Hebrews 12:26
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Hebrews 12:26 in other translations
| BSB | At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.” |
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| WEB | whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” |
| ASV | whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. |
| YLT | whose voice the earth shook then, and now hath he promised, saying, ‘Yet once--I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven;' |
| DARBY | whose voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, saying, Yet once will I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. |
| BBE | Whose voice was the cause of the shaking of the earth; but now he has made an oath, saying, There will be still one more shaking, not only of the earth, but of heaven. |
| Webster | Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. |
What does Hebrews 12:26 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Barnes' Notes
But now hath he promised, saying. The words here quoted are taken from Hag 2:6, where they refer to the changes which would take place under the Messiah. The meaning is, that there would be great revolutions in his coming, as if the universe were shaken to its centre. The apostle evidently applies this passage, as it is done in Haggai, to the first advent of the Redeemer.
I shake not the earth only. This is not quoted literally from the Hebrew, but the sense is retained. In Haggai it is, "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come." The apostle lays emphasis on the fact that not only the earth was to be shaken, but also heaven. The shaking of the earth here evidently refers to the commotions among the nations that would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.
But also heaven. This may refer either (1) to the extraordinary phenomena in the heavens at the birth, the death, and the ascension of Christ; or
(2) to the revolutions in morals and religion which would be caused by the introduction of the gospel, as if everything were to be changed--expressed by "a shaking of the heavens and the earth;" or
(3) it may be more literally taken as denoting that there was a remarkable agitation in the heavens--in the bosoms of its inhabitants--arising from a fact so wonderful as that the Son of God should descend to earth, suffer, and die. I see no reason to doubt that the latter idea may have been included here; and the meaning of the whole then is, that while the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, fearful and solemn as it was, was an event that merely shook the earth in the vicinity of the holy Mount, the introduction of the gospel agitated the universe. Great changes upon the earth were to precede it; one revolution was to succeed another preparatory to it, and the whole universe would be moved at an event so extraordinary. The meaning is, that the introduction of the gospel was a much more solemn and momentous thing than the giving of the law--and that therefore it was much more fearful and dangerous to apostatize from it.
(a) "saying" Hag 2:6
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hebrews 12:18-29
Mount Sinai, on which the Jewish church state was formed, was a mount such as might be touched, though forbidden to be so, a place that could be felt; so the Mosaic dispensation was much in outward and earthly things. The gospel state is kind and condescending, suited to our weak frame. Under the gospel all may come with boldness to God's presence. But the most holy must despair, if judged by the holy law given from…
Hebrews 12:26 in the original Greek
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Cross references for Hebrews 12:26
- Haggai 2:6-7
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
- Isaiah 13:13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
- Exodus 19:18
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
- Isaiah 2:19
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
- Joel 3:16
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
- Psalms 114:6-7
Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
- Habakkuk 3:10
The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
- Hebrews 12:27
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
- Haggai 2:22
And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Hebrews 12:25
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- Hebrews 12:26
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
- Hebrews 12:27
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Hebrews 12:26 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | La voz del cual entonces conmovió la tierra; mas ahora ha denunciado, diciendo: Aun una vez, y yo conmoveré no solamente la tierra, mas aun el cielo. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | duquel la voix ébranla alors la terre; mais maintenant il a promis, disant: « Encore une fois je secouerai non seulement la terre, mais aussi le ciel ». |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Dessen Stimme damals die Erde erschütterte; jetzt aber hat er verheißen und gesagt: "Noch einmal werde ich nicht allein die Erde bewegen, sondern auch den Himmel." |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Cujus vox movit terram tunc: nunc autem repromittit, dicens: Adhuc semel, et ego movebo non solum terram, sed et cælum. |