Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 19:13

"no hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, he shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount." — Exodus 19:13 (ASV)

There shall not a hand touch it. —This translation gives an entirely wrong sense. The meaning is, beyond all doubt, “There shall not a hand touch him,” that is, the transgressor. To stop him and seize him, another person would have had to transgress the bounds, and so would have repeated the act that was forbidden. This course was to be avoided, and punishment was to be inflicted on the transgressor by stoning him, or by transfixing him with arrows, from within the barrier.

Whether it be beast or man. —Though beasts are innocent of wrongdoing and are thus not proper objects of punishment, yet the law of God requires their slaughter in certain cases—for example:

1. When they are dangerous (Exodus 21:28);
2. When they have become polluted (Leviticus 20:15);
3. When their owner’s sin is appropriately punished through their loss (Exodus 13:13).

In the present case, it could only be through the culpable carelessness of an owner that a beast could get inside the barrier.

When the trumpet sounds long. —Compare Exodus 19:19.

They shall come up to the mount. —Rather, into the mount. The expression used is identical with that of the preceding verse, and is rendered there “go up into the mount.” Thus, the act forbidden in Exodus 19:12 is allowed in Exodus 19:13; it is not, however, allowed to the same persons.

The word “they” (hêmah) in this context is emphatic and refers to certain privileged persons, as Moses and Aaron (Exodus 19:24), not to the people generally.