Exodus 19:16-20

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. 19:19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, ⁷  Moses was speaking ⁸  and God was answering him with a voice. ⁹ 

19:20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Exodus 20:18

20:18 All the people were seeing ¹⁰  the thundering and the lightning, and heard ¹¹  the sound of the horn, and saw ¹²  the mountain smoking – and when ¹³  the people saw it they trembled with fear ¹⁴  and kept their distance. ¹⁵ 

Exodus 24:15-17

24:15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 24:16 The glory of the Lord resided ¹⁶  on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. ¹⁷  On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. 24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view ¹⁸  of the people.

Deuteronomy 5:24

5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory ¹⁹  and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us ²⁰  that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living.

Psalms 68:17

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ²¹ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ²² 

Psalms 114:3-7

114:3 The sea looked and fled; ²³ 

the Jordan River ²⁴  turned back. ²⁵ 

114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs. ²⁶ 

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

114:6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,

like lambs, O hills?

114:7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –

before the God of Jacob,

[19:16]  ¹ tn Heb “and it was on.”

[19:16]  ² tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).

[19:16]  ³ tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).

[19:16]  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”).

[19:18]  ⁵ sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.

[19:18]  ⁶ tn This is the same word translated “trembled” above (v. 16).

[19:19]  ⁷ tn The active participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh) is used to add the idea of “continually” to the action of the sentence; here the trumpet became very loud – continually. See GKC 344 §113.u.

[19:19]  ⁸ tn The two verbs here (“spoke” and “answered”) are imperfect tenses; they emphasize repeated action but in past time. The customary imperfect usually is translated “would” or “used to” do the action, but here continuous action in past time is meant. S. R. Driver translates it “kept speaking” and “kept answering” (Exodus, 172).

[19:19]  ⁹ tn The text simply has בְּקוֹל (bÿqol); it could mean “with a voice” or it could mean “in thunder” since “voice” was used in v. 16 for thunder. In this context it would be natural to say that the repeated thunderings were the voice of God – but how is that an answer? Deut 4:12 says that the people heard the sound of words. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 232-33) rightly comments, “He was answering him with a loud voice so that it was possible for Moses to hear His words clearly in the midst of the storm.” He then draws a parallel from Ugaritic where it tells that one of the gods was speaking in a loud voice.

[20:18]  ¹⁰ tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).

[20:18]  ¹¹ 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).

[20:18]  ¹² tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).

[20:18]  ¹³ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.

[20:18]  ¹⁴ 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.”

[20:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”

[24:16]  ¹⁶ sn The verb is וַיִּשְׁכֹּן (vayyishkon, “and dwelt, abode”). From this is derived the epithet “the Shekinah Glory,” the dwelling or abiding glory. The “glory of Yahweh” was a display visible at a distance, clearly in view of the Israelites. To them it was like a consuming fire in the midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. That fire indicated that Yahweh wished to accept their sacrifice, as if it were a pleasant aroma to him, as Leviticus would say. This “appearance” indicated that the phenomena represented a shimmer of the likeness of his glory (B. Jacob, Exodus, 749). The verb, according to U. Cassuto (Exodus, 316), also gives an inkling of the next section of the book, the building of the “tabernacle,” the dwelling place, the מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan). The vision of the glory of Yahweh confirmed the authority of the revelation of the Law given to Israel. This chapter is the climax of God’s bringing people into covenant with himself, the completion of his revelation to them, a completion that is authenticated with the miraculous. It ends with the mediator going up in the clouds to be with God, and the people down below eagerly awaiting his return. The message of the whole chapter could be worded this way: Those whom God sanctifies by the blood of the covenant and instructs by the book of the covenant may enjoy fellowship with him and anticipate a far more glorious fellowship. So too in the NT the commandments and teachings of Jesus are confirmed by his miraculous deeds and by his glorious manifestation on the Mount of the Transfiguration, where a few who represented the disciples would see his glory and be able to teach others. The people of the new covenant have been brought into fellowship with God through the blood of the covenant; they wait eagerly for his return from heaven in the clouds.

[24:16]  ¹⁷ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[24:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to the eyes of” which could mean in their opinion.

[5:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”

[5:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “this day we have seen.”

[68:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

[68:17]  ²² tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

[114:3]  ²³ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[114:3]  ²⁵ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[114:4]  ²⁶ sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).