Exodus 19:21

21 The Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people that they must not force their way through to see me. If they do, many of them will die.

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 The sound from the trumpet became louder. Then Moses spoke, and the voice of God answered him.

20 When the Lord came down on top of Mount Sinai, he called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 The Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people that they must not force their way through to see me. If they do, many of them will die.

22 Even the priests, who may come near me, must first prepare themselves. If they don't, I, the Lord, will punish them."

23 Moses told the Lord, "The people cannot come up on Mount Sinai, because you yourself told us, 'Set a limit around the mountain, and set it apart as holy.'"