Exodus 19:23

Exo 19:23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

Ver. 23. The people cannot come up,] i.e., Siquid ego aut capio, aut sapio, they cannot: that which I know not teach thou me.

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.

Verse 23. The people cannot come up] Either because they had been so solemnly forbidden that they would not dare, with the penalty of instant death before their eyes, to transgress the Divine command; or the bounds which were set about the mount were such as rendered their passing them physically impossible.

And sanctify it.] וקדשהי vekiddashio. Here the word קדש kadash is taken in its proper literal sense, signifying the separating of a thing, person or place, from all profane or common uses, and devoting it to sacred purposes.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) The people cannot come up.—Moses probably means that they cannot do so unwittingly; he

Does not contemplate the case of an intentional trespass. But it was this which God knew to be contemplated, and was desirous of preventing.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. thou] the pron. is emphatic, thou thyself.

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 Moses said unto the Lord,.... Upon his giving such strict orders both with respect to the people and the priests:

the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; suggesting as if there was no need for him to go down on that account, to give them a charge not to break through and gaze; since, as he thought, there was no probability that they ever would attempt it, seeing such a solemn charge had been given, nor any possibility of it, since such a fence was made:

for thou chargedst us, saying, set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it; and accordingly bounds have been set, that the people may not go up it, and the place has been declared sacred, that so none will presume to do it, according to the solemn charge that has been given: some (a) read the preceding clause by way of interrogation, "may not the people come up to Mount Sinai?" may not any of them? or, if any of them, who may? and there was the greater reason for asking such a question, since the priests that drew near to God might not, and so the next words are conceived to be an answer to it.

(a) So some in Vatablus.

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

The people. Glassius understands this with an interrogation, "Can no one?" God exempts Aaron from the common law, ver. 24. (Haydock)

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).

The people are sufficiently admonished in that particular, because as thou didst command this same thing before, Exo 19:12, so I have informed and warned them of it; so that it may seem superfluous for me to go down again to acquaint them herewith. But God, who better knew the dulness and the hardness of their hearts than Moses did, saw it necessary to repeat the same command again and again. Some read the words interrogatively, lo for halo, as it is 2Sa 13:26; 2Ki 5:26; Job 2:10; Mal 2:15; May not the people (i.e. some of the people, the priests at least, which, as thou hast now said, may come near to the Lord) go up? Is this a universal prohibition? To this answer is given by a distinction in the next verse, that he and Aaron might come up, but no other.

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

The people cannot come up. Moses can only have meant, that the people could not approach the mount unwittingly, since the fence commanded (ver. 12) was made. But to scale the fence, or break through it, was of course possible. (See ver 13.)

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

get down

"go down"

break through the barrier

God spoke about walking past the boundary as if they might break down a barrier and walk through it. See how you translated a similar phrase in Exodus 19:21. AT: "go beyond the boundary" or "go through the barrier" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

command

set apart

Aaron

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

לא יוכל העם THE PEOPLE CANNOT [COME UP TO MOUNT SINAI] — There is no need for me to warn them, for they have been standing under such a warning these three days, and they cannot go up for they have no permission so to do.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.