Keluaran 19:18

19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, ¹  and the whole mountain shook ²  violently.

Keluaran 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ³ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁴  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁵  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

1 Raja-raja 19:12

19:12 After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a soft whisper. ⁶ 

[19:18]  ¹ sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.

[19:18]  ² tn This is the same word translated “trembled” above (v. 16).

[19:1]  ³ sn 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 God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and 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.

[19:1]  ⁴ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “on this day.”

[19:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “a voice, calm, soft.”