Exodus 19:21-22

19:21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn ¹  the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. ²  19:22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through ³  against them.”

[19:21]  ¹ tn The imperative הָעֵד (ha’ed) means “charge” them – put them under oath, or solemnly warn them. God wished to ensure that the people would not force their way past the barriers that had been set out.

[19:21]  ² tn Heb “and fall”; NAB “be struck down.”

[19:22]  ³ tn The verb יִפְרֹץ (yifrots) is the imperfect tense from פָּרַץ (parats, “to make a breach, to break through”). The image of Yahweh breaking forth on them means “work destruction” (see 2 Sam 6:8; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 174).