To Whom Did God Speak at Sinai?

The Torah is ambiguous about the question of whether the Revelation at Mount Sinai was only to Moshe – "Lo, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever" (Shemot 19:9) – or to the entire people – "For on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai" (Shemot 19:11).

Another question arises as well: Did the glory of God reach the foot of the mountain, down to the Israelite camp – "And Mount Sinai smoked in every part, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke of it ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly" (Shemot 19:18) – or did God's glory rest only on the top of the mountain – "And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moshe up to the top of the mount; and Moshe went up" (Shemot 19:20)? Furthermore, if all the people stood at the foot of the mountain, to where did the priests ascend after the sweeping warning not to go up the mountain or even touch its perimeter?

Translated by David Strauss