Deuteronomy 5:24

24 ecce ostendit nobis Dominus Deus noster maiestatem et magnitudinem suam vocem eius audivimus de medio ignis et probavimus hodie quod loquente Deo cum homine vixerit homo

Deuteronomy 5:24 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:24

And ye said, behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory
and his greatness
In descending on Mount Sinai in the manner he did, and giving the law from thence with such solemnity; for there was a glory in the ministration of it, as the apostle argues ( 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ) , it being delivered with so much majesty, and such a glorious apparatus attending it; see ( Deuteronomy 33:2 ) . Aben Ezra interprets this of the appearance of fire in which the Lord was, "and his greatness", of the thunders and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet:

and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire;
the ten words, as the same interpreter rightly notes, which were vocally and audibly expressed out of the fire:

we have seen this day, that God doth talk with man, and he liveth;
they had proof of it in themselves; God had been talking with them out of the fire, and yet it did not reach and consume them, but they were still alive.

Deuteronomy 5:24 In-Context

22 haec verba locutus est Dominus ad omnem multitudinem vestram in monte de medio ignis et nubis et caliginis voce magna nihil addens amplius et scripsit ea in duabus tabulis lapideis quas tradidit mihi

23 vos autem postquam audistis vocem de medio tenebrarum et montem ardere vidistis accessistis ad me omnes principes tribuum et maiores natu atque dixistis

24 ecce ostendit nobis Dominus Deus noster maiestatem et magnitudinem suam vocem eius audivimus de medio ignis et probavimus hodie quod loquente Deo cum homine vixerit homo

25 cur ergo morimur et devorabit nos ignis hic maximus si enim audierimus ultra vocem Domini Dei nostri moriemur

26 quid est omnis caro ut audiat vocem Dei viventis qui de medio ignis loquitur sicut nos audivimus et possit vivere