Deuteronomy 18:16
in Deuteronomy 18This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
KJV
According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verse"Well," says God, "it shall be so; they shall be spoken to by men, whose terrors shall not make them afraid; " and, to crown the favour beyond what they were able to ask or think, in the fulness of time the Word itself was made flesh, and they saw his glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, not, as at Mount Sinai, full of majesty and terror, but full of grace and truth, John i.
This site's exposition
will raise up unto thee a Prophet
on Deuteronomy 18:15-17
The promise is dated to a request. At Horeb the people asked not to hear the voice or see the great fire again, which Exodus 20:18-21 records and Deuteronomy 5:23-28 retells, and verse 17 has God answering that they have well spoken. The office is granted on the people's own terms, a man out of their own brethren standing where the fire stood. Readers divide over whether the singular Prophet covers the line of prophets who followed, or one man, or both; Matthew Henry holds it primarily of Christ while allowing the succession, and Albert Barnes records that the messianic reading was already the standing one among Jews in the first century.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God at Horeb,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
MAN, the creature, may well desire communion with his Creator. When we are right-minded we cannot bear to be like fatherless children, born into the world by a parent of whom we know nothing whatever. We long to hear our father's voice. Of old time, before sin had entered into the world, the Lord God was on the most intimate terms with His creature, man. He communed with Adam in the garden. In the cool of the day He made the evening to be seven-fold refreshing by the shadow of His own Presence.
MAN, the creature, may well desire communion with his Creator. When we are right-minded we cannot bear to be like fatherless children, born into the world by a parent of whom we know nothing whatever. We long to hear our father's voice. Of old time, before sin had entered into the world, the Lord God was on the most intimate terms with His creature, man. He communed with Adam in the garden. In the cool of the day He made the evening to be seven-fold refreshing by the shadow of His own Presence. There was no cloud between unfallen man and the Ever-Blessed One— they could commune together, for no sin had set up a middle wall of partition. Alas, man, being in honor, continued not, but broke the Law of his God and not only forfeited his own inheritance, but entailed upon his descendants a character with which the holy God can hold no converse. By nature we love that which is evil and within us there is an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God—consequently, communion between God and man has had to be upon quite another footing from that which commenced and ended in the glades of Eden. It was condescension at the first, which made the Lord speak with man, the creature. It is mercy, unutterable mercy, now, if God deigns to speak with man the sinner! Through His Divine Grace, the Lord did not leave our fathers altogether without a word from Himself even after the Fall, for between the days of Adam and Moses there were occasional voices heard as of God speaking with man. "Enoch walked with God," which implies that God walked with him and had communion with him. And we may rest assured it was no silent walk which Enoch had with the Most High. The Lord also spoke to Noah, once and again, and made a Covenant with him. And then He, at still greater length and with greater frequency, spoke with Abraham, whom He graciously called His friend.
The words behind it
26 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּכֹ֨ל | kekhol | according to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁאַ֜לְתָּ | shaalta | you asked | H7592 → | 171 times |
| מֵעִ֨ם | meim | from with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בְּחֹרֵ֔ב | bechorev | at Horeb | H2722 → | 17 times |
| בְּי֥וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַקָּהָ֖ל | hakahal | the assembly | H6951 → | 123 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֹסֵ֗ף | ʾosef | me repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| לִשְׁמֹ֙עַ֙ | lishmoa' | to hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קוֹל֙ | kol | [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָ֔י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֵ֨שׁ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| הַגְּדֹלָ֥ה | hagedolah | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| הַזֹּ֛את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶרְאֶ֥ה | ʾereh | let me see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| ע֖וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָמֽוּת׃ | ʾamut | I will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
כְּכֹ֨לaccording to all
kekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
שָׁאַ֜לְתָּyou asked
shaaltaH7592 →171 times
מֵעִ֨םfrom with
meimH5973 →1050 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙God your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
בְּחֹרֵ֔בat Horeb
bechorevH2722 →17 times
בְּי֥וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הַקָּהָ֖לthe assembly
hakahalH6951 →123 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֹסֵ֗ףme repeat
ʾosefH3254 →212 times
לִשְׁמֹ֙עַ֙to hear
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קוֹל֙[the] voice of
kolH6963 →506 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָ֔יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָאֵ֨שׁthe fire
haeshH784 →378 times
הַגְּדֹלָ֥ה<the> great
hagedolahH1419 →526 times
הַזֹּ֛את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֶרְאֶ֥הlet me see
ʾerehH7200 →1300 times
ע֖וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אָמֽוּת׃I will die
ʾamutH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 9:10Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the LORD spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the…
it leads to
- Exodus 31:18
When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
- Deuteronomy 10:4
And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly.…
- Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
- Exodus 31:18
Through
Hebrews 12:19to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:52
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
- Deuteronomy 4:12
And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
- Exodus 20:1–19
And God spoke all these words:
- 1 Corinthians 15:52
Through
Exodus 20:19“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”
it leads to
- Acts 7:38
He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
- Exodus 33:20
But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
- Acts 7:38
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1487: “The Prophet Like Unto Moses” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.