Exodus 19:12

And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
bounds	וְהִגְבַּלְתָּ֤ ve.hig.bal.Ta	H1379	properly · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
people	הָעָם֙ ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
about	סָבִ֣יב sa.Viv	H5439	(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
heed	הִשָּׁמְר֥וּ hi.sha.me.Ru	H8104	properly · verb, niphal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
up	עֲל֥וֹת a.Lot	H5927	to ascend · verb, qal infinitive construct
mount	בָּהָ֖ר ba.Har	H2022	a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
touch	וּנְגֹ֣עַ u.ne.Go.a'	H5060	properly · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct
border	בְּקָצֵ֑הוּ be.ka.Tze.hu	H7097	an extremity · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
toucheth	הַנֹּגֵ֥עַ ha.no.Ge.a'	H5060	properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
mount	בָּהָ֖ר ba.Har	H2022	a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
surely	מ֥וֹת Mot	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal infinitive absolute
death	יוּמָֽת yu.Mat	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, hophal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Hebrews 12:20-21 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through wit…
Joshua 3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by whic…
Exodus 10:28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
Exodus 19:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
Exodus 19:23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanct…
Exodus 34:12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of…
Deuteronomy 2:4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they s…
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from t…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 19:9-15

Here, I. God intimates to Moses his purpose of coming down upon mount Sinai, in some visible appearance of his glory, in a thick cloud (Exo 19:9); for he said that he would dwell in the thick darkness (Ch2 6:1), and make this his pavilion (Psa 18:11), holding back the face of his throne when he set it upon mount Sinai, and spreading a cloud upon it, Job 26:9. This thick cloud was to prohibit curious enquiries into things secret, and to command an awful adoration of that which was revealed. God would come down in the sight of all the people (Exo 19:11); though they should see no manner of similitude, yet they should see so much as would convince them that God was among them of a truth. And so…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 19:9

The Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come . . . in a thick cloud, &c.--The deepest impressions are made on the mind through the medium of the senses; and so He who knew what was in man signalized His descent at the inauguration of the ancient church, by all the sensible tokens of august majesty that were fitted to produce the conviction that He is the great and terrible God. The whole multitude must have anticipated the event with feelings of intense solemnity and awe. The extraordinary preparations enjoined, the ablutions and rigid abstinence they were required to observe, the barriers erected all round the base of the mount, and the stern penalties annexed to the breach of any of the conditions…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 19:12

Thou shalt set bounds - Whether this was a line marked out on the ground, beyond which they were not to go, or whether a fence was actually made to keep them off, we cannot tell; or whether this fence was made all round the mountain, or only at that part to which one wing of the camp extended, is not evident. This verse strictly forbids the people from coming near and touching Mount Sinai, which was burning with Fire. The words therefore in Exo 19:15, אל תגשו אל אשה al tiggeshu el ishshah, come not at your wives, seem rather to mean, come not near unto the Fire; especially as the other phrase is not at all probable: but the fire is, on this occasion, spoken of so emphatically (see Deu 5:4, D…

The Church Fathers

Now, amidst this admirable correspondence, there is at least this very considerable diversity in the cases, in that the people in the earlier instance were deterred by a horrible dread from approaching the place where the law was given; whereas in the other case the Holy Ghost came upon them who were gathered together in expectation of His promised gift. There it was on tables of stone that the finger of God operated; here it was on the hearts of men. There the law was given outwardly, so that the unrighteous might be terrified; here it was given inwardly, so that they might be justified.
— Augustine of Hippo, ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 17.29

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Commandments, the Ten — (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 10:4, marg. “ten words”) i.e., the Decalogue (q.v.), is a summary of the immutable moral law. These commandments were first given in their written form to the people of Israel when…
Festivals, Religious — There were daily (Lev. 23), weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular observance of them in every particular (Num. 28:1-8; Ex. 29:38-42; Lev. 6:8-23; Ex. 30:7-9;…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Sinai · .The law — .The law

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 19:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 19:9-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 19:9

Adam Clarke on Exodus 19:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 19:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 19:9-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 19:9

Adam Clarke on Exodus 19:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 19:12

John Calvin on Exodus 19:9-15

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 19:10-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 19:10-15

Rashi on Exodus 19:12