Amplified Bible
Exodus 20:19
19Then they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us or we will die.”
Exodus 20:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
- New International Version (NIV)and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
Context of Exodus 20:19
17“You shall not covet [that is, selfishly desire and attempt to acquire] your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18Now all the people witnessed the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the smoking mountain; and as they looked, the people were afraid, and they trembled [and moved backward] and stood at a [safe] distance. Then they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us or we will die.” 20Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him [that is, a profound reverence for Him] will remain with you, so that you do not sin.” 21So the people stood at a [safe] distance, but Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
Read all of Exodus 20Exodus 20:19 word by word
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה דַּבֵּר־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּ֖נוּ וְנִשְׁמָ֑עָה וְאַל־יְדַבֵּ֥ר עִמָּ֛נוּ אֱלֹהִ֖ים פֶּן־נָמֽוּת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 20:19
- Deuteronomy 18:16This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai) on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear the voice of the Lord my God again, nor see this great fire anymore, so that I will not die.’
- Acts 7:38This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.
- Exodus 33:20But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live!”
- Genesis 32:30So Jacob named the place Peniel (the face of God), saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life has not been snatched away.”
Commentaries on Exodus 20:19
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 Compare Deuteronomy 5:22-31. Aaron Exodus 19:24 on this occasion accompanied Moses in drawing near to the thick darkness. Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33 is a series of laws which we may identify with what was written by Moses in the book called the book of the covenant, and read by him in the audience of the people Exodus 24:7. The document cannot be regarded as a strictly systematic whole. Portions of it were probably traditional rules handed…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 This law, which is so extensive that we cannot measure it, so spiritual that we cannot evade it, and so reasonable that we cannot find fault with it, will be the rule of the future judgment of God, as it is for the present conduct of man. If tried by this rule, we shall find our lives have been passed in transgressions. And with this holy law and an awful judgment before us, who can despise the gospel of Christ? And the knowledge of the law…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-21The people were very conscious of their sinfulness before a holy God and begged Moses to stand between them and God. Moses pointed out that God’s goal was neither to overawe them nor to destroy them. Rather, he wanted their awe of him to keep them from sinning (Exodus 20:20). Jesus is the ultimate mediator between God and people (1 Timothy 2:5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2118-21. all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings--They were eye and ear witnesses of the awful emblems of the Deity's descent. But they perceived not the Deity Himself.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 20:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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