Exoduschapter 19
25 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th or 13th century BC · The Law
In Jewish life
The reading
Weekly portion 17 of 54
יִתְרוֹ Yitro, Exodus 18:1 to 20:23
Read with it: Isaiah 6:1 to 7:6 and 9:5 to 9:6 in Ashkenazi use, and Isaiah 6:1 to 6:13 in Sephardi use.
The verse numbers here are the ones a Hebrew Bible carries, which differ from an English Bible by a verse or two in several places. The Sephardi reading is named only where this site records a difference; communities vary beyond what is listed. What these books are, and how a Christian reader meets them →
What is done
The day this chapter describes has a feast of its own. This site's own note on Acts 2 records that Jewish tradition keeps Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. It cites the tractate Pesachim for the wording that it is the day on which the Torah was given. The same note records that the synagogue reads the book of Ruth at that feast by long custom. This site's table of the festival readings says the same of Ruth, and gives the reason usually offered, which joins the harvest the book is set in to Ruth coming under the covenant. A Christian reader knows the Greek name of the feast from the second chapter of Acts, which is Pentecost.
How it is read
The corpus keeps almost no English text for this chapter. Rashi comments at twenty-three places in it, and all but one of those stand by reference alone, because Sefaria reports no licence for the version held (Rashi on Exodus 19:4:1, 19:5:1, 19:16:1 and 19:18:1). The single kept note is at verse 10, in the Metsudah translation of 2009, where Rashi turns the verse on what the people had just said (Rashi on Exodus 19:10:1). Ibn Ezra comments at verse 7 and stands by reference as well. Chapters 3 and 8 of this book carry no kept text at all, and this chapter carries a single line of it, so on these three the reader is sent out to the links.
What the rabbis say
The rabbis take up the coming to Sinai at Avot DeRabbi Natan 1:1 and Aggadat Bereshit 17:2. On the eagles' wings they taught in Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 19:4. On the kingdom of priests they taught at Avot DeRabbi Natan 15:3 and Aggadat Bereshit 80:1. On the bounds set about the mountain they taught at Bava Kamma 54b:6 and 54b:8, and on the three days of preparation at Beitzah 5b:3. On the thunder and the trumpet they taught at Berakhot 6b:30 and Arakhin 11a:20, and on the mountain held over Israel at Avodah Zarah 2b:15.
The text, verse by verse
Each word shows the Hebrew, the English under it, how it sounds and its Strong’s number. A rule between verses marks where the Hebrew manuscripts end a paragraph.
A Kingdom of Priests, a Holy Nation
Ramban on Exodus 19:1
Scripture should have said, “And they journeyed from Rephidim and they encamped in the wilderness of Sinai, in the third month after their going forth from the land of Egypt,” just as it said above concerning the wilderness of Sin.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Three Days to Be Made Ready
Ramban on Exodus 19:10
Rashi explained: “ V’kidashtam means ‘and thou shalt prepare them.’” And so is the opinion of Onkelos. A similar usage is found in the verse: I have commanded ‘lim’kudashai’ (“those who are prepared for Me” or “My consecrated ones”), 200 Isaiah:3.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Onkelos Exodus 19:10
Adonoy said to Moshe, “Go to the people, and sanctify [prepare] them today and tomorrow, and let them cleanse their clothing.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]
Ramban on Exodus 19:11
I.e., so that all the people will behold His coming down, meaning that they will see the appearance of the Glory of the Eternal like devouring fire on the top of the mount, 208 Further,:17.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 19:12
Place a border on the mount. 105 The Biblical text reads, And thou shalt set bounds (ve-higbalta) unto the people. I.E.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004
Ramban on Exodus 19:13
WHEN ‘HAYOVEIL’ (THE RAM’S HORN) SOUNDETH LONG, THEY SHALL COME UP TO THE MOUNT. “The Hebrew word hayoveil denotes a ram’s horn, and the horn used here was that of Isaac’s ram.” 210 Genesis:13. Thus Rashi’s language.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Ramban on Exodus 19:14
This verse teaches that the command expressed in the [above] verse, And the Eternal said unto Moses: Go unto the people and sanctify them, 217 Above, Verse. was also given to him on the mountain which Moses ascended everytime that he was about to speak to Him.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Thunder, Smoke, and a Trembling Mountain
Hebrew words in this chapter
The 40 most used Hebrew words of the chapter, counted by lemma. The article, the object marker, the negatives and the common prepositions are left out.
| Word | Sense here | Uses | Strong’s |
|---|---|---|---|
| יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh | yahweh | 18 | H3068 |
| עַםʻam | people | 18 | H5971 |
| הַרhar | mountain | 16 | H2022 |
| מֹשֶׁהMôsheh | Moses | 14 | H4872 |
| אָמַרʼâmar | to say | 12 | H559 |
| עָלָהʻâlâh | he went up | 8 | H5927 |
| יָרַדyârad | to go down | 7 | H3381 |
| יוֹםyôwm | day | 6 | H3117 |
| סִינַיÇîynay | Sinai | 6 | H5514 |
| בּוֹאbôwʼ | to come | 5 | H935 |
| קוֹלqôwl | voice | 5 | H6963 |
| שְׁלִישִׁיshᵉlîyshîy | third | 4 | H7992 |
| יִשְׂרָאֵלYisrâʼêl | Israel | 4 | H3478 |
| דָּבָרdâbâr | word | 4 | H1697 |
| דָבַרdâbar | to speak | 4 | H1696 |
| קָדַשׁqâdash | to consecrate | 4 | H6942 |
| בֵּןbên | people of | 3 | H1121 |
| מִדְבָּרmidbâr | wilderness of | 3 | H4057 |
| אֱלֹהִיםʼĕlôhîym | God | 3 | H430 |
| קָרָאqârâʼ | to call | 3 | H7121 |
| Word | Sense here | Uses | Strong’s |
|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמַעshâmaʻ | to hear | 3 | H8085 |
| כֹּהֵןkôhên | priest | 3 | H3548 |
| הָלַךְhâlak | go | 3 | H1980 |
| נָגַעnâgaʻ | to touch | 3 | H5060 |
| מְאֹדmᵉʼôd | very | 3 | H3966 |
| פֵּןpên | lest | 3 | H6435 |
| יָצָאyâtsâʼ | to come out | 2 | H3318 |
| אֶרֶץʼerets | land | 2 | H776 |
| מִצְרַיִםMitsrayim | Egypt | 2 | H4714 |
| חָנָהchânâh | and they encamped | 2 | H2583 |
| נָגַדnâgad | to tell | 2 | H5046 |
| רָאָהrâʼâh | to see | 2 | H7200 |
| עָשָׂהʻâsâh | I did | 2 | H6213 |
| שָׁמַרshâmar | to keep | 2 | H8104 |
| עָנָהʻânâh | and they answered | 2 | H6030 |
| עָנָןʻânân | cloud | 2 | H6051 |
| כָּבַסkâbaç | and they will wash | 2 | H3526 |
| שִׂמְלָהsimlâh | clothes their | 2 | H8071 |
| כּוּןkûwn | prepared | 2 | H3559 |
| גָּבַלgâbal | and you will set a boundary for | 2 | H1379 |
Keep studying
Studies9
Words12
Sources for this chapter
The Hebrew text
STEP Bible, the tagged Hebrew text and its English glosses and James Strong, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.
In Jewish life
Rashi, Rashi on Exodus 19:10:1, the Rashi Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 (CC-BY); and Rashi on Exodus 19:4:1, 19:5:1, 19:16:1 and 19:18:1 by ref alone; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Exodus 19:7:1, cited by ref alone under the corpus licence rule; This site's Hebraic note on Acts 2, src/lib/hebraic/feasts.ts, for Shavuot kept as the day the Torah was given, and src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, the festival reading of Ruth at Shavuot; The Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 54b:6 and 54b:8, Beitzah 5b:3, Berakhot 6b:30, Arakhin 11a:20 and Avodah Zarah 2b:15, cited by ref and The Midrash, Avot DeRabbi Natan 1:1 and 15:3, Aggadat Bereshit 17:2 and 80:1, and Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 19:4, cited by ref.
The rabbinic texts
Ramban, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004; Targum, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation] and Sefaria, texts and citation data.