Exodus 19
27 May 2026 - Theology
The Covenant of Marriage
Ancient Eastern Weddings:
- Betrothal (Cup of the Covenant)
- Groom leaves to prepare the house
- Arrival of the bridegroom
- Bride is consecrated
- Shofar is sounded (bride’s entrance)
- Gather under the chuppah
- Presentation of the ketubah
- Exchange of wedding gifts
- Consummation of the marriage
- “Honeymoon” year (Deuteronomy 24:5)
How does this relate to the Israelites in Exodus 19 at Mt. Sinai?
- Betrothal
Genesis 12:1 - “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”
The Lord said to Abram to leave his father’s house, to go to a place that He would show Abram. This is a betrothal or engagement.
Three chapters later in Genesis 15, the Lord makes a Blood Path Covenant with Abram. The Blood Path covenant was almost exclusively a covenant used for betrothal or marriage.
- Groom leaves to prepare the house
You could say then that God disappears while the Israelites are in slavery in Egypt. The promised land is not ready yet for His bride.
- Arrival of the bridegroom
God then reappears to lead His people out from slavery in Egypt. This arrival culminates in the story of Passover in Exodus 12. The Bridegroom God then brings His people to the ceremony, which is Mt. Sinai.
Exodus 19:1 - “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.”
Notice that the bridegroom God led His people on a three month journey to the ceremony. We have seen this three day pattern many times already throughout our study:
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- New Life from the Ground: The pattern begins on the third day of Creation, when life first “rose up” from the earth in the form of plants and seeds (Genesis 1:11-13)
- The “Binding” of Isaac: Abraham reaches the place of sacrifice on the “third day.” Isaac, who was as good as dead in Abraham’s mind, is “returned” to him on that day, symbolizing a resurrection from death (Genesis 22:4).
- The Lord tells Moses to ask Pharaoh for a three day journey for the Israelites (Exodus 3:18, Exodus 5:3)
Exodus 19:5-6 - “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”
This language of a “peculiar treasure” or “treasured possession” (NIV) is almost exclusively used as marital wedding talk. This phrase is still used today in Jewish weddings.
The people of Israel agree to the covenant even before they learn of the laws to be placed on them (7-8).
- Bride is consecrated
Exodus 19:10-11 - “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.”
Another word for “sanctify” is “consecrate”. Notice that the Lord wants the people to be consecrated and be ready for three days.
Exodus 19:14-15 - “And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.”
- Shofar is sounded (bride’s entrance)
Exodus 19:16 - “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.”
The people could not touch Mt. Sinai before the shofar was sounded (see 12-13). But after three days, the shofar was sounded and now the bride, God’s people, can come forth.
- Gather under the chuppah
See References below for a link to Wikipedia on the chuppah.
Exodus 19:17 - “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.”
“nether part” (tachti) - Strong’s Concordance [8482]
- lowermost, the depths
- from tachath [8478], meaning “under, below, beneath”
References:
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The BEMA Podcast, Episode 22: Under the Chuppah
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
- Exodus 19 - Hebrew Interlinear
- chuppah
- tachti and tachath