Commentary for Deuteronomy 5:23

FOR WHO IS THERE OF ALL FLESH, THAT HATH HEARD THE VOICE OF ‘ELOKIM CHAYIM’ (THE LIVING G-D) SPEAKING OUT OF THE FIRE, AS WE HAVE, AND LIVED? Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that the term living [living G-d] is to distinguish between G-d and the host of heaven which cannot move by itself [but by the living G-d Who is the First Cause].” It is possible to explain that he mentioned this in order to indicate that, if someone hears the voice of G-d with Whom is the fountain of life,¹⁸⁵Psalms 36:10. his soul will cleave to its “foundation” and he will no longer live the life of the flesh.¹⁸⁶Proverbs 14:30. See also further, 11:22, where Ramban elaborates more fully on this doctrine, here alluded to briefly, of experiencing the eternal bliss of the soul in this world. Similarly Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that ‘E-il chai’ is in your midst;¹⁸⁷Joshua 3:10. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth.¹⁸⁸Ibid., Verse 11. Ramban’s intent in citing this verse is to show that the Divine Name, E-il chai, used by Joshua in the preceding Verse 10, is not synonymous with the Name Elokim chayim, used in the verse before us. There, Joshua continued to explain it, Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, thus intimating that E-il chai means “G-d Who gives life to the entire world,” or “G-d of all the living”, while Elokim chayim means “the living G-d,” and therefore alludes to the fact that the soul of someone who hears the voice of G-d will cleave to its “foundation” etc., as explained in the text. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 369. If so, [that E-il chai, as Joshua explained it, means ‘the Lord of all the earth,’ thus intimating that E-il chai means “G-d of all the living,” and is unlike the expression here, Elokim chayim, which means “the living G-d”] and he swore ‘b’chei’ of the world¹⁸⁹Daniel 12:7. is an oath by His Great Name [meaning that “he swore by Him Who gives life to the world”].