Deuteronomy 5:25

25 And so then why shall we die, for this great fire will consume us if {we continue} to hear the voice of Yahweh our God [any] longer, and [so] we shall die?

Deuteronomy 5:25 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:25

Now therefore why should we die?
&c.] Since we are now alive, and have so wonderfully escaped the danger we were exposed unto, let us be careful that we are not liable to it again:

for this great fire will consume us:
if it continues, and we are exposed to it; perhaps some of them might remember the fire that burnt in the uttermost parts of the camp at Taberah, and the destruction of Korah and the two hundred and fifty men with him by fire, ( Numbers 11:1 ) ( 16:35 ) ,

if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die;
for it was such a voice of words they could not endure as to the matter of them, and therefore entreated the word might not be spoken to them any more; it being the killing letter, and the ministration of condemnation and death; and the manner in which it was delivered was so terrible, that they concluded they could not live, but must die if they heard it again; and imagined that if the fire continued, the flames of it would spread and reach them, and they would not be able to escape them.

Deuteronomy 5:25 In-Context

23 {And then} {when you heard} the voice from the midst of the darkness, and [as] the mountain [was] burning with fire, and [and] all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,

24 you said, 'Look, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God can speak with a human being, {yet he remains alive}.

25 And so then why shall we die, for this great fire will consume us if {we continue} to hear the voice of Yahweh our God [any] longer, and [so] we shall die?

26 For who [is there of] all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we [have heard it] {and remained alive}?

27 [You] go near and hear {everything} that Yahweh our God will say; and [then] you tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you, and we will listen, and we will do [it].'

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "we do again to hear"; or "we are doing again to hear"