Deuteronomy 4:12

12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn't see a form; there was only a voice.^[a]

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 The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, 'Assemble the people before Me, and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.'

11 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a dense, black cloud.

12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn't see a form; there was only a voice.

13 He declared His covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which He wrote on two stone tablets.

14 At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ex 19:10-19; Heb 12:18-19