Exodus 20:18 BSB — MannaFest

Exodus 20:18

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.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off.

KJV

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

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Commentary

3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings,.... That is, they heard the one, and saw the other; they heard the dreadful volleys of thunder, and saw the amazing flashes of lightning, which were like lamps and torches, as the word used signifies; by a communication of senses, one sense is put for another, and the sense of sight being the principal, as Ben Melech observes, it is put for the rest, and so in the following.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It was an indication of the terror of those convictions which the law brings into conscience, to prepare the soul for the comforts of the gospel. Thus was the law given by Moses in such a way as might startle, affright, and humble men, that the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ might be the more welcome.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

And all the people saw the thunderings, etc. - They had witnessed all these awful things before, (see Exo 19:16), but here they seem to have been repeated; probably at the end of each command, there was a peal of thunder, a blast of the trumpet, and a gleam of lightning, to impress their hearts the more deeply with a due sense of the Divine Majesty, of the holiness of the law which was now delivered, and of the fearful consequences of disobedience.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְכָל־	ve.khol	and all	H3605 →
הָעָם֩	ha.'Am	the people	H5971 →
רֹאִ֨ים	ro.'Im	[were] seeing	H7200 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
הַקּוֹלֹ֜ת	ha.ko.Lot	the thunder claps	H6963 →
וְאֶת־	ve.'Et	and <obj.>	H853 →
הַלַּפִּידִ֗ם	ha.la.pi.Dim	the lightning	H3940 →
וְאֵת֙	ve.'Et	and <obj.>	H853 →
ק֣וֹל	Kol	[the] sound of	H6963 →
הַשֹּׁפָ֔ר	ha.sho.Far	the ram's horn	H7782 →
וְאֶת־	ve.'Et	and <obj.>	H853 →
הָהָ֖ר	ha.Har	the mountain	H2022 →
עָשֵׁ֑ן	'a.Shen	smoking	H6226 →
וַיַּ֤רְא	vai.Yar'	and it saw	H7200 →
הָעָם֙	ha.'Am	the people	H5971 →
וַיָּנֻ֔עוּ	vai.ya.Nu.'u	and they trembled	H5128 →
וַיַּֽעַמְד֖וּ	vai.ya.'am.Du	and they stood	H5975 →
מֵֽרָחֹֽק׃	Me.ra.Chok	from a distance	H7350 →

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
Jeremiah 23:23
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?”
leads to
- Psalms 139:1–10
  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- 1 Kings 20:23
  Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely…
- 1 Kings 20:28
  Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the…
- Ezekiel 20:32–35
  When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.
- Psalms 113:5
  Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?