Exodus 19:20
in Exodus 19The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the summit. So Moses went up,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount: and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
KJV
And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
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This verse in Exodus 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe Lord came down - This was undoubtedly done in a visible manner, that the people might witness the awful appearance. We may suppose that every thing was arranged thus: the glory of the Lord occupied the top of the mountain, and near to this Moses was permitted to approach. Aaron and the seventy elders were permitted to advance some way up the mountain, while the people were only permitted to come up to its base.
This site's exposition
to the top of Mount Sinai
on Exodus 19:20-21
God comes down to the top of the mountain and calls Moses up, and his first word there is to go down again. The warning names curiosity as the danger, that the people might break through to see the LORD.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Moses alone ascended to its very top, where the divine majesty shone forth in fire and a dark cloud. Only the more perfect know how to grasp and observe the deeper and most secret mysteries of the law; the carnal-minded people, content with the external …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), The Lord came down upon mount Sinai. The shechinah, or glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shone forth from mount Paran with ten thousands of his saints ( Deut. xxxiii. 2 ), that is, attended, as the divine Majesty always is, by a multitude of the holy angels, who were both to grace the solemnity and to assist at it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), by which also he tried his faith and courage. No sooner had Moses got up a little way towards the top of the mount than he was sent down again to keep the people from breaking through to gaze,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai,....
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֧רֶד | vaiyered | and he came down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַ֥ר | har | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| סִינַ֖י | sinai | Sinai | H5514 → | 35 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | [the] top of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָהָ֑ר | hahar | the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וַיִּקְרָ֨א | vaiyikra' | and he summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְמֹשֶׁ֛ה | lemosheh | <to> Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רֹ֥אשׁ | rosh | [the] top of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָהָ֖ר | hahar | the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וַיַּ֥עַל | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מֹשֶֽׁה׃ | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
וַיֵּ֧רֶדand he came down
vaiyeredH3381 →381 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַ֥ר[the] mountain of
harH2022 →546 times
סִינַ֖יSinai
sinaiH5514 →35 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
רֹ֣אשׁ[the] top of
roshH7218 →599 times
הָהָ֑רthe mountain
haharH2022 →546 times
וַיִּקְרָ֨אand he summoned
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְמֹשֶׁ֛ה<to> Moses
lemoshehH4872 →765 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
רֹ֥אשׁ[the] top of
roshH7218 →599 times
הָהָ֖רthe mountain
haharH2022 →546 times
וַיַּ֥עַלand he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
מֹשֶֽׁה׃Moses
moshehH4872 →765 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
Nehemiah 9:13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:11
and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 20:1
And God spoke all these words:
- Psalms 119:160
The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.
- Psalms 119:127–128
Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.
- Romans 7:12–14
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
- Exodus 19:11
Through
Exodus 19:3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel:
it leads to
- Exodus 3:4
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered.
- 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 3:4
Through
Exodus 34:2Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:25
So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
- Deuteronomy 9:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
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About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 11.17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.