Keluaran 19:15-17

19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.” ¹ 

19:16 On ²  the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense ³  cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud ⁴  horn; ⁵  all the people who were in the camp trembled. 19:17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain.

[19:15]  ¹ tn Heb “do not go near a woman”; NIV “Abstain from sexual relations.”

[19:15]  sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 537) notes that as the people were to approach him they were not to lose themselves in earthly love. Such separations prepared the people for meeting God. Sinai was like a bride, forbidden to anyone else. Abstinence was the spiritual preparation for coming into the presence of the Holy One.

[19:16]  ² tn Heb “and it was on.”

[19:16]  ³ tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).

[19:16]  ⁴ tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).

[19:16]  ⁵ tn The word here is שֹׁפָר (shofar), the normal word for “horn.” This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event (see 1 Kgs 1:34; 2 Sam 6:15). The previous word used in the context (v. 16) was יֹבֵל (yovel, “ram’s horn”).