Deuteronomy 4:11

11 Then you all came close and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was blazing with fire up to the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick smoke!

Deuteronomy 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:11

And ye came near and stood under the mountain
At the foot of it, in the lower part of the mountain, as the Targum of Jonathan, and agrees with ( Exodus 19:17 )

and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven;
the flame and smoke went up into the middle of the air: with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness; which thick darkness was occasioned partly by the smoke, which went up like the smoke of a furnace, and partly by the thick clouds, which were on the mount, and covered the face of the heavens, which were black and tempestuous with them; the Septuagint renders it a "tempest", ( Exodus 19:18 ) ( Hebrews 12:18 ) , which denotes the obscurity of the law, and the terrors it works in the minds of men.

Deuteronomy 4:11 In-Context

9 But be on guard and watch yourselves closely so that you don't forget the things your eyes saw and so they never leave your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

10 Remember that day when you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me: "Gather the people to me. I will declare my words to them so that they will learn to fear me every day of their lives on the fertile land, and teach their children to do the same."

11 Then you all came close and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was blazing with fire up to the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick smoke!

12 The LORD spoke to you out of the very fire itself. You heard the sound of words, but you didn't see any form. There was only a voice.

13 The LORD declared his covenant to you, which he commanded you to do—the Ten Commandments—and wrote them on two stone tablets.