Discovery BoxExodus 19:9 
Context19:9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come 1 to you in a dense cloud, 2 so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.” 3 And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
Exodus 19:16
Context19:16 On 4 the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense 5 cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud 6 horn; 7 all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Exodus 19:18
Context19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, 8 and the whole mountain shook 9 violently.
1 tn The construction uses the deictic particle and the participle to express the imminent future, what God was about to do. Here is the first announcement of the theophany.
2 tn Heb “the thickness of the cloud”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT “in a thick cloud.”
3 tn Since “and also in you” begins the clause, the emphasis must be that the people would also trust Moses. See Exod 4:1-9, 31; 14:31.
4 tn Heb “and it was on.”
5 tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).
6 tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).
7 tn The word here is שֹׁפָר (shofar), the normal word for “horn.” This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event (see 1 Kgs 1:34; 2 Sam 6:15). The previous word used in the context (v. 16) was יֹבֵל (yovel, “ram’s horn”).
8 sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.
9 tn This is the same word translated “trembled” above (v. 16).
