Deuteronomy 4:12
in Deuteronomy 4And 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice.
KJV
And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 4
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain
on Deuteronomy 4:11-12
What the people saw was fire and darkness, and the weight falls on what they did not see. They "heard the sound of the words, but saw no form," and verse 15 makes that the ground of the argument against images.
This site's exposition
there was only a voice
The LORD spoke out of the fire, and what Israel carried away from the encounter was his words. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that articulate speech was heard while no shape appeared that could show God's nature.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude--Although articulate sounds were heard emanating from the mount, no form or representation of the Divine Being who spoke was seen to indicate His nature or properties according to the notions of the heathen.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hero worship exhibited itself in the practice of setting up images of human form as household gods (Penates, compare Gen 31:19; Gen 35:2), or as local and civic divinities: a practice forbidden by Deu 4:16. Nature worship in its baser shapes is seen in the Egyptian idolatry of animals and animal figures, and is condemned in Deu 4:17-18: while its less ignoble flight, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is forbidden in Deu 4:
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I have already explained the matter in its place. Ibid.,:20, and:15. See Vol. II, pp. 282-284, and p. that the people heard the speaking of the Great Name, blessed be He, out of the midst of the fire, as they saw His great fire. Further, Verse.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The middle of heaven. 12 The heart lies in the middle of the body. Hence heart is used in the sense of middle.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר | vaydaber | and he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾaleikhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִתּ֣וֹךְ | mitokh | from [the] middle of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָאֵ֑שׁ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| ק֤וֹל | kol | a sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| דְּבָרִים֙ | devarim | words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| שֹׁמְעִ֔ים | shomeim | [were] hearing | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וּתְמוּנָ֛ה | utemunah | and a form | H8544 → | 10 times |
| אֵינְכֶ֥ם | ʾeinkhem | not you | H369 → | 789 times |
| רֹאִ֖ים | roim | [were] seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| זוּלָתִ֥י | zulati | except | H2108 → | |
| קֽוֹל׃ | kol | a voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
וַיְדַבֵּ֧רand he spoke
vaydaberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲלֵיכֶ֖םto you
ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 times
מִתּ֣וֹךְfrom [the] middle of
mitokhH8432 →418 times
הָאֵ֑שׁthe fire
haeshH784 →378 times
ק֤וֹלa sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
דְּבָרִים֙words
devarimH1697 →1440 times
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
שֹׁמְעִ֔ים[were] hearing
shomeimH8085 →1159 times
וּתְמוּנָ֛הand a form
utemunahH8544 →10 times
אֵינְכֶ֥םnot you
ʾeinkhemH369 →789 times
רֹאִ֖ים[were] seeing
roimH7200 →1300 times
זוּלָתִ֥יexcept
zulatiH2108 →
קֽוֹל׃a voice
kolH6963 →506 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 5:4The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 19:18–19
Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
- Deuteronomy 34:10
Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face—
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 4:36
Through
Deuteronomy 5:22The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them…
it leads to
- Exodus 24:12
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written…
- 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.
- Exodus 24:12
Through
Deuteronomy 4:15So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 4:4–6
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- Isaiah 40:18
To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
- 2 Corinthians 4:4–6
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.