Exodus 20 · Verse 21

Exodus 20:21

And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:21, King James Version

Exodus 20:21 in other translations

BSBAnd the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
WEBThe people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
ASVAnd the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
YLTAnd the people stand afar off, and Moses hath drawn nigh unto the thick darkness where God is.
DARBYAnd the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the obscurity where God was.
BBEAnd the people kept their places far off, but Moses went near to the dark cloud where God was.
WebsterAnd the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

What does Exodus 20:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 20:18-21

18-21. all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings--They were eye and ear witnesses of the awful emblems of the Deity's descent. But they perceived not the Deity Himself.

Read the full comment on Exodus 20:18-21 →

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 20:18-21

This law, which is so extensive that we cannot measure it, so spiritual that we cannot evade it, and so reasonable that we cannot find fault with it, will be the rule of the future judgment of God, as it is for the present conduct of man. If tried by this rule, we shall find our lives have been passed in transgressions. And with this holy law and an awful judgment before us, who can despise the gospel of Christ? And…

Read the full comment on Exodus 20:18-21 →

Exodus 20:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּעֲמֹ֥דvai.ya.'a.Modand it stoodH5975
הָעָ֖םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
מֵרָחֹ֑קme.ra.Chokfrom a distanceH7350
וּמֹשֶׁה֙u.mo.Shehand MosesH4872
נִגַּ֣שׁni.Gashhe drew nearH5066
אֶל\־'el-toH413
הָֽעֲרָפֶ֔לha.'a.ra.Felthe thick darknessH6205
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whereH834
שָׁ֖םsham[was] thereH8033
הָאֱלֹהִֽים\׃\ \פha.'E.lo.Him<the> GodH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 20:21

  • 1 Kings 8:12

    Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

  • Psalms 97:2

    Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

  • Psalms 18:9

    He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

  • 1 Timothy 6:16

    Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

  • 2 Chronicles 6:1

    Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

  • Psalms 104:2

    Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

  • Deuteronomy 5:5

    (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

  • Exodus 19:16-17

    And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

  • Psalms 18:12

    At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

  • Deuteronomy 5:22

    These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the people.
19:16,17; De 5:5
thick.
1Ki 8:12; 2Ch 6:1; Ps 18:9,12; 97:2; 104:2; 1Ti 6:16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 20:20

    And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

  • Exodus 20:21

    And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

  • Exodus 20:22

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

Read all of Exodus 20

Exodus 20:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Entonces el pueblo se puso de lejos, y Moisés se llegó á la osbcuridad, en la cual estaba Dios.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le peuple se tint loin; et Moïse s’approcha de l’obscurité profonde où Dieu était.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und das Volk stand von ferne; und Mose nahte sich zum Dunkel, wo Gott war.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Stetitque populus de longe. Moyses autem accessit ad caliginem in qua erat Deus.