Deuteronomy 5:22

The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh addresses the entire Israelite assembly at the mountain, delivering the commandments immediately after listing the final prohibitions against coveting. He speaks audibly from the fire, cloud, and deep darkness before concluding the oral proclamation.

The words — The verb דִּבֶּר (di.Ber) means "he spoke," paired with הַדְּבָרִים (ha.de.va.Rim) as "the words." These terms mark the definitive boundary of the oral revelation before the written tablets were inscribed.

The thread — The event parallels the mountain theophany in Exodus 24:12 and Exodus 31:18, where Yahweh provides the stone tablets after speaking. It reinforces Deuteronomy 4:12, which records the people hearing only a voice without seeing a form.

Why it lands — The text requires recognizing that divine instruction was fully delivered orally and in writing without addition or subtraction. It demands adherence to the complete, unaltered commandments as the final standard for the assembly.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Exodus 24:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
Exodus 31:18 When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
Deuteronomy 4:12 And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice.
Deuteronomy 4:36 He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.
Deuteronomy 5:4 The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
Exodus 19:18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.