanded'.

Verse 15

come not at your wives — 'Come' is nagash, to draw near, and 'wives' is ishah, woman or wife. The three days of readiness (vv.11, 15) are a separation like the one in 1 Sam 21:4, where the priest gives David's young men the hallowed bread only 'if the young men have kept themselves at least from women'.

Verse 16

thunders and lightnings — 'Thunders' is qol, a voice, the same word as 'the voice of the trumpet', and again in v.19, where 'God answered him by a voice'. Hebrews 12:18–19 recalls 'the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words'. 'Trembled' (charad) is the verb used of the mount itself in v.18.

Verse 18

as the smoke of a furnace — Kibshan, the word of Gen 19:28, where the smoke of the plain 'went up as the smoke of a furnace'. 'Quaked' is charad, the verb of the people's trembling in v.16, so the camp and the mountain shake alike. Judges 5:5: 'The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai.'

Verse 20

called Moses up — Moses' second ascent in the chapter (v.3). 'Went up' is alah, the verb of the people's forbidden 'go up' in vv.12, 23 and 24. The LORD alone summons: later 'Come up to me into the mount, and be there' (Ex 24:12). Neh 9:13 recalls the descent: 'Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai.'

Verse 21

lest they break through — Haras, to tear through a barrier. The danger is 'to gaze' (ra'ah, to see): 'there shall no man see me, and live' (Ex 33:20); the men of Bethshemesh perished 'because they had looked into the ark of the LORD' (1 Sam 6:19). 'Charge' is ud, to testify, a solemn warning.

Verse 22

the priests also, which come near — Priests are named here before Aaron and his sons are set apart (Ex 28:1). 'Break forth' is parats, to breach, the verb of 2 Sam 6:8, 'the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah'. Lev 10:3 gives the rule behind it: 'I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me.'

Verse 23

The people cannot come up — Moses answers from the charge already given (v.12), and recalls it as including the mount: 'Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it', the verb qadash used of the people (v.10) and the priests (v.22). Hebrews 12:20 gives the people's side: 'they could not endure that which was commanded.'

Verse 24

thou, and Aaron with thee — Aaron is to come up with Moses; he goes up in Ex 24:9 with Nadab, Abihu and seventy elders. 'Break through' (haras) repeats v.21 and 'break forth' (parats) v.22. 'Our God is a consuming fire' (Heb 12:29) takes up Deut 4:24, 'the LORD thy God is a consuming fire'.