Discovery BoxExodus 19:12 
Context19:12 You must set boundaries 1 for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed 2 to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!
Exodus 29:37
Context29:37 For seven days 3 you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. 4 Anything that touches the altar will be holy. 5
1 tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect (“make borders”) with vav (ו) consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.
2 tn The Niphal imperative (“guard yourselves, take heed to yourselves”) is followed by two infinitives construct that provide the description of what is to be avoided – going up or touching the mountain.
3 tn Once again this is an adverbial accusative of time. Each day for seven days the ritual at the altar is to be followed.
4 tn The construction is the superlative genitive: “holy of holies,” or “most holy.”
5 sn This line states an unusual principle, meant to preserve the sanctity of the altar. S. R. Driver explains it this way (Exodus, 325): If anything comes in contact with the altar, it becomes holy and must remain in the sanctuary for Yahweh’s use. If a person touches the altar, he likewise becomes holy and cannot return to the profane regions. He will be given over to God to be dealt with as God pleases. Anyone who was not qualified to touch the altar did not dare approach it, for contact would have meant that he was no longer free to leave but was God’s holy possession – and might pay for it with his life (see Exod 30:29; Lev 6:18b, 27; and Ezek 46:20).
