Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire,
World English Bible
Deuteronomy 5:4
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
Show this verse in
WEB ▾
Show this verse in
-
Showing
WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
- BSB Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
- LSV Literal Standard Version A modern, highly literal translation (2020) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- ULB Unlocked Literal Bible An open-licensed literal translation produced for translators · CC BY-SA 4.0
- WMB World Messianic Bible The World English Bible with Hebrew names and Messianic-Jewish terms · Public Domain
- FBV Free Bible Version A modern translation in contemporary English from the original languages · CC BY-SA 4.0
- BBE Bible in Basic English A 20th-century translation using a simple, limited vocabulary · Public Domain
- ULT unfoldingWord Literal Text unfoldingWord's open-licensed literal translation, the successor to the ULB · CC BY-SA 4.0
- MSB Majority Standard Bible A modern translation of the Majority/Byzantine text — the Berean counterpart to the critical-text BSB · Public Domain
- TCENT Text-Critical English New Testament A modern reasoned-eclectic New Testament (2022) · CC BY 4.0
- F35 Family 35 New Testament Wilbur Pickering's Byzantine-priority New Testament, with text-critical commentary notes · CC BY-SA 4.0
- OJB Orthodox Jewish Bible A Messianic-Jewish English Bible using transliterated Hebrew names and terms · CC BY 4.0
- Historic editions
- KJV King James Version Public Domain
- ASV American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
- GNV Geneva Bible (1599) The Reformation-era study Bible that preceded the King James · Public Domain
- DRA Douay-Rheims (1899) An English Catholic translation from the Latin Vulgate · Public Domain
- YLT Young's Literal Translation An extremely literal 19th-century rendering · Public Domain
- DBY Darby Bible A literal 19th-century translation by J. N. Darby · Public Domain
- WBT Webster's Bible Noah Webster's 1833 modernization of the King James Version · Public Domain
- TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534) The pioneering early-modern English New Testament (New Testament only) · Public Domain
- JPS JPS Tanakh (1917) An early Jewish English translation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament only) · Public Domain
- RV Revised Version (1885) The 1885 British revision of the King James Version; parent of the American Standard Version · Public Domain
- LEESER Isaac Leeser Tanakh (1853) The first Jewish English translation of the Hebrew Bible (1853, Old Testament only) · Public Domain
- KJVCP KJV Cambridge Paragraph Bible David Norton's critical Cambridge edition of the King James Version, set in paragraphs · Public Domain
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
-
Can God be seen?
The Hebrew Bible repeatedly narrates theophanies in which God is seen face-to-face — by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, seventy elders, Manoah, Micaiah, Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Habakkuk. A parallel stream (Exod 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16; Col 1:15) insists God is invisible and cannot be seen, and that anyone who did see him would die.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Theology
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
-
Did the Israelites see God face to face on Mount Horeb?
Deuteronomy 5:2-4 says Yahweh spoke to the Israelites at Horeb 'face to face out of the midst of the fire.' Deuteronomy 4:12, two chapters earlier in the same book, says they 'heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.'
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
Historical detail
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Other verses examined for the same kind of question or claim
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
Cite this page
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Deuteronomy 5:4 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/deuteronomy/5/4?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).