Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 5:24
And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
24. his greatness ] See Deu 3:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
24 26. See on Deu 4:33. It was contrary to expectation that the people survived the voice of God: they would not repeat the risk.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deu 5:24
God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
Talking with God
There is no doubt that Adam was originally made for converse with his Maker. The voice of the Lord had no terrors for him until he had sinned. From that time forth the voice of the Lord was in itself calculated to strike terror into man. And as man shrank from Gods talking to him, so we may feel assured he shrank from talking to God; and so, except in a very few cases, such as Enoch and Abraham and Job, and such holy men, a spirit of estrangement was set up. The great remedy is provided for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. He has taught us to call the Most High our Father. Our Father which art in heaven. He has by this one name given us many reasons why we may go to God at all times, and talk with Him. Some reader of these pages is, perhaps, timid, and shrinks from the idea altogether. He says, I reverence God too much to embrace this idea of talking with Him; I can pray, and praise, but not talk. Well, to begin with, what is your prayer but one half of talking, your telling Him what you want? And what is the answer to prayer but the other half of talking–His telling you that He has heard and granted your petitions? But let us not insist on this, but rather turn to the word Father, which Jesus has taught us to use. We cannot imagine a father living in the same house as his child, and never speaking to him; never wishing to be spoken to by him. Our common notion of a father, our experience of the relationship forbids the thought. Now there are not two kinds of fatherhoods; that of God is essentially the same as ours, only it is perfect (Mat 7:11). To come now to this talking itself. There are various kinds of talking. Prayer is no doubt a talking with God, but we shall not dwell upon it here. We mean by talking something–if we might so express ourselves with reverence–more free, less set, than our regular prayer. This talking is very independent of place; of church, or bedside, or our ordinary spot for prayer–and of times–of the morning, or noontide, or evening prayer; it has nothing whatever to do with them. Much of this talking is carried on when we are walking about, or perhaps in the train, or in the streets, or in snatches of time in business hours. And sometimes this talking is carried on without any particular aim. We are not of set purpose offering adoration, or putting up prayer. We talk just because our hearts like to be in communion with Him; and we wish to say we love and honour Him. But what good will come of all this?
1. To begin with, our talking to God involves His talking to us. He never allows His people to keep on speaking to Him, without taking any notice of them, or making any answer. That would not be fatherly on His part. By His Spirit and by His providence He answers us in turn.
2. In such talking we might acquaint ourselves much with God, and be at peace. How much slavish fear–how much death fear would take its departure, if we were accustomed to talk as with a friend with that One, in whose hands are all things, in that land whither we are going!
3. How near would this habit keep us to God in all our daily life! We never could stray far from Him if we kept it up. Matters which may be of the utmost moment, though we know it not, and which would never, perhaps, have been the subject of prayer and so of blessing, will thus be brought before Him, and be remembered by Him for good.
4. And when the time of need comes for strong prayer, this habit will be at work–it will give us encouragement. The God we have so often talked to will be no stranger. (P. B. Power, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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 2Co 3:7, it being delivered with so much majesty, and such a glorious apparatus attending it; see De 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Deu 5:24-27 contain a rhetorical, and at the same time really a more exact, account of the events described in Exo 20:18-20 (15-17). (Deu 5:24), a contraction of , as in Num 11:15 (cf. Ewald, 184, a.). Jehovah’s reply to the words of the people (Deu 5:28-31) is passed over in Ex 20. God approved of what the people said, because it sprang from a consciousness of the unworthiness of any sinner to come into the presence of the holy God; and He added, “ Would that there were always this heart in them to fear Me,” i.e., would that they were always of the same mind to fear Me and keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and their children for ever. He then directed the people to return to their tents, and appointed Moses as the mediator, to whom He would address all the law, that he might teach it to the people (cf. Deu 4:5). Having been thus entreated by the people to take the office of mediator, and appointed to that office by the Lord, Moses could very well bring his account of these events to a close (Deu 5:32, Deu 5:33), by exhorting them to observe carefully all the commandments of the Lord, and not to turn aside to the right hand or to the left, i.e., not to depart in any way from the mode of life pointed out in the commandments (cf. Deu 17:11, Deu 17:20; Deu 28:14; Jos 1:7, etc.), that it might be well with them, etc. (cf. Deu 4:40). , perfect with rel. instead of the imperfect.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
24. Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us. They are urged by their own confession no more to dare oppose themselves to the ministry of Moses. For, when they confess that they saw the glory and the greatness of God, they oblige themselves to the necessity of obedience, unless they choose avowedly to make war against God. At the end of the verse, where they say that “God doth talk with man,” etc., not only do they mean that there are men surviving on earth who have heard with their ears the voice of God come down from heaven, but they express their astonishment at what was scarcely to be believed. For, although it was sufficiently notorious to them that God had formerly spoken with their fathers; yet, because a long period had elapsed since these revelations had ceased, they are amazed as at a new thing. We see, too, a long time afterwards, that as often as God appeared to His servants, they were overwhelmed with the fear of death, and it was like a proverb with them, “We shall die, because we have seen God.” (Jud 13:22.) Good reason, then, is there why they should celebrate this extraordinary privilege, that they had not been swallowed up by the glory of God; for, if at the sight of Him the mountains melt, and all that is most durable is annihilated, and all that is strongest is broken to pieces, how should man stand than whom nothing is more frail or perishable? If by His secret will the troubled air causes not only animals but trees and rocks to tremble; how shall it be when God displays His might not in the elements alone, but when descending from heaven He speaks by the voice of His mouth? It is not unreasonable, then, that the Israelites should account it miraculous that they had heard God’s voice, and were not brought to annihilation. Herein they indirectly rebuke their own folly, because, by their inconsiderate desire, they would have drawn destruction upon themselves, if they had not been aided by God’s mercy. The two following verses appear to contradict each other; for, when they had experienced that those to whom God manifests Himself, are not always destroyed and perish, why do they say that they shall die if He continues to speak to them? They seem, indeed, in so saying to show some inconsistency; yet is there cause for them to fear for the future that danger from which they had escaped by the marvelous indulgence of God. It is, then, as if they had said, It is more than enough for us once to have provoked God against us; it is of His inestimable loving-kindness that He has thus far pardoned us; meanwhile, we must beware lest our perversity bring upon us heavier punishment, unless we speedily correct our folly. Hence may a useful admonition be drawn; for, although the voice of God has not sounded in our ears, yet the experience of His ancient people ought to be sufficient to persuade us assuredly that, when God sets teachers over us, He makes the best provision for our salvation; because, if He Himself should thunder from heaven, His majesty would be intolerable to us. And this should avail to repress their destructive itching, who desire God daily to descend from heaven, or at least to send His revelations by angels; and who thus despise the ministers of mortal race whom He employs. In a word, this history is an illustrious proof that God governs His Church by the external preaching of the word, because this is most expedient for us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
man. Hebrew. ‘adam. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
we have heard: Deu 5:4, Deu 5:5, Exo 19:19
he liveth: Deu 4:33, Gen 32:30, Exo 33:20, Jdg 13:22
Reciprocal: Exo 34:14 – jealous God Deu 11:2 – his greatness Deu 18:16 – Let me not hear Deu 32:3 – ascribe Jdg 6:22 – because Psa 97:3 – General Isa 33:14 – Who among us shall dwell with the Hab 3:3 – His glory Joh 2:11 – manifested Heb 12:19 – they that