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Hebrews

About this book
Chapter 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,⁠ 2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,⁠ the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you.⁠ 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”⁠ 7 Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits⁠ and receive life?⁠ 10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees,⁠ 13 and make straight paths for your feet,⁠ so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed. 14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord.⁠ 15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble,⁠ and through it many become defiled. 16 And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing with tears. 18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind⁠ 19 and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more. 20 For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”⁠ 21 In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.”⁠ 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly 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,⁠ 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. 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? 26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.”⁠ 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. 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. 29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire.⁠

Texts in conversation

How Hebrews 12 Reframes Haggai's Shaking of Heaven and Earth

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

Haggai says heaven, earth, sea, and land will be shaken when the temple is restored. Hebrews quotes this but reshapes it to give it a new interpretation that describes both earth and heaven shaken so that only what cannot be shaken will remain.

Passages

LXX Haggai 2:6

Septuagint
4 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the Lord; and strengthen yourself, Joshua the high priest, the son of Jehozadak; and let all the people of the land strengthen themselves, says the Lord, and work, for I am with you, says the Lord Almighty; 5 and my Spirit remains in the midst of you; be of good courage. 6 For thus says the Lord Almighty; Yet once I will shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and the choice portions of all the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty. 8 Mine is the silver, and mine the gold, says the Lord Almighty.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Haggai

Hebrews 12:26

New Testament
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. 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? 26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.” 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. 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.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hebrews

References

"... New Testament texts of cosmic destruction are dependent on a large fund of Old Testament imagery about God’s coming as judge. In these Old Testament texts, we find mention of nations, mountains, the earth, and even the heavens being shaken at God’s presence. This idea is clearly behind Hebrews 12, which quotes Haggai 2:6 concerning the eschatological shaking of heaven and earth. In connection with this cosmic shaking, many Old Testament texts describe the darkening of sun and moon, which provides a ready background for Revelation 6 and Jesus’s predictions in the Olivet discourse about celestial signs ... Given the significant repertoire of images of cosmic destruction that the New Testament authors had available to them to depict the coming day of the Lord, we need to read the New Testament imagery of cosmic destruction in light of the Old Testament background, while making necessary allowances for the transformation of imagery that might have taken place between the Testaments. This is an important alternative to simply reading our own contemporary biases and perceptions into Scripture ..."
J. Richard Middleton, A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014), 181–182.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Haggai 2:6 and Hebrews 12:26

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