Exodus 19:20

20 The LORD came down to the top of Mount Sinai. He told Moses to come to the top of the mountain. So Moses 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Exodus 19:20 In-Context

18 Smoke covered Mount Sinai, because the LORD came down on it in fire. The smoke rose up from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain trembled and shook.

19 The sound of the trumpet got louder and louder. Then Moses spoke. And the voice of God answered him.

20 The LORD came down to the top of Mount Sinai. He told Moses to come to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.

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

22 The priests approach me when they serve me. But even they must set themselves apart for me. If they do not, my anger will break out against them."