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Exodus 19:23

in Exodus 19

But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, for You solemnly warned us, ‘Put a boundary around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Moses said unto Jehovah, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou didst charge us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

KJV

And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

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This verse in Exodus 19

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The people cannot come up - Either because they had been so solemnly forbidden that they would not dare, with the penalty of instant death before their eyes, to transgress the Divine command; or the bounds which were set about the mount were such as rendered their passing them physically impossible. And sanctify it - וקדשהי vekiddashio. Here the word קדש kadash is taken in its proper literal sense, signifying the separating of a thing, person or place, from all profane or common uses, and devoting it to sacred purposes.

This site's exposition

the priests who approach the LORD

on Exodus 19:22-23

Priests are addressed at Sinai seven chapters before Aaron and his sons are consecrated. Adam Clarke takes them as an office that already existed, since Moses had asked Pharaoh for leave to sacrifice.

This site's exposition

set it apart as holy

Adam Clarke reads cannot two ways, as a people who would never dare cross or as a fence that made crossing impossible. Set it apart as holy renders the verb qadash in its plain sense, separating a thing from common use. The mountain itself is made holy.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Moses said unto the Lord,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

(2.) It is at our peril if we break the bounds that God has set us, and intrude upon that which he has not allowed us; the Bethshemites and Uzzah paid dearly for their presumption. And, even when we are called to approach God, we must remember that he is in heaven and we upon earth, and therefore it behoves us to exercise reverence and godly fear.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • מֹשֶׁה֙Moses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יוּכַ֣לit is able

    yukhalH3201 →194 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • לַעֲלֹ֖תto go up

    laalotH5927 →890 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַ֣ר[the] mountain of

    harH2022 →546 times

  • סִינָ֑יSinai

    sinaiH5514 →35 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • אַתָּ֞הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • הַעֵדֹ֤תָהyou warned

    haedotahH5749 →44 times

  • בָּ֙נוּ֙<in> <the> us

    banu

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הַגְבֵּ֥לset a boundary for

    hagbelH1379 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָהָ֖רthe mountain

    haharH2022 →546 times

  • וְקִדַּשְׁתּֽוֹ׃and you will consecrate it

    vekidashtoH6942 →171 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 19:12

    And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 12:20–21

      For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”

    • Joshua 3:4

      But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this…

    • Exodus 34:12

      Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.

    • Exodus 10:28

      “Depart from me!” Pharaoh said to Moses. “Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”

    • Deuteronomy 4:9

      Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 19 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 19 →