Deuteronomy 4:12

12 And the Lord spake to you from the midst of [the] fire; ye heard the voice of his words, and utterly ye saw no form, or shape. (And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; ye heard him speaking to you, but truly ye saw no shape, or form.)

Deuteronomy 4:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:12

And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire
For the Lord descended on Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the ten commands:

ye heard the voice of the words;
distinctly and plainly, not only the sound of them, but the words themselves, and so as to understand what was meant by them;

but saw no similitude;
not any likeness of the person speaking, by which they could form any idea of him in their minds, which was purposely done to prevent idolatry:

only ye heard a voice;
that was all.

Deuteronomy 4:12 In-Context

10 Tell thou to them (about) the day in which thou stoodest before thy Lord God in Horeb, when the Lord spake to me, and said, Gather thou the people to me, that it hear my words, and that it learn for to dread me in all time in which it liveth in (the) earth, and teach his sons. (Tell thou them about the day in which thou stoodest before the Lord thy God at Mount Sinai, when the Lord spoke to me, and said, Gather thou the people to me, so that they can hear my words, and that they learn to fear me/and that they learn to revere me, in all the time in which they live on the earth, and that they also teach their sons and their daughters this.)

11 And ye nighed to the root of the hill, that burnt till to heaven; and darknesses, and cloud, and mist were therein. (And ye came near, and stood at the foot of the mountain, that burned unto the heavens; and darkness, and cloud, and mist were on that mountain.)

12 And the Lord spake to you from the midst of [the] fire; ye heard the voice of his words, and utterly ye saw no form, or shape. (And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; ye heard him speaking to you, but truly ye saw no shape, or form.)

13 And he showed to you his covenant, which he commanded that ye should do, and [the] ten words, which he wrote in two tables of stone. (And he told you his covenant, which he commanded that ye should do, and the Ten Words, that is, the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone.)

14 And he commanded to me in that time, that I should teach you ceremonies and dooms (that I should teach you the statutes and laws, or judgements), which ye ought to do in the land which ye shall wield.