Verse 20
For they could not endure that which was enjoined, If a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned.
That which was enjoined means that which was commanded; and the thing God had commanded Israel, cited here, was that they should kill any beast that might inadvertantly touch the mountain, not kill in the ordinary way, but by stoning or casting it through with a dart (Exodus 19:12f). The significance of this is that the mountain was held so sacred that any beast touching it thereby became holy itself (as when Korah's censers were offered, Numbers 16:28), so holy that Israel could not even touch the beast that had touched the mountain; hence, they were not to kill the beast by touching it in any way, but by stoning or casting through with a dart.
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