2 Corinthians 3:6-7

3:6 who made us adequate ¹  to be servants of a new covenant ²  not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Greater Glory of the Spirit’s Ministry

3:7 But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets ³  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ⁴  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ⁵  (a glory ⁶  which was made ineffective), ⁷ 

Exodus 19:12-19

19:12 You must set boundaries ⁸  for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed ⁹  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 ¹⁰  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ¹¹  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ¹²  go up on the mountain.”

19:14 Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. 19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.” ¹³ 

19:16 On ¹⁴  the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense ¹⁵  cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud ¹⁶  horn; ¹⁷  all the people who were in the camp trembled. 19:17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. 19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, ¹⁸  and the whole mountain shook ¹⁹  violently. 19:19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, ²⁰  Moses was speaking ²¹  and God was answering him with a voice. ²² 

Exodus 20:18-19

20:18 All the people were seeing ²³  the thundering and the lightning, and heard ²⁴  the sound of the horn, and saw ²⁵  the mountain smoking – and when ²⁶  the people saw it they trembled with fear ²⁷  and kept their distance. ²⁸  20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak ²⁹  to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”

Romans 1:18

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people ³⁰  who suppress the truth by their ³¹  unrighteousness, ³² 

Romans 8:3-4

8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because ³³  it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Galatians 3:10

3:10 For all who ³⁴  rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” ³⁵ 

Hebrews 12:18-21

12:18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, ³⁶  to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind 12:19 and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words ³⁷  such that those who heard begged to hear no more. ³⁸  12:20 For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” ³⁹  12:21 In fact, the scene ⁴⁰  was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.” ⁴¹ 

[3:6]  ¹ tn Or “competent.”

[3:6]  ² sn This new covenant is promised in Jer 31:31-34; 32:40.

[3:7]  ³ tn Grk “on stones”; but since this is clearly an allusion to the tablets of the Decalogue (see 2 Cor 3:3) the word “tablets” was supplied in the translation to make the connection clear.

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “so that the sons of Israel.”

[3:7]  ⁵ sn The glory of his face. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the tablets of the Decalogue, the people were afraid to approach him because his face was so radiant (Exod 34:29-30).

[3:7]  ⁶ tn The words “a glory” are not in the Greek text, but the reference to “glory” has been repeated from the previous clause for clarity.

[3:7]  ⁷ tn Or “which was transitory.” Traditionally this phrase is translated as “which was fading away.” The verb καταργέω in the corpus Paulinum uniformly has the meaning “to render inoperative, ineffective”; the same nuance is appropriate here. The glory of Moses’ face was rendered ineffective by the veil Moses wore. For discussion of the meaning of this verb in this context, see S. J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel (WUNT 81), 301-13. A similar translation has been adopted in the two other occurrences of the verb in this paragraph in vv. 11 and 13.

[19:12]  ⁸ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect (“make borders”) with vav (ו) consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.

[19:12]  ⁹ 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.

[19:13]  ¹⁰ 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.

[19:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man.”

[19:13]  ¹² 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.

[19:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not go near a woman”; NIV “Abstain from sexual relations.”

[19:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and it was on.”

[19:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).

[19:16]  ¹⁶ tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).

[19:16]  ¹⁷ tn The word here is שֹׁפָר (shofar), the normal word for “horn.” This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event (see 1 Kgs 1:34; 2 Sam 6:15). The previous word used in the context (v. 16) was יֹבֵל (yovel, “ram’s horn”).

[19:18]  ¹⁸ sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.

[19:18]  ¹⁹ tn This is the same word translated “trembled” above (v. 16).

[19:19]  ²⁰ tn The active participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh) is used to add the idea of “continually” to the action of the sentence; here the trumpet became very loud – continually. See GKC 344 §113.u.

[19:19]  ²¹ tn The two verbs here (“spoke” and “answered”) are imperfect tenses; they emphasize repeated action but in past time. The customary imperfect usually is translated “would” or “used to” do the action, but here continuous action in past time is meant. S. R. Driver translates it “kept speaking” and “kept answering” (Exodus, 172).

[19:19]  ²² tn The text simply has בְּקוֹל (bÿqol); it could mean “with a voice” or it could mean “in thunder” since “voice” was used in v. 16 for thunder. In this context it would be natural to say that the repeated thunderings were the voice of God – but how is that an answer? Deut 4:12 says that the people heard the sound of words. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 232-33) rightly comments, “He was answering him with a loud voice so that it was possible for Moses to hear His words clearly in the midst of the storm.” He then draws a parallel from Ugaritic where it tells that one of the gods was speaking in a loud voice.

[20:18]  ²³ tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).

[20:18]  ²⁴ tn The verb “to see” (רָאָה, ra’ah) refers to seeing with all the senses, or perceiving. W. C. Kaiser suggests that this is an example of the figure of speech called zeugma because the verb “saw” yokes together two objects, one that suits the verb and the other that does not. So, the verb “heard” is inserted here to clarify (“Exodus,” EBC 2:427).

[20:18]  ²⁵ tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).

[20:18]  ²⁶ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.

[20:18]  ²⁷ tn The meaning of נוּעַ (nua’) is “to shake, sway to and fro” in fear. Compare Isa 7:2 – “and his heart shook…as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”

[20:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”

[20:19]  ²⁹ tn The verb is a Piel imperative. In this context it has more of the sense of a request than a command. The independent personal pronoun “you” emphasizes the subject and forms the contrast with God’s speaking.

[1:18]  ³⁰ tn The genitive ἀνθρώπων could be taken as an attributed genitive, in which case the phase should be translated “against all ungodly and unrighteous people” (cf. “the truth of God” in v. 25 which is also probably an attributed genitive). C. E. B. Cranfield takes the section 1:18-32 to refer to all people (not just Gentiles), while 2:1-3:20 points out that the Jew is no exception (Romans [ICC], 1:104-6; 1:137-38).

[1:18]  ³¹ tn “Their” is implied in the Greek, but is supplied because of English style.

[1:18]  ³² tn Or “by means of unrighteousness.” Grk “in (by) unrighteousness.”

[8:3]  ³³ tn Grk “in that.”

[3:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “For as many as.”

[3:10]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

[12:18]  ³⁶ tn This describes the nation of Israel approaching God on Mt. Sinai (Exod 19). There is a clear contrast with the reference to Mount Zion in v. 22, so this could be translated “a mountain that can be touched.” But the word “mountain” does not occur here and the more vague description seems to be deliberate.

[12:19]  ³⁷ tn Grk “a voice of words.”

[12:19]  ³⁸ tn Grk “a voice…from which those who heard begged that a word not be added to them.”

[12:20]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 19:12-13.

[12:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “that which appeared.”

[12:21]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “I am terrified and trembling.”