Deuteronomy 9:15
in Deuteronomy 9So I went back down the mountain while it was blazing with fire, with the two tablets of the covenant in my hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
KJV
So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 9
Commentary
2 notes on this verseSo I turned and came down from the mount,.... As the Lord commanded: and the mount burned with fire; as it had for six weeks past, ever since the Lord's descent upon it; and so it continued, for the words may be rendered, "and the mount was burning" (b); and yet this did not deter the Israelites from idolatry: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands: one table in one hand, and the other in the other hand. (b) בער "de monte ardente", V. L. Heb. "burning", Ainsworth.
This site's exposition
So I went back down the mountain
on Deuteronomy 9:15-17
Exodus 32:19 mentions the dancing and Moses' anger, and Deuteronomy leaves out both and says only that he shattered the tablets "before your eyes". Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the breaking as a formal act declaring the covenant broken.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֵ֗פֶן | vaefen | and I turned | H6437 → | 135 times |
| וָֽאֵרֵד֙ | vaered | and I went down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָהָ֔ר | hahar | the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וְהָהָ֖ר | vehahar | and the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| בֹּעֵ֣ר | boer | [was] burning | H1197 → | 94 times |
| בָּאֵ֑שׁ | baesh | with <the> fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וּשְׁנֵי֙ | ushenei | and [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| לֻחֹ֣ת | luchot | [the] tablets of | H3871 → | 43 times |
| הַבְּרִ֔ית | haberit | the covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | [were] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁתֵּ֥י | shetei | [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| יָדָֽי׃ | yadai | hands my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
וָאֵ֗פֶןand I turned
vaefenH6437 →135 times
וָֽאֵרֵד֙and I went down
vaeredH3381 →381 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָהָ֔רthe mountain
haharH2022 →546 times
וְהָהָ֖רand the mountain
vehaharH2022 →546 times
בֹּעֵ֣ר[was] burning
boerH1197 →94 times
בָּאֵ֑שׁwith <the> fire
baeshH784 →378 times
וּשְׁנֵי֙and [the] two
usheneiH8147 →768 times
לֻחֹ֣ת[the] tablets of
luchotH3871 →43 times
הַבְּרִ֔יתthe covenant
haberitH1285 →284 times
עַ֖ל[were] on
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
שְׁתֵּ֥י[the] two
sheteiH8147 →768 times
יָדָֽי׃hands my
yadaiH3027 →1618 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
Hebrews 12:18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:11
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
- Exodus 24:17
And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.
- Deuteronomy 4:11
Through
Deuteronomy 5:23And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
it leads to
- Exodus 20:18–19
When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 20:18–19
Through
Exodus 19:18Mount 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.
it leads to
- Judges 5:5
The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Revelation 15:8
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
- Exodus 3:2
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.
- Psalms 144:5
Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
- Judges 5:5
Through
Exodus 9:23So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:13
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
- Psalms 18:13
Where this verse is studied
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
