Exodus 19:20

20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.

Exodus 19:20 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 19:20

And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai
In the above visible tokens of his presence and power; otherwise he is the incomprehensible Jehovah, that immense and omnipotent Being, who fills heaven and earth, and cannot be contained and circumscribed in either:

on the top of the mount;
where the fire he descended in rested, and where the smoke and thick cloud were, as a token of his presence:

and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount;
who either was at the bottom of it with the people, or in a higher ascent of it between God and them:

and Moses went up;
to the top of it, where the Lord was, as he ordered him: a certain traveller F25 tells us that the top of this mount was scarce thirty feet in circumference.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 Baumgarten Peregrinatio, l. 1. c. 24. p. 61.

Exodus 19:20 In-Context

18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.
20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.
21 The Lord directed Moses, "Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die.
22 Even the priests who come near the Lord must purify themselves or the Lord will break out [in anger] against them."
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