Exodus 19:23 BSB — MannaFest

Exodus 19:23

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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
מֹשֶׁה֙	mo.Sheh	Moses	H4872 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
יְהוָ֔ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
לֹא־	lo'-	not	H3808 →
יוּכַ֣ל	yu.Khal	it is able	H3201 →
הָעָ֔ם	ha.'Am	the people	H5971 →
לַעֲלֹ֖ת	la.'a.Lot	to go up	H5927 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
הַ֣ר	har	[the] mountain of	H2022 →
סִינָ֑י	si.Nai	Sinai	H5514 →
כִּֽי־	ki-	for	H3588 →
אַתָּ֞ה	'a.Tah	you	H859 →
הַעֵדֹ֤תָה	ha.'e.Do.tah	you warned	H5749 →
בָּ֙נוּ֙	ba.nu	<in> <the> us
לֵאמֹ֔ר	le.Mor	<to> saying	H559 →
הַגְבֵּ֥ל	hag.Bel	set a boundary for	H1379 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
הָהָ֖ר	ha.Har	the mountain	H2022 →
וְקִדַּשְׁתּֽוֹ׃	ve.ki.dash.To	and you will consecrate it	H6942 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

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…
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…

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Exodus 19

The Covenants

Six covenants in succession, cumulative rather than replacing. Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New. Each narrowing the line of promise while widening the scope of fulfillment.

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