Deuteronomy 5:24

24 and say, Lo, Jehovah our God hath shewed us His honour, and His greatness; and His voice we have heard out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God doth speak with man -- and he hath lived.

Deuteronomy 5:24 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:24

And ye said, behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory
and his greatness
In descending on Mount Sinai in the manner he did, and giving the law from thence with such solemnity; for there was a glory in the ministration of it, as the apostle argues ( 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ) , it being delivered with so much majesty, and such a glorious apparatus attending it; see ( Deuteronomy 33:2 ) . Aben Ezra interprets this of the appearance of fire in which the Lord was, "and his greatness", of the thunders and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet:

and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire;
the ten words, as the same interpreter rightly notes, which were vocally and audibly expressed out of the fire:

we have seen this day, that God doth talk with man, and he liveth;
they had proof of it in themselves; God had been talking with them out of the fire, and yet it did not reach and consume them, but they were still alive.

Deuteronomy 5:24 In-Context

22 `These words hath Jehovah spoken unto all your assembly, in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness -- a great voice; and He hath not added, and He writeth them on two tables of stone, and giveth them unto me.

23 `And it cometh to pass as ye hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and of the mountain burning with fire, that ye come near unto me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders,

24 and say, Lo, Jehovah our God hath shewed us His honour, and His greatness; and His voice we have heard out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God doth speak with man -- and he hath lived.

25 `And, now, why do we die? for consume us doth this great fire -- if we add to hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more -- then we have died.

26 For who of all flesh [is] he who hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire like us -- and doth live?