Then the Lord told Moses, “Go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the Lord, or they will die.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish.
- KJV 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.
- BSB and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
- NKJV And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish.
- NASB Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to stare, and many of them perish.
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 warned Moses to keep the people from forcing their way up to gaze, lest many perish. Curiosity that disregards God's holiness is deadly.
Overview
Even amid revelation, God guards the boundary, warning against presumptuous approach. His concern is for the people's preservation, since unmediated access to holiness brings death. This solemn warning highlights the grace by which Christ now grants bold yet reverent access to God for all who trust Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Sam 6:19He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into Yahweh’s ark, he struck fifty thousand seventy of the men. Then the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
- Exod 3:5He said, “Don’t come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
- Heb 12:28–29Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,
- Eccl 5:1Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.
- Exod 33:20He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
- Exod 19:12–13You shall set bounds to the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death.
- Exod 3:3Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 19:21 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.