Exodus 19:15

19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”

Exodus 26:16

26:16 Each frame is to be fifteen feet long, and each frame is to be two feet three inches wide,

Exodus 37:12

37:12 He made a surrounding frame for it about three inches wide, and he made a surrounding border of gold for its frame.

tn Heb “do not go near a woman”; NIV “Abstain from sexual relations.”

sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 537) notes that as the people were to approach him they were not to lose themselves in earthly love. Such separations prepared the people for meeting God. Sinai was like a bride, forbidden to anyone else. Abstinence was the spiritual preparation for coming into the presence of the Holy One.

tn Heb “the frame.”