Exodus 19:21

21 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to see and many from them fall.

Exodus 19:21 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 19:21

And the Lord said unto Moses, go down
As soon as he was got to the top of the mount he was bid to go down again to the bottom, with a message to the people:

charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze;
to see if they could observe any similitude or likeness of God, that they might have an idea of it in their minds, or make an image like unto it; to prevent which, the Lord, knowing the vanity and curiosity of their minds, ordered Moses to give them a strict charge not to transgress the bounds set them, or to break down or break through the fence of stones and sand, or hedge of bushes, brambles, and branches of trees, or whatever was placed for bounds:

and many of them perish;
or "fall" ^F26; by the hand of God; either fall by death, or into some grievous calamity, as the men of Bethshemesh perished through looking into the ark, ( 1 Samuel 6:19 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (lpn) (peswsin) Sept. "et corruant", Pagninus, Tigurine version; "et cadat", Montanus; "cadant", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; so Ainsworth.

Exodus 19:21 In-Context

19 And the sound of the ram's horn became {louder and louder}, and Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice.

20 And Yahweh went down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to see and many from them fall.

22 And even the priests who come near Yahweh must consecrate themselves, lest Yahweh break out against them."

23 And Moses said to Yahweh, "The people are not able to go up to Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, saying, 'Set limits [around] the mountain and consecrate it.'"