Êxodo 19

ARC · Chapter 19/40

1Ao terceiro mez da saida dos filhos de Israel da terra do Egypto, no mesmo dia vieram ao deserto de Sinai,

2Porque partiram de Rephidim e vieram ao deserto de Sinai, e acamparam-se no deserto: Israel pois ali acampou-se defronte do monte.

3E subiu Moysés a Deus, e o Senhor o chamou do monte, dizendo: Assim fallarás á casa de Jacob, e annunciarás aos filhos de Israel:

4Vós tendes visto o que fiz aos egypcios, como vos levei sobre azas d'aguias, e vos trouxe a mim;

5Agora pois, se diligentemente ouvirdes a minha voz, e guardardes o meu concerto, então sereis a minha propriedade peculiar d'entre todos os povos: porque toda a terra é minha.

6E vós me sereis um reino sacerdotal e o povo sancto. Estas são as palavras que fallarás aos filhos de Israel.

7E veiu Moysés, e chamou os anciãos do povo, e expoz diante d'elles todas estas palavras, que o Senhor lhe tinha ordenado.

8Então todo o povo respondeu a uma voz, e disseram: Tudo o que o Senhor tem fallado, faremos. E relatou Moysés ao Senhor as palavras do povo.

9E disse o Senhor a Moysés; Eis que eu virei a ti n'uma nuvem espessa, para que o povo ouça, fallando eu comtigo, e para que tambem te creiam eternamente. Porque Moysés tinha annunciado as palavras do seu povo ao Senhor.

10Disse tambem o Senhor a Moysés: Vae ao povo, e sanctifica-os hoje e ámanhã, e lavem elles os seus vestidos,

11E estejam promptos para o terceiro dia: porquanto no terceiro dia o Senhor descerá ante dos olhos de todo o povo sobre o monte de Sinai.

12E marcarás limites ao povo em redor, dizendo: Guardae-vos que não subaes ao monte, nem toqueis o seu termo; todo aquelle, que tocar o monte, certamente morrerá.

13Nenhuma mão tocará n'elle: porque certamente será apedrejado ou asseteado; quer seja animal, quer seja homem, não viverá; soando a buzina longamente, então subirão ao monte.

14Então Moysés desceu do monte ao povo, e sanctificou o povo; e lavaram os seus vestidos.

15E disse ao povo: Estae promptos ao terceiro dia; e não chegueis a mulher.

16E aconteceu ao terceiro dia, ao amanhecer, que houve trovões e relampagos sobre o monte, e uma espessa nuvem, e um sonido de buzina mui forte, de maneira que estremeceu todo o povo que estava no arraial.

17E Moysés levou o povo fóra do arraial ao encontro de Deus; e puzeram-*se ao pé do monte.

18E todo o monte de Sinai fumegava, porque o Senhor descera sobre elle em fogo: e o seu fumo subiu como fumo d'um forno, e todo o monte tremia grandemente.

19E o sonido da buzina ia esforçando-*se em grande maneira: Moysés fallava, e Deus lhe respondia em voz alta.

20E, descendo o Senhor sobre o monte de Sinai, sobre o cume do monte, chamou o Senhor a Moysés ao cume do monte; e Moysés subiu.

21E disse o Senhor a Moysés: Desce, protesta ao povo que não trespassem o termo, para ver o Senhor, e muitos d'elles perecerem.

22E tambem os sacerdotes, que se chegam ao Senhor, se hão de sanctificar, para que o Senhor não se lance sobre elles.

23Então disse Moysés ao Senhor: O povo não poderá subir ao monte de Sinai, porque tu nos tens protestado, dizendo: Marca termos ao monte, e sanctifica-o.

24E disse-lhe o Senhor: Vae, desce: depois subirás tu, e Aarão comtigo: os sacerdotes, porém, e o povo não trespassem o termo para subir ao Senhor, para que não se lance sobre elles.

25Então Moysés desceu ao povo, e disse-lhes isto.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Israel arrives at Mount Sinai; God proposes a special covenant with the people, promising to make them a 'kingdom of priests and a holy nation' if they obey; the people prepare with purification for the solemn encounter with God on the mountain, which trembles with fire and smoke.

Explanation

This chapter marks a central moment in the entire biblical narrative: the formalizing of the national covenant between God and Israel at Mount Sinai, which will serve as the foundation for all the Law to be given in the following chapters. God's proposal that Israel be his 'kingdom of priests and holy nation' (v. 6) defines a clear purpose for the nation's existence: not merely to be blessed, but to serve as an intermediary between God and the other nations of the earth. The people's unanimous response, 'All that the LORD hath spoken we will do' (v. 8), though sincere, would later prove premature in the face of the real difficulties of full obedience. The intense physical manifestations — thunder, lightning, smoke, the trembling of the mountain — communicate, in an unmistakable, sensory way, God's holiness and power, requiring strict limits on approach that underscore the difference between divine holiness and the common human condition.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'kingdom of priests and holy nation' (v. 6) is directly quoted in the New Testament in 1 Peter 2:9, applied to the Christian church, showing how this concept of a people with a priestly purpose extends, in Christian interpretation, beyond Israel.
  • The physical manifestations at Sinai (smoke like the smoke of a furnace, the trembling mountain, the sound of a trumpet) are often associated by geologists and scholars with possible volcanic or seismic activity in the region, although the biblical text clearly emphasizes the miraculous and purposefully communicative character of these signs, not a simple natural explanation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 19:1Marks the arrival at the wilderness of Sinai exactly three months after leaving Egypt, the setting where the giving of the law takes place in the following chapters.
  2. Êxodo 19:2Details the final leg of the journey, leaving Rephidim, where they had faced the lack of water and the attack of Amalek, until camping in front of Mount Sinai.
  3. Êxodo 19:3Moses goes up the mountain to speak with God, opening the dialogue that establishes the terms of the covenant between God and the people of Israel.
  4. Êxodo 19:4The image of being carried “on eagles’ wings” describes God’s protection and care throughout the whole journey from the escape from Egypt to that point.
  5. Êxodo 19:5“A peculiar treasure” means something like a more valuable, set-apart possession — the idea that, among all the peoples of the earth, Israel would have a special place close to God. It does not mean the other peoples were discarded or worthless.
  6. Êxodo 19:6Being “a kingdom of priests” means that the whole people, not just a caste of priests, would have the role of representing God before the other nations, a kind of go-between linking God and the rest of the world. “Holy nation” here means set apart for this task, not necessarily perfect or without flaws.
  7. Êxodo 19:7Moses comes down and passes on to the elders of the people exactly the covenant proposal received from God, following the pattern of communication used elsewhere in the book.
  8. Êxodo 19:8The people accept God’s proposal together and without hesitation, and Moses goes back up the mountain to bring Him that answer.
  9. Êxodo 19:9God announces that He will appear in a thick cloud so the people themselves can hear the conversation with Moses, reinforcing his authority as leader before everyone.
  10. Êxodo 19:10God asks for a specific ritual preparation before the people approach the divine presence: consecration and the washing of clothes over two days.
  11. Êxodo 19:11Sets the exact deadline for the preparation: on the third day God will visibly come down on Mount Sinai in front of the whole people.
  12. Êxodo 19:12The boundaries marked around Mount Sinai were not about arbitrary punishment: touching that mountain while God’s presence was descending on it was treated as too dangerous, similar to getting close to a high-voltage line without protection. The marked distance was a way of protecting the people, not of excluding them.
  13. Êxodo 19:13The ban on touching the mountain is taken so seriously that whoever did so was to be put to death from a distance, stoned or shot through, with no direct physical contact.
  14. Êxodo 19:14Moses carries out God’s instruction, going down to ritually prepare the people before the great encounter set for the third day.
  15. Êxodo 19:15Among the preparation instructions is a temporary sexual abstinence, a common practice of ritual purification before sacred events in the ancient world.
  16. Êxodo 19:16On the third day, an overwhelming storm of thunder, lightning, and trumpet sound announces God’s arrival, leaving the people in panic.
  17. Êxodo 19:17Moses leads the people out of the camp, positioning them at the foot of the mountain for the encounter with God.
  18. Êxodo 19:18The smoke and the shaking of the mountain describe God’s presence descending in fire, a scene compared to the thick smoke of a furnace in operation.
  19. Êxodo 19:19The sound of the trumpet keeps growing louder while an audible exchange takes place between Moses and God, heard in some way by everyone there.
  20. Êxodo 19:20God comes down to the top of the mountain and specifically calls Moses to come up, resuming the pattern of direct communication between the two.
  21. Êxodo 19:21God tells Moses to warn the people again not to cross the marked boundaries, under penalty of death for anyone who tried to get too close a look at the divine presence.
  22. Êxodo 19:22Even the priests, normally allowed to come closer, needed special consecration before approaching God at this particular moment.
  23. Êxodo 19:23Moses answers that he had already warned the people about the boundaries, showing that the instruction had already been carried out even before this repetition.
  24. Êxodo 19:24God allows only Moses and Aaron to go up the mountain, keeping the same restriction in place for the ordinary priests and for the rest of the people.
  25. Êxodo 19:25Moses goes back down once more to pass these final instructions on to the people, setting the stage for the giving of the Ten Commandments in the following chapter.

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