Deuteronomy 4:12

Deu 4:12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice.

Ver. 12. Ye saw no similitude.] Numa the Roman lawgiver would not permit any image, whether painted or carved, to be placed in their temples, eo quod nefas duceret praestantiora deterioribus adsimulare, because he held it unlawful to set forth a better thing by a worse, &c. Hence it was that the Roman temples had no pictures in them for a hundred and seventy years after the building of that city. Irenaeus reproves the heretics called Gnostici, for that they carried about the image of Christ, made in Pilate’s time, after his own proportion; for "to whom will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?" {Isa 40:18}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude--Although articulate sounds were heard emanating from the mount, no form or representation of the Divine Being who spoke was seen to indicate His nature or properties according to the notions of the heathen.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12. the Lord spake … out of the midst of the fire] So Deu_4:15; Deu_4:33; Deu_4:36; Deu_5:4; Deu_5:22; Deu_5:24; Deu_9:10; Deu_10:4. J, Exo_19:18, descended in fire; P, Exo_24:17, the glory of Jehovah like devouring fire.

the voice of words … only … a voice] E, Exo_19:19, God answered by a voice; P, Exo_24:16, called out of the cloud; E, Exo_19:16; Exo_19:19; Exo_20:18, reiterates the sound of a trumpet, exceeding loud. The omission of this by D is noteworthy.

ye saw no form] Heb. temûnah, form or shape; E, Exo_20:4. This feeling, that seeing is more sensuous than hearing, was shared by the prophets, who forbad the presentation of God in any physical shape, yet did not hesitate to use words describing Him in the likeness of a man: father, husband, warrior, even as a travailing woman, Deu_32:18, Isa_42:13 f.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire,.... For the Lord descended on Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the ten commands:

ye heard the voice of the words; distinctly and plainly, not only the sound of them, but the words themselves, and so as to understand what was meant by them:

but saw no similitude; not any likeness of the person speaking, by which they could form any idea of him in their minds, which was purposely done to prevent idolatry:

only ye heard a voice; that was all.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hero worship exhibited itself in the practice of setting up images of human form as household gods (Penates, compare Gen 31:19; Gen 35:2), or as local and civic divinities: a practice forbidden by Deu 4:16. Nature worship in its baser shapes is seen in the Egyptian idolatry of animals and animal figures, and is condemned in Deu 4:17-18 : while its less ignoble flight, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is forbidden in Deu 4:19. The great legislator may be regarded as taking in the passage before us a complete and comprehensive survey of the various forms of idolatrous and corrupt worship practiced by the surrounding Oriental nations, and as particularly and successively forbidding them every one.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

At all. Hebrew, "but saw no similitude, only a voice." See Exodus xx. 18.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. No resemblance or representation of God, whereby either his essence or properties or actions were represented, such as were usual among the heathens.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

On this occasion the people heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; there was no form or shape apparent to the eye. No man can see God"s face; (Exo_33:20, Exo_33:23) "no man hath seen God at any time"; (Joh_1:18) and though the nobles or elders of Israel who went up with Moses into the mount are said to have seen God, it is evident that what they saw was only some luminous manifestation of his glory, and not a form or shape of which a similitude could be made. (Exo_24:9-17) Even Moses, with whom God said that he would speak mouth to month, and who should behold the similitude of God, (Num_12:8) was told that he could not see his face, his essential personality, but only his back, the reflection of his glory. (Exo_33:18-23)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No similitude - No resemblance or representation of God, whereby either his essence, or properties, or actions were represented, such as were usual among the Heathens.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

AND THE ETERNAL SPOKE UNTO YOU OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. I have already explained the matter in its place, 19:20, and 20:15. See Vol. II, pp. 282-284, and p. 325. that the people heard the speaking of the Great Name, blessed be He, out of the midst of the fire, as they saw His great fire and they perceived it. With this [Revelation] His covenant was declared to them in the ten words [i.e., the Ten Commandments], (i.e., the Ten Commandments). for in all of them they heard the Voice out of the midst of the fire. And the rest of the commandments He commanded me at that time to teach you, because I was already established to be a prophet of the Eternal by what you saw, just as He said, and they may also believe in thee forever, as I have explained.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.