Exodus 19:12-13

19:12 You must set boundaries ¹  for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed ²  to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death! 19:13 No hand will touch him ³  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ⁴  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ⁵  go up on the mountain.”

Exodus 19:21

19:21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn ⁶  the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. ⁷ 

Leviticus 16:17

16:17 Nobody is to be in the Meeting Tent ⁸  when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out, and he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel.

Leviticus 16:1

The Day of Atonement

16:1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord ⁹  and died,

Leviticus 2:5

2:5 If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened.

Hebrews 12:20

12:20 For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect (“make borders”) with vav (ו) consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.

² tn The Niphal imperative (“guard yourselves, take heed to yourselves”) is followed by two infinitives construct that provide the description of what is to be avoided – going up or touching the mountain.

³ sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.

⁴ tn Heb “a man.”

⁵ tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, “they may go up.” The ram’s horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.

⁶ tn The imperative הָעֵד (ha’ed) means “charge” them – put them under oath, or solemnly warn them. God wished to ensure that the people would not force their way past the barriers that had been set out.

⁷ tn Heb “and fall”; NAB “be struck down.”

⁸ tn Heb “And all man shall not be in the tent of meeting.” The term for “a man, human being” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female.

⁹ tn Heb “in their drawing near to the faces of the Lord.” The rendering here relies on the use of this expression for the very “presence” of God in Exod 33:14-15 and in the Lev 9:24-10:2 passage, where the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe referred to here is narrated.

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 19:12-13.