Deuteronomy 4:24

Hebrew Bible

22 So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that good land. 23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. 25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, 26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be removed from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be annihilated.

Hebrews 12:29

New Testament

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.

 Notes and References

"... Here perhaps is a good juncture to deal with the varied use of Deuteronomy in the book of Hebrews ... (Hebrews 1:6; Deuteronomy 32:43, Hebrews 10:28; Deuteronomy 17:6, Hebrews 12:3; Deuteronomy 32:35, Hebrews 12:15; Deuteronomy 29:17, Hebrews 12:18; Deuteronomy 4:11, Hebrews 12:21; Deuteronomy 9:19, Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 31:6) ... Notice that all the quotations here are short, even fragmentary, and so Gert Steyn is right to ask: Is the author quoting from memory? And if so, should we be spending so much time trying to figure out which version of the OT he is using, when he could be paraphrasing in his own language? Importantly, Steyn points out that unlike his Psalms and Jeremiah quotations, the use of Deuteronomy does not involve extended quotations, nor are the Deuteronomy quotations cited with reference to divine authority. Could this be because our author, while recognizing Deuteronomy as Scripture believes the Mosaic covenant is no longer binding on his audience per se, and particularly because he doesn’t want these Jewish Christians retreating back into non-Christian Judaism under pressure or persecution is being careful how he uses the Law? In any case, he clearly believes the Mosaic covenant has been superseded by a better covenant, the new covenant. Further, what explains the fact that apart from Hebrews 1:6, all of the citations come between Hebrews 10:28 and 13:5? Even of these nine found within those parameters, only four are clearly explicit quotations, Deuteronomy 32:43 (LXX Ode 2) in Hebrews 1:6; Deuteronomy 32:35–36 in Hebrews 10:30–31; Deuteronomy 9:19 in Hebrews 12:21; and Deuteronomy 31:6 in Hebrews 13:5 ..."

Witherington, Ben Torah Old and New: Exegesis, Intertextuality, and Hermeneutics (p. 328) Fortress Press, 2018

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