Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 12:21

τὸ φανταζόμενον. “The splendour of the spectacle” (here only in N. T.). The true punctuation of the verse is And—so fearful was the spectacle—Moses said …

Ἔκφοβός εἰμι κ.τ.λ. No such speech of Moses at Sinai is recorded in the Pentateuch. The writer is either drawing from the Jewish Haggadah or (by a mode of citation not uncommon) is compressing two incidents into one. For in Deuteronomy 9:19 Moses, after the apostasy of Israel in worshipping the Golden Calf, said “I was afraid (LXX. καὶ ἔκφοβός εἰμι) of the anger and hot displeasure of the Lord,” and in Acts 7:32 we find the words “becoming a-tremble” (ἔντρομος γενομενος) to express the fear of Moses on seeing the Burning Bush (though here also there is no mention of any trembling in Exodus 3:6). The tradition of Moses’ terror is found in Jewish writings. In Shabbath f. 88. 2 he exclaims “Lord of the Universe, I am afraid lest they (the Angels) should consume me with the breath of their mouths.” Comp. Midrash Koheleth, f. 69. 4.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 12:21

Old Testament

New Testament