For they could not endure that which was commanded That is, either, 1st, The law itself, so strict and holy, and promulged amidst such terrors seen and heard: or, 2d, The sense is, they could not bear to hear the following charge, or endure the terror which seized them when they heard those words proclaimed, And if even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, &c. And so terrible was the sight That manifestation of the divine presence, that even Moses (Notwithstanding his office as a mediator, his great sanctity, and his having been frequently admitted to a very near intercourse with God, who had often spoken to him as a man speaketh to his friend;) said, I exceedingly fear and quake This circumstance is not recorded in the history: but seeing the apostle mentions it here in this letter to the Hebrews as a thing known to them, it seems probable that they had it from tradition, or that it was recorded in some Jewish writing then extant. At other times Moses acted as a mediator between God and the people; but while the ten commandments were pronounced amidst blackness, darkness, and tempest, preceded by the sound of the trumpet waxing louder and louder, Moses stood as one of the hearers, Exodus 19:25; Exodus 20:19.
Related Commentaries of Hebrews 12:20
Hebrews 12:20-21
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)