Exodus 19:21

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.

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 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."

23 Moses said to the Lord, "The people can't come up Mount Sinai. You yourself warned us. You said, 'Put limits around the mountain. Set it apart as holy.' "