And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.
- BSB And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
- NKJV And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.
- NASB Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice.
- NLT And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God spoke from the fire so they heard words but saw no form. It underscores that God revealed Himself by word, not visible shape.
Overview
At Horeb Israel heard God's voice but saw no form, a point that grounds the prohibition of images. God makes Himself known supremely through His word rather than through any likeness. This emphasis on hearing prepares the warning against idolatry and exalts the priority of God's spoken revelation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Deut 4:15Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
- Deut 5:22These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
- Deut 5:4The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
- Deut 4:33Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
- 2 Pet 1:17–18For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
- Deut 4:36Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
- 1 Kgs 19:12–13And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
- John 12:28–30Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
- Matt 3:17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
- Isa 40:3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
- Isa 40:6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
- Exod 20:22And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
- Isa 30:21And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
- Isa 40:18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
- Matt 3:3For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
- Col 1:15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
- Matt 17:5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
- Num 12:8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 4:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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