For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Parallel translations
- WEB For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm,
- BSB For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;
- NKJV For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
- NASB For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,
- NLT You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
You have not come to a physical mountain blazing with fire, darkness, and storm. The new covenant does not approach God in the terrifying way Israel did at Sinai.
Overview
The author contrasts the readers' situation with Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19), a tangible mountain marked by fire, darkness, and tempest that signified terror and distance from God. This sets up the great comparison between the old covenant given in dread and the new covenant of access and joy. Believers no longer approach God amid such fearful barriers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 4:11And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
- Exod 24:17And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
- Deut 5:22–26These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
- Exod 20:18And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
- Rom 6:14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
- 2 Cor 3:9For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
- Exod 19:12–22And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
- 2 Tim 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
- Rom 8:15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
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Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 12:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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