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Exodus 19:20

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Exodus 19:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount: and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount: and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Exodus 19:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Exodus 19

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18And mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19And when the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount: and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
21And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish.
22And let the priests also, that come near to Jehovah, sanctify themselves, lest Jehovah break forth upon them.
23And Moses said unto Jehovah, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou didst charge us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
← Exodus 19:19Exodus 19:21 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, etc.] 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 f602 tells us that the top of this mount was scarce…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the Lord came: Exo 19:11; Neh 9:13; Psa 81:7 Moses went up: Exo 19:3, Exo 24:12, Exo 24:13, Exo 24:18, Exo 34:2, Exo 34:4; Deu 9:9 Exodus 19:21”
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Related study paths

Read Exodus 19 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification