19:16 On 1 the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense 2 cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud 3 horn; 4 all the people who were in the camp trembled. 19:17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. 19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, 5 and the whole mountain shook 6 violently.
20:18 All the people were seeing 7 the thundering and the lightning, and heard 8 the sound of the horn, and saw 9 the mountain smoking – and when 10 the people saw it they trembled with fear 11 and kept their distance. 12 20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak 13 to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”
1 tn Heb “and it was on.”
2 tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).
3 tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).
4 tn The word here is שֹׁפָר (shofar), the normal word for “horn.” This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event (see 1 Kgs 1:34; 2 Sam 6:15). The previous word used in the context (v. 16) was יֹבֵל (yovel, “ram’s horn”).
5 sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.
6 tn This is the same word translated “trembled” above (v. 16).
7 tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).
8 tn The verb “to see” (רָאָה, ra’ah) refers to seeing with all the senses, or perceiving. W. C. Kaiser suggests that this is an example of the figure of speech called zeugma because the verb “saw” yokes together two objects, one that suits the verb and the other that does not. So, the verb “heard” is inserted here to clarify (“Exodus,” EBC 2:427).
9 tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).
10 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.
11 tn The meaning of נוּעַ (nua’) is “to shake, sway to and fro” in fear. Compare Isa 7:2 – “and his heart shook…as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”
12 tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”
13 tn The verb is a Piel imperative. In this context it has more of the sense of a request than a command. The independent personal pronoun “you” emphasizes the subject and forms the contrast with God’s speaking.