Exodus 19
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Summary
The Lord covenants to make the children of Israel a unique and peculiar people unto Him. The Lord commands Moses to sanctify the people, and He appears on Mount Sinai in a pillar of fire and smoke to Moses.
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
These free resources were developed for use in the free ScripturePlus app. Many of the contributors are professors of religion and ancient scripture at Brigham Young University.
Wally Breitenstein, “Exodus 18–20,” in Exodus, Old Testament Minute Commentary Series, ed. Taylor Halverson (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
Historical Commentaries
Many of the commentaries below are in the public domain and were authored over 100 years ago. In many cases, they do not reflect the findings of modern scholarship, but they may be helpful for understanding the history of biblical scholarship.
Videos
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Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical Chronology- 1446 BC
Further Reading
Book of Mormon Central, “How Can the Old Testament Covenants Help Us Understand the Book of Mormon? (1 Nephi 2:12-13),” KnoWhy 363 (September 12, 2017).
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Does the Book of Mosiah Refer to the Exodus Narrative? (Mosiah 11:27),” KnoWhy 416 (May 16, 2019).
Richard J. Clifford, “The Temple and the Holy Mountain,” in The Temple in Antiquity: Ancient Records and Modern Perspectives, ed. Truman G. Madsen (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984), 107–24.
Amy B. Hardison, “Theophany on Sinai,” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament, ed. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University 2013), 218–31.
Paul Y. Hoskisson, “The Plan of Salvation in the First Six Books of the Old Testament,” in The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 48–66.
L. Michael Morales, “The Tabernacle: Mountain of God in the Cultus of Israel,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 27–70.
Kerry Muhlestein, “Darkness, Light, and the Lord: Elements of Israelite Theophanies,” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament, ed. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2013), 232–254.
Russel M. Nelson, “Remnants Gathered, Covenants Fulfilled,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Old Testament, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson (Provo and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book, 2005), 1–17.
Donald W. Parry, “Sinai as Sanctuary and Mountain of God,” in By Study and Also by Faith, ed. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: FARMS, 1990), 1:482–500.
Stephen D. Ricks, “The Treaty/Covenant Pattern in King Benjamin’s Address (Mosiah 1-6),” BYU Studies 24, no. 2 (1984): 151–162.
John S. Thompson, “The Context of Old Testament Temple Worship: Early Ancient Egyptian Rites,” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament, ed. Jeffery R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2013), 156–183.
Bruce T. Verhaaren, “Ten Commandments,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1992), 4:1469–1470.
John W. Welch and Greg Welch, 1 Nephi and the Exodus (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999).
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Albert Barnes (1834)
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John Gill (1746–63)
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Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
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John Wesley (1754–65)