Exodus 19:10

10 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and solemnly charge the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their garments.

Exodus 19:10 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 19:10

And the Lord said unto Moses
On the fourth day, according to the Targum of Jonathan;

go unto the people;
go down from the mountain, from the top of it, where he now was, to the camp of Israel, which was pitched before it:

and sanctify them today and tomorrow;
the fourth and fifth days of the month; that is, he was, to instruct them how they were to sanctify themselves in an external way, by washing themselves, as after mentioned, their bodies and clothes, and by abstaining from all sensual pleasures, lawful or unlawful:

and let them wash their clothes;
which the Jews understood not of their garments, but of their bodies also; teaching them by these outward things the necessity of internal purity and holiness, to appear before God: these outward rites were in use before the law of Moses, as appears from ( Genesis 35:2 ) and the Heathens themselves have similar notions of the cleanness of bodies and garments, as well as the purity of mind, being acceptable to their deities ^F14.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 "Casta placent superis, pura cum veste venito". Tibullus.

Exodus 19:10 In-Context

8 And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and hearken to: and Moses reported these words to God.

9 And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I come to thee in a pillar of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to thee, and may believe thee for ever: and Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and solemnly charge the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their garments.

11 And let them be ready against the third day, for on the third day the Lord will descend upon mount Sina before all the people.

12 And thou shalt separate the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mountain, nor touch any part of it: every one that touches the mountain shall surely die.