1sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become Gods unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earthif they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israels great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by Gods declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); then, vv. 10-22 record the instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh, including an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena (16-22); and finally, the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.
2tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.
3tn Heb on this day.
4tn The form is the preterite with the vav consecutive, and they journeyed. It is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause. But since the action of this temporal clause preceded the actions recorded in v. 1, a translation of after will keep the sequence in order. Verse 2 adds details to the summary in v. 1.
5sn The mountain is Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, the place where God had met and called Moses and had promised that they would be here to worship him. If this mountain is Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Sinai, then the plain in front of it would be the plain Er-Rahah, about a mile and a half long by half a mile wide, fronting the mountain on the NW side (Driver, 169). The plain itself is about 5000 feet above sea level. A mountain on the west side of the Arabian Peninsula has also been suggested as a possible site.
6tn Heb and Moses went up.
7tn This expression is normally translated as Israelites in this translation, but because in this place it is parallel to the house of Jacob it seemed better to offer a fuller rendering.
8tn The figure compares the way a bird would teach its young to fly and leave the nest with the way Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt. The bird referred to could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture. The image is that of power and love.
9sn The language here is the language of a bridegroom bringing the bride to the chamber. This may be a deliberate allusion to another metaphor for the covenant relationship.
10tn The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiomatic meaning of listen to the voice means to obey. So hearken diligently means diligently obey.
11tn The verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: and [if you will] keep.
12tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: to me means my.
13tn The noun is hL*g%s= (segulla), which means a special possession. Israel was to be Gods special possession; but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, Hebrew segulla: Akkadian sikiltu, JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.
14tn The preposition is here again taken as a possessive use.
15tn The construction a kingdom of priests means that the kingdom is made up of priests. Kaiser offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, royal priesthood; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, priestly kingdom; and 4) reading with an unexpressed andkings and priests. He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests (W. C. Kaiser, Jr, Exodus, in EBC 417; other references are R. B. Y. Scott, A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6), OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, A Kingdom of Priests, The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, ed. J. McKenzie [NY: Herder & Herder, 1962), 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in Gods service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priestsproclaiming Gods word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10). The emphasis on their being kings does not necessarily derive from this passage that refers to them as a kingdom.
16tn They are also to be a holy nation. They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be Gods special possession; but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (Driver, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel, North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.
17tn The verb is the imperfect tense. The people are not being presumptuous in stating their compliancethere are several options open for the interpretation of this tense. It may be classified as a desiderative nuance: we are willing to do or, we will do.
18tn The construction uses the deictic particle and the participle to express the imminent future, what God was about to do. Here is the first announcement of the theophany.
19tn Heb the thickness of the cloud.
20tn Since and also in you begins the clause, the emphasis must be that the people would also trust Moses. See Exod 4:1-9, 31; 14:31.
21tn This verb is the Piel perfect with the vav consecutive; it continues the force of the imperative preceding it. This sanctification would be accomplished by abstaining from things that would make them defiled or unclean, and then by ritual washings and ablutions.
22tn The form is the perfect tense, 3cpl, with a vav consecutive. It would be instructional as well, but now in the third person it would be more like a jussive, let them wash, make them wash.
23tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect (make borders) with a vav consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.
24tn The Niphal imperative (guard yourselves, take heed to yourselves) is followed by two infinitives construct that provide the description of what is to be avoidedgoing up or touching the mountain.
25sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.
26tn Heb a man.
27tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, they may go up. The rams horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.
28tn Heb do not go near a woman.
sn B. Jacob notes that as the people were to approach him they were not to lose themselves in earthly love. Such separations prepared the people for meeting God. Sinai was like a bride, forbidden to anyone else. Abstinence was the spiritual preparation for coming into the presence of the Holy One (p. 537).
29tn Heb and it was on.
30tn Heb heavy (db@K* [kabed]).
31tn Literally strong (qz*j* [hazaq]).
32tn The word here is rp*v) (sopar), the normal word for horn; the previous word used in the context was lb@y) (yobel), rams horn. This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event (see 1 Kgs 1:34; 2 Sam 6:15).
33sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.
34tn This is the same word translated trembled above.
35tn The active participle El@oh (holek) is used to add the idea of continually to the action of the sentence; here the trumpet became very loudcontinually. See GKC §113.u.
36tn The two verbs here (spoke and answered) are imperfect tenses; they emphasize repeated action but in past time. The customary imperfect usually is translated would or used to do the action, but here continuous action in past time is meant. Driver translated it kept speaking and kept answering (p. 172).
37tn The text simply has loqB= (beqol); it could mean with a voice or it could mean in thunder since voice was used earlier for thunder. In this context it would be natural to say that the repeated thunderings were the voice of Godbut how is that an answer? Deut 4:12 says that the people heard the sound of words. Cassuto rightly comments, He was answering him with a loud voice so that it was possible for Moses to hear His words clearly in the midst of the storm. He then draws a parallel from Ugaritic where it tells that one of the gods was speaking in a loud voice (pp. 232-33).
38tn The imperative du@h* (haed) means charge themput them under oath, or solemnly warn them. God wished to ensure that the people would not force their way past the barriers that had been set out.
39tn Heb and fall.
40tn The verb Jr)p=y] (yipros) is the imperfect tense from Jrp (paras), to make a breach, to break through. The image of Yahweh breaking forth on them means work destruction (see 2 Sam 6:8; Driver, 174).
41tn The construction is emphatic: because youyou solemnly warned us. Moses response to God is to ask how they would break through when God had already charged them not to. God knew them better than Moses did.
42tn Heb sanctify it.
43sn The passage has many themes and emphases that could be developed in exposition. It could serve for meditation: the theology drawn from the three parts could be subordinated to the theme of holiness: God is holy, therefore adhere to his word for service, approach him through a mediator, and adore him in purity and fearful reverence. A developed outline for the exposition could be: I. If the people of God will obey him, they will be privileged to serve in a unique way (1-8); II. If the people of God are to obey, they must be convinced of the divine source of their commands (9); and finally, III. If the people of God are convinced of the divine approval of their mediator, and the divine source of their instructions, they must sanctify themselves before him (vv. 10-25). In sum, the manifestation of the holiness of Yahweh is the reason for sanctification and worship. The correlation is to be made through 1 Peter 2 to the church. The Church is a kingdom of priests; it is to obey the Word of God. What is the motivation for this? Their mediator is Jesus Christ; he has the approval of the Father and manifests the glory of God to his own. And he declares the purpose of their calling is to declare his praises. Gods people are to abstain from sin so that pagans can see their good works and glorify God.