Exodus 19:13

19:13 No hand will touch him ¹  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ²  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ³  go up on the mountain.”

Exodus 19:16

19:16 On ⁴  the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense ⁵  cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud ⁶  horn; ⁷  all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Exodus 20:18

20:18 All the people were seeing ⁸  the thundering and the lightning, and heard ⁹  the sound of the horn, and saw ¹⁰  the mountain smoking – and when ¹¹  the people saw it they trembled with fear ¹²  and kept their distance. ¹³ 

[19:13]  ¹ sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.

[19:13]  ² tn Heb “a man.”

[19:13]  ³ tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, “they may go up.” The ram’s horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.

[19:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it was on.”

[19:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).

[19:16]  ⁶ tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).

[19:16]  ⁷ 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”).

[20:18]  ⁷ tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).

[20:18]  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).

[20:18]  ⁹ tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).

[20:18]  ¹⁰ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.

[20:18]  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.”

[20:18]  ¹² tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”