What Does Deuteronomy 5:23 Mean?
And it happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, for the mountain burned with fire, that you drew near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;THE KEY
The voice comes from inside the darkness, and the people still come near: concealment and approach occupy the same moment.
THE MEANING
You hear the voice from within darkness while the mountain burns; concealment and encounter occupy the same moment. Hearing is followed by approach, and you are not alone in it: the heads of your tribes and elders come near together. The text does not require the darkness to clear before nearness begins.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that darkness means the voice is absent, or that clarity must come before you can draw near.
THE ROOT
וַתִּקְרְבוּן
wattiqrevun
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
Approach, draw near.
“drew near” in this verse is wattiqrevun. English makes “came near” sound like simple movement, but this root also forms words for the inner part and for something brought near. The people’s approach carries a deeper sense of entering into nearness, even while the voice remains veiled.
ALSO GROWS
qerev: Inner part, midst.
קֶרֶב
This branch links nearness with what is inward: approaching can mean coming close enough to enter the midst.
qorbān: Offering; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
The same root connects drawing near with bringing something near, extending approach beyond physical distance.
שְׁמַעְתֶּם
shemátem
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed; hear and respond when the context calls for a response.
English can make “heard” sound like a completed sensory event, while this root can carry listening that is answered. Here the answer appears in the next movement: the hearers come near.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This familiar form holds hearing and response together, matching the movement from hearing the voice to coming near.
shemuah: Report, news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how what is heard can become a report, linking the received voice to what is carried onward.
THE PATTERN
Divine presence is encountered within obscurity rather than waiting for it to disappear.
And the people stood far off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.He sets darkness as his hiding place; around him is his booth of dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not take hold of it.THE THREAD
But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.The Hebrew קרב (q-r-b), meaning approach or draw near, appears in both verses. Deuteronomy shows people coming near amid a veiled voice and fire; the psalm names drawing near to God as good.
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