Deuteronomy 5:4
in Deuteronomy 5The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah spake with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire
KJV
The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount--not in a visible and corporeal form, of which there was no trace (De 4:12, 15), but freely, familiarly, and in such a manner that no doubt could be entertained of His presence.
This site's exposition
The Lord talked with you face to face
on Deuteronomy 5:4-5
Face to face at verse 4 sits beside 4:12 and 4:15, where the same speaker says they heard a voice and saw no similitude. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the phrase as directness of address rather than the sight of a form. Verse 5 then puts Moses between the Lord and the people inside a parenthesis and gives the reason, that they were afraid by reason of the fire and went not up into the mount. The mediation stated here in one clause is the thing the people ask for at verses 23 to 27.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
12, 13 ), but openly and clearly, and so that all the thousands of Israel might hear and understand. He spoke to them, and then received the answer they returned to him: thus was it transacted face to face. (3.) The mediator of the covenant: Moses stood between God and them, at the foot of the mount (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number
The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount,....
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פָּנִ֣ים׀ | panim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּפָנִ֗ים | befanim | on face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| דִּבֶּ֨ר | diber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עִמָּכֶ֛ם | ʾimakhem | with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| בָּהָ֖ר | bahar | at the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| מִתּ֥וֹךְ | mitokh | from [the] middle of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָאֵֽשׁ׃ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
פָּנִ֣ים׀face
panimH6440 →2123 times
בְּפָנִ֗יםon face
befanimH6440 →2123 times
דִּבֶּ֨רhe spoke
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עִמָּכֶ֛םwith you
ʾimakhemH5973 →1050 times
בָּהָ֖רat the mountain
baharH2022 →546 times
מִתּ֥וֹךְfrom [the] middle of
mitokhH8432 →418 times
הָאֵֽשׁ׃the fire
haeshH784 →378 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 34:10Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face—
it leads to
- Exodus 33:11
Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not…
- Numbers 12:6–8
He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- Exodus 33:11
Through
Exodus 19:9The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:36
He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.
- Exodus 19:16
On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the…
- Exodus 24:15–16
When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
- Deuteronomy 4:36
Through
Deuteronomy 4:33Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?
it leads to
- Judges 6:22
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
- Deuteronomy 5:24
and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live…
- Judges 6:22
Through
Deuteronomy 4:36He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:9
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in…
- Exodus 19:9
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.