Deuteronomy 5:5

5 I was (a) reconciler and a mediator betwixt God and you in that time, that I should tell to you his words, for ye dreaded the fire, and ye went not up into the hill. And he said, (I was a reconciler and a mediator between God and you at that time, to tell you his words, for ye feared the fire, and ye would not go up the mountain. And 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 he made not covenant with our fathers, but with us that be present, and live. (he did not make the covenant with our fathers, but with us who be alive, and present here today.)

4 Face to face he spake to us in the hill, from the midst of the fire. (Face to face he spoke to you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire.)

5 I was (a) reconciler and a mediator betwixt God and you in that time, that I should tell to you his words, for ye dreaded the fire, and ye went not up into the hill. And he said, (I was a reconciler and a mediator between God and you at that time, to tell you his words, for ye feared the fire, and ye would not go up the mountain. And he said,)

6 I am thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage. (I am the Lord thy God, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, or of slavery.)

7 Thou shalt not have alien Gods in my sight. (Thou shalt not have any foreign, or other, gods before me.)