Exodus 19:10

10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, 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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Exodus 19:10 In-Context

8 And all the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.
9 And the LORD said to Moses, "Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you for ever." Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments,
11 and be ready by the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12 And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, 'Take heed that you do not go up into the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death;
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.