Exodus 20:19 BSB — MannaFest

Exodus 20:19

“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

KJV

And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

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Commentary

1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Once God tried the expedient of speaking to the children of men immediately, but it was found that they could not bear it; it rather drove men from God than brought them to him, and, as it proved in the issue, though it terrified them, it did not deter them from idolatry, for soon after this they worshipped the golden calf.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙	vai.yo.me.Ru	and they said	H559 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
מֹשֶׁ֔ה	mo.Sheh	Moses	H4872 →
דַּבֵּר־	da.ber-	speak	H1696 →
אַתָּ֥ה	'a.Tah	you	H859 →
עִמָּ֖נוּ	'i.Ma.nu	with us	H5973 →
וְנִשְׁמָ֑עָה	ve.nish.Ma.'ah	so let us listen	H8085 →
וְאַל־	ve.'al-	and may not	H408 →
יְדַבֵּ֥ר	ye.da.Ber	he speak	H1696 →
עִמָּ֛נוּ	'i.Ma.nu	with us	H5973 →
אֱלֹהִ֖ים	'E.lo.Him	God	H430 →
פֶּן־	pen-	lest	H6435 →
נָמֽוּת׃	na.Mut	we should die	H4191 →

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

H6435pen-lest133×

The walk

The walk8

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 33:20
But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
leads to
- John 1:18
  No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- Genesis 32:30
  So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
- 1 Timothy 6:16
  He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
- Isaiah 6:5
  Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD…
- Judges 13:22
  “We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”
Through
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.
leads to
- Romans 3:2
  Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
Through
Deuteronomy 18:16
This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see…
leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:10
  Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the LORD spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the…
- Deuteronomy 5:23–28
  And 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,