Numbers 3:38

3:38 But those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, ¹  and his sons. They were responsible for the needs ²  of the sanctuary and for the needs of the Israelites, but the unauthorized person who approached was to be put to death.

Exodus 19:12

19:12 You must set boundaries ³  for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed ⁴  to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁵ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁶  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁷  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 6:19

6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records.

Exodus 6:2

6:2 God spoke ⁸  to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. ⁹ 

Exodus 6:6-7

6:6 Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out ¹⁰  from your enslavement to ¹¹  the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, ¹²  and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 6:7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. ¹³  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to ¹⁴  the Egyptians.

Exodus 6:1

6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, ¹⁵  for compelled by my strong hand ¹⁶  he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” ¹⁷ 

Exodus 13:9-10

13:9 ¹⁸  It ¹⁹  will be a sign ²⁰  for you on your hand and a memorial ²¹  on your forehead, ²²  so that the law of the Lord may be ²³  in your mouth, ²⁴  for ²⁵  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 13:10 So you must keep ²⁶  this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year. ²⁷ 

Hebrews 12:18-29

12:18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, ²⁸  to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind 12:19 and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words ²⁹  such that those who heard begged to hear no more. ³⁰  12:20 For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” ³¹  12:21 In fact, the scene ³²  was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.” ³³  12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ³⁴  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly 12:23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect, 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator ³⁵  of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. ³⁶ 

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven? 12:26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.” ³⁷  12:27 Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. 12:28 So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. 12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire. ³⁸ 

[3:38]  ¹ tc In some Hebrew mss and Smr “and Aaron” is not in the verse. The omission arose probably by scribal error with such repetitious material that could easily give rise to variant traditions.

[3:38]  ² tn Here again the verb and its cognate noun are used: keeping the keep, or keeping charge over, or taking responsibility for the care of, or the like.

[19:12]  ³ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect (“make borders”) with vav (ו) consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.

[19:12]  ⁴ 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.

[19:1]  ⁵ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “on this day.”

[6:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “And God spoke.”

[6:2]  ⁹ sn The announcement “I am the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”) draws in the preceding revelation in Exod 3:15. In that place God called Moses to this task and explained the significance of the name “Yahweh” by the enigmatic expression “I am that I am.” “I am” (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh) is not a name; “Yahweh” is. But the explanation of the name with this sentence indicates that Yahweh is the one who is always there, and that guarantees the future, for everything he does is consistent with his nature. He is eternal, never changing; he remains. Now, in Exodus 6, the meaning of the name “Yahweh” will be more fully unfolded.

[6:6]  ¹⁰ sn The verb וְהוֹצֵאתִי (vÿhotse’ti) is a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, and so it receives a future translation – part of God’s promises. The word will be used later to begin the Decalogue and other covenant passages – “I am Yahweh who brought you out….”

[6:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from under the burdens of” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “from under the yoke of.”

[6:6]  ¹² tn Heb “from labor of them.” The antecedent of the pronoun is the Egyptians who have imposed slave labor on the Hebrews.

[6:7]  ¹³ sn These covenant promises are being reiterated here because they are about to be fulfilled. They are addressed to the nation, not individuals, as the plural suffixes show. Yahweh was their God already, because they had been praying to him and he is acting on their behalf. When they enter into covenant with God at Sinai, then he will be the God of Israel in a new way (19:4-6; cf. Gen 17:7-8; 28:20-22; Lev 26:11-12; Jer 24:7; Ezek 11:17-20).

[6:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from under the burdens of” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “from under the yoke of.”

[6:1]  ¹⁵ sn The expression “I will do to Pharaoh” always refers to the plagues. God would first show his sovereignty over Pharaoh before defeating him.

[6:1]  ¹⁶ tn The expression “with a strong hand” (וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה, uvÿyad khazaqah) could refer (1) to God’s powerful intervention (“compelled by my strong hand”) or (2) to Pharaoh’s forceful pursuit (“he will forcefully drive them out”). In Exod 3:20 God has summarized what his hand would do in Egypt, and that is probably what is intended here, as he promises that Moses will see what God will do. All Egypt ultimately desired that Israel be released (12:33), and when they were released Pharaoh pursued them to the sea, and so in a sense drove them out – whether that was his intention or not. But ultimately it was God’s power that was the real force behind it all. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 74) considers that it is unlikely that the phrase would be used in the same verse twice with the same meaning. So he thinks that the first “strong hand” is God’s, and the second “strong hand” is Pharaoh’s. It is true that if Pharaoh acted forcefully in any way that contributed to Israel leaving Egypt it was because God was acting forcefully in his life. So in an understated way, God is saying that when forced by God’s strong hand, Pharaoh will indeed release God’s people.”

[6:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “and he will forcefully drive them out of his land,” if the second occurrence of “strong hand” refers to Pharaoh’s rather than God’s (see the previous note).

[13:9]  ¹⁸ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ¹⁹ tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ²² tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  ²³ tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ²⁴ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ²⁵ tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[13:10]  ²⁶ tn The form is a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, functioning as the equivalent of an imperfect of instruction or injunction.

[13:10]  ²⁷ tn Or “every year,” or “year after year.”

[12:18]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Grk “a voice of words.”

[12:19]  ³⁰ tn Grk “a voice…from which those who heard begged that a word not be added to them.”

[12:20]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Exod 19:12-13.

[12:21]  ³² tn Grk “that which appeared.”

[12:21]  ³³ tn Grk “I am terrified and trembling.”

[12:22]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”

[12:24]  ³⁵ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[12:24]  ³⁶ sn Abel’s shed blood cried out to the Lord for justice and judgment, but Jesus’ blood speaks of redemption and forgiveness, something better than Abel’s does (Gen 4:10; Heb 9:11-14; 11:4).

[12:26]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Hag 2:6.

[12:29]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 4:24; 9:3.