Deuteronomy 4:12

12 And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; {you heard} a sound of words, but {you did not see} a form--only a voice.

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 [Remember] the day that you stood {before} Yahweh your God at Horeb {when Yahweh said to me}, 'Summon for me the people so that I can tell them my words, that they may learn to fear me all [of] the days they [are] alive on the earth and so [that] they may teach their children.'

11 And [so] you came near, and you stood under the mountain, and the mountain [was] burning with fire up to the heart of the heaven, {dark with a very thick cloud}.

12 And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; {you heard} a sound of words, but {you did not see} a form--only a voice.

13 And he declared to you his covenant, {the Ten Commandments}, which he charged you {to observe}, and he wrote them on [the] two tablets of stone.

14 And Yahweh charged me at that time to teach you rules and regulations {for your observation of them} in the land that you [are] {about to cross into} to take possession of it.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "you [were] hearing"
• [b] Literally "you were not seeing"