Deuteronomy 5:5

5 1while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For 2you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

Deuteronomy 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:5

I stood between the Lord and you at that time
Between the Word of the Lord and you, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; that is, about that time, not at the exact precise time the ten commandments were delivered, for these were spoken immediately to the people; but when the ceremonial law was given, which was ordained by angels, in the hand of a mediator, ( Galatians 3:19 ) , and which was at the request of the people as follows, terrified by the appearance of the fire out of which the moral law was delivered:

to show you the word of the Lord;
not the decalogue, that they heard with their own ears, but the other laws which were afterwards given, that were of the ceremonial and judicial kind:

for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the
mount;
lest they should be consumed by it: and indeed bounds were set about the mount, and they were charged not to break through:

saying;
this word is in connection with the preceding verse, the Lord's talking out of the midst of the fire, when he said what follows.

Deuteronomy 5:5 In-Context

3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.
4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,
5 while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6 "'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 "'You shall have no other gods before me.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Exodus 20:21; [Galatians 3:19]
  • 2. Exodus 19:16; Exodus 20:18; Exodus 24:2
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.