Exodus 20:18 New English Translation
18 All the people were seeing[a] the thundering and the lightning, and heard[b] the sound of the horn, and saw[c] the mountain smoking—and when[d] the people saw it they trembled with fear[e] and kept their distance.[f]
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- Exodus 20:18 tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).
- Exodus 20:18 tn The verb “to see” (רָאָה, raʾah) refers to seeing with all the senses, or perceiving. W. C. Kaiser suggests that this is an example of the figure of speech called zeugma because the verb “saw” yokes together two objects, one that suits the verb and the other that does not. So, the verb “heard” is inserted here to clarify (“Exodus,” EBC 2:427).
- Exodus 20:18 tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).
- Exodus 20:18 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.
- Exodus 20:18 tn The meaning of נוּעַ (nuaʿ) is “to shake, sway to and fro” in fear. Cf. Isa 7:2 “and his heart shook…as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”
- Exodus 20:18 tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”
New English Translation (NET)
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