Exodus 19:20

20 And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and 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 And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

20 And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze and many of them perish.

22 And also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out upon them."