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BSB § And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
OEB No OEB EXO book available
WEBBE You shall set bounds to the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET You must set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!
LSV And you have made a border [for] the people all around, saying, Take heed to yourselves, going up into the mountain or coming against its extremity; whoever is coming against the mountain is certainly put to death;
FBV Set up a boundary for the people all around and warn them, ‘Watch out! Don't try to go up the mountain—don't even touch it! For anyone who touches the mountain will most certainly be killed. Don't touch any person or any animal that has touched the mountain.
T4T You must make a boundary around the base of the mountain, and tell them, ‘Be sure that you do not climb the mountain or even go near it. Anyone who even touches the base of the mountain must be executed.’
LEB And you must set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Guard yourselves against[fn] going up to the mountain and touching its edge. Anyone touching the mountain will certainly be put to death.
BBE And let limits be marked out for the people round the mountain, and say to them, Take care not to go up the mountain or near the sides of it: whoever puts his foot on the mountain will certainly come to his death:
Moff No Moff EXO book available
JPS And 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;
ASV And 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:
DRA And thou shalt appoint certain limits to the people round about, and thou shalt say to them: Take heed you go not up into the mount, and that ye touch not the borders thereof: every one that toucheth the mount dying he shall die.
YLT 'And thou hast made a border [for] the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, going up into the mount, or coming against its extremity; whoever is coming against the mount is certainly put to death;
Drby And set bounds round about the people, saying, Take heed to yourselves, [not] to go up unto the mountain nor touch the border of it: whatever toucheth the mountain shall certainly be put to death:
RV And 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:
Wbstr And thou shalt set bounds to the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up upon the mount, or touch the border of it: whoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
KJB-1769 And 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:
(And thou/you 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: )
KJB-1611 [fn]And thou shalt set bounds vnto the people round about, saying, Take heed to your selues, that ye goe not vp into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoeuer toucheth the mount, shall be surely put to death.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
Bshps And thou shalt set boundes vnto the people rounde about, & say: take heede to your selues that ye go not vp into the mount, or touche the border of it: whosoeuer toucheth the mounte, shall surelye dye.
(And thou/you shalt set boundes unto the people round about, and say: take heed to yourselves that ye/you_all go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mounte, shall surelye die.)
Gnva And thou shalt set markes vnto the people rounde about, saying, Take heede to your selues that ye goe not vp the mount, nor touche the border of it: whosoeuer toucheth the mount, shall surely die.
(And thou/you shalt set markes unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye/you_all go not up the mount, nor touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount, shall surely die. )
Cvdl And set markes rounde aboute the people, and saye vnto them: Bewarre, that ye go not vp in to ye mount, ner touch ye border of it. For whosoeuer toucheth ye mout, shal dye ye death.
(And set markes round about the people, and say unto them: Bewarre, that ye/you_all go not up in to ye/you_all mount, nor touch ye/you_all border of it. For whosoever toucheth ye/you_all mout, shall dye ye/you_all death.)
Wyc And thou schalt sette termes to the puple, bi cumpas; and thou schalt seie to hem, Be ye war, that ye `stie not in to the hil, nether touche ye the endis therof; ech man that schal touche the hil, schal die bi deeth.
(And thou/you shalt set termes to the people, by cumpas; and thou/you shalt say to them, Be ye/you_all war, that ye/you_all `stie not in to the hill, neither touch ye/you_all the endis therof; each man that shall touch the hill, shall die by death.)
Luth Und mache dem Volk ein Gehege umher und sprich zu ihnen: Hütet euch, daß ihr nicht auf den Berg steiget, noch sein Ende anrühret; denn wer den Berg anrühret, soll des Todes sterben.
(And make to_him people a Gehege around/about and sprich to to_them: Hütet you, that you/their/her not on the mountain/hill steiget, still his Ende anrühret; because who the mountain/hill anrühret, should the Todes die.)
ClVg Constituesque terminos populo per circuitum, et dices ad eos: Cavete ne ascendatis in montem, nec tangatis fines illius: omnis qui tetigerit montem, morte morietur.[fn]
(Constituesque terminos to_the_people through circuitum, and dices to them: Cavete not ascendatis in montem, but_not tangatis fines illius: everyone who tetigerit montem, morte morietur. )
BrTr And thou shalt separate the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mountain, nor touch any part of it: every one that touches the mountain shall surely die.
BrLXX Καὶ ἀφοριεῖς τὸν λαὸν κύκλῳ, λέγων, προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς τοῦ ἀναβῆναι εἰς τὸ ὄρος, καὶ θίγειν τι αὐτοῦ· πᾶς ὁ ἁψάμενος τοῦ ὄρους, θανάτῳ τελευτήσει.
(Kai aforieis ton laon kuklōi, legōn, proseⱪete heautois tou anabaʸnai eis to oros, kai thigein ti autou; pas ho hapsamenos tou orous, thanatōi teleutaʸsei. )
UTN uW Translation Notes:
וְהִגְבַּלְתָּ֤
and,set_limits
The boundary was either a mark or some kind of barrier.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
לֵאמֹ֔ר הִשָּׁמְר֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם
to=say careful to/for=you_all
A second-level direct quotation begins with watch. It is not clear where this command that Moses is to give the Israelites ends. Most English translations end it in 19:13 before the last sentence. For that reason, it may be most helpful to translate the instruction as an indirect quotation. Alternate translation: “telling them to watch themselves”
הִשָּׁמְר֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם עֲל֥וֹת בָּהָ֖ר וּנְגֹ֣עַ בְּקָצֵ֑הוּ
careful to/for=you_all go_up in/on/at/with,mountain and,touch in/on/at/with,edge,it
Here, the negative command is implied from the watch yourselves command. Alternate translation: “Watch yourselves against climbing on the mountain or touching on its edge”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
כָּל־הַנֹּגֵ֥עַ בָּהָ֖ר מ֥וֹת
all/each/any/every the,touches in/on/at/with,mountain to_die
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “You must surely put to death any person who touches the mountain” or “You must surely kill anyone who touches the mountain”
BMM BibleMapper.com Maps:
The Route of the Exodus
Exodus 13-19; Numbers 33
Like several other events recorded in Scripture, the Bible’s account of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai includes an abundance of geographical references, yet it remains one of the most hotly debated topics among scholars, and numerous theories have been offered. The vast majority of geographical references provided in the story are disputed, including the place where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the location of Mount Sinai (see Proposed Locations for Mount Sinai map), and the various stops along the Israelites’ journey. A few locations have been established with some degree of scholarly consensus, but even these are not without opposing viewpoints. Amidst this incredible diversity of opinion, however, a single verse provides one of the most helpful clues for weighing the merits of one viewpoint over another: “By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea from Horeb” (Deuteronomy 1:2). For those who assume the Bible’s account to be trustworthy, this verse appears to require the following for any theory to be considered viable: 1) Kadesh-barnea and Mount Sinai must have been located at a distance from each other that could reasonably have been expected to take eleven days for an entire nation of people with small children, flocks, equipment, and perhaps even elderly members to travel on foot; and 2) the pace established by this distance over eleven days should most likely be considered the typical pace for the Israelites as they traveled from place to place along the other parts of the journey. This two-pronged test clearly strains many of the theories put forth to this point, especially when one factors in the time references given for the start of the journey (Exodus 12:6; Numbers 33:3), the middle of the journey (Exodus 16:1; Numbers 33:8), and the end of the journey (Exodus 19:1). In short, the journey from Rameses to the Wilderness of Sin took 31 days, since it included the 15th day of the second month, and the rest of the journey took another 16 days, assuming they arrived at Mount Sinai on the 15th day (not the first day, etc.) of the third month. Along with these criteria, a theory’s overall congruence with other established geographical and archeological data should bolster its credibility over other proposals. Another consideration is the extreme similarity between the events at Rephidim (Exodus 17) and the events at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 20:1-13; 27:12-14; Deuteronomy 32:51; Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28), raising the question of whether Rephidim (meaning “resting places”) is in fact Kadesh-barnea. With these things in mind, the map below proposes a route for the exodus that meets virtually all of these criteria. A careful analysis and explanation of all the elements of the map is far beyond the scope of this article, but a few key points should be noted. The term Red Sea, in addition to referring to what we now regard it, must have also applied to the interconnected lakes and marshlands that lay along what is now the Suez Canal. Also, the portion of the journey that passed through the wilderness for three days without water (Exodus 15:22; Numbers 33:8) may have been comprised of a partial first day, a full second day, and a partial third day, much like Jesus’ time in the tomb is reckoned as three days in Matthew 12:40. Most notably, Mount Sinai is placed on this map at Gebel Khashm et-Tarif, which is appropriately located near, but not in, Midian (Exodus 3:1; 18:5; Numbers 10:29-30). It is also located 89 miles from Kadesh-barnea (assuming Kadesh is at Tall al-Quderat), which establishes a reasonable pace of 7.6 miles (12.2 km) per day to travel between them in 11 days. This lines up well with several known sources of water along that route (e.g., `Ain Qedeis [Hazar-addar?], Tamilat Suwelima [Hor-haggiggad?], and the spring at Kuntillet al-Girafi [unknown ancient identification]). This general pace then synchronizes very well with the timetable and distances required by this map for the other parts of the journey. The distance from Rameses to the Wilderness of Sin (where it is located here) could be completed in under 26 days, leaving an acceptable buffer of about 5 days for the parting of the Red Sea and perhaps a slower pace through the Wilderness of Shur/Etham. The entire journey took about 60 days, and the journey from the Wilderness of Sin to Mount Sinai took about 29 days. This leaves an acceptable buffer of time to complete the rest of the journey (about 16 days of travel) with a very adequate two weeks of extra time for Jethro to visit Moses and the Israelites to do battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17-18). It should be noted that this timetable generally assumes (but does not necessarily require) that travel continued on sabbath days, but Scripture does not make clear whether travel was prohibited as work prior to the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.