Exodus 19:15

Exodus 19:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
• New International Version (NIV)Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.”

Context of Exodus 19:15

13No one should touch them. They must be stoned or shot with arrows. No matter whether it’s an animal or a person, it must not live. The people may go up the mountain ⌞only⌟ when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast.” 14After Moses went down the mountain to the people, he had them get ready, and they washed their clothes. Then Moses said to the people, “Be ready two days from now. Don’t disqualify yourselves by having sexual intercourse.” 16On the morning of the second day, there was thunder and lightning with a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast from a ram’s horn ⌞was heard⌟. All the people in the camp shook with fear. 17Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Exodus 19:15 word by word

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָעָ֔ם הֱי֥וּ נְכֹנִ֖ים לִשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים אַֽל־תִּגְּשׁ֖וּ אֶל־אִשָּֽׁה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• Beהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• readyכּוּןkûn · to establish: prepareH3559
• against the thirdשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
• dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• comeנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: approachH5066
• wivesאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802

Cross-references for Exodus 19:15

• Amos 4:12This is what I will do to you, Israel. Prepare to meet your God. This is what I will do to you, Israel!
• Malachi 3:2But who will be able to endure the day he comes? Who will be able to survive on the day he appears? He is like a purifying fire and like a cleansing soap.
• Matthew 3:10The ax is now ready to cut the roots of the trees. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.
• Matthew 24:44Therefore, you, too, must be ready because the Son of Man will return when you least expect him.
• 2 Peter 3:11All these things will be destroyed in this way. So think of the kind of holy and godly lives you must live
• Exodus 19:11and be ready by the day after tomorrow. On that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.
• 1 Samuel 21:4“I don’t have any ordinary bread,” the chief priest answered David. “But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven’t had sexual intercourse ⌞today⌟.”
• Joel 2:16Gather the people. Prepare them for a holy meeting. Assemble the leaders. Gather the children, even the nursing infants. Grooms leave their rooms. Brides leave their chambers.
• Zechariah 6:3The third had white horses. And the fourth had strong, spotted horses.
• Zechariah 7:3They asked the priests from the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done for so many years?”
• Zechariah 12:12The land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of David by itself, and the wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by itself, and the wives by themselves;
• 1 Corinthians 7:5Don’t withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should get back together so that Satan doesn’t use your lack of self-control to tempt you.

Commentaries on Exodus 19:15

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-15Verses 9-15 The solemn manner in which the law was delivered, was to impress the people with a right sense of the Divine majesty. Also to convince them of their own guilt, and to show that they could not stand in judgment before God by their own obedience. In the law, the sinner discovers what he ought to be, what he is, and what he wants. There he learns the nature, necessity, and glory of redemption, and of being made holy. Having been taught to flee to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10-15In the second stage of preparation, the people received commands that helped them get ready for God’s covenant. First, they had to wash their clothing (19:10, 14). This act showed that God is pure. Second, they had to set up a boundary around the mountain and not cross it (19:12–13). This command showed that God is holy (completely set apart). Third, they had to abstain from sexual relations (19:15). This instruction reminded them that God is not a sexual…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 9-159-15. The Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come ... in a thick cloud, &c.--The deepest impressions are made on the mind through the medium of the senses; and so He who knew what was in man signalized His descent at the inauguration of the ancient church, by all the sensible tokens of august majesty that were fitted to produce the conviction that He is the great and terrible God. The whole multitude must have anticipated the event with feelings of intense…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 19:15

• Israel
• Purification
• Sinai
• Trumpet

In the dictionaries

• Third Day
• Commandments, the Ten
• Festivals, Religious
• Kingdom
• Return
• Sanctify
• Thunder
• Treasure
• Wing
• Essenes

Commentaries on Exodus 19

• 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