Bible Strands
Hebrews 12:20
For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author addresses believers contrasting their position with the Sinai moment when a trumpet blast and voice made hearers beg for silence, followed by a terrifying sight that made Moses tremble.
The words — διαστελλόμενον (diastellomenon) means "being commanded," paired with κἂν (kan), "if even," which together frame the absolute boundary placed around the mountain.
The thread — This boundary command echoes the Sinai warnings where God set a perimeter to prevent ascent, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud that marked His presence.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the old covenant's approach to God was governed by fear and strict limits, requiring the reader to abandon reliance on ritual proximity and instead fix their gaze on Christ.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Cross-references
- Exodus 19:12 And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
- Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
- Deuteronomy 33:2 He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
- Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.
- Galatians 3:10 All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.