Hebrews 12 21-22

Between Heb 12-21 and Heb 12-22 is a semi-colon. Why is there a semi colon rather than a period.
I'm using the KJV.

According to Bible Hub, there is a colon in the KJV version. KJV only people will say that God put the colon there, so it must be right. Personally, I think that the rules of grammar have changed, so translators use what makes sense. To me, it reads the same either way.

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:

21And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake

verses 20 and 21 are together as designated by the ( )'s surrounding them.

verse 22 is separated from 20 and 21 because they speak of those differing from the believers IMO.

22But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

There's a colon at the end of v.21, not a semi-colon; at least in all the KJV I have. I would've used a semi-colon or period. A colon here does seem a bit out of place.

There is a colon : followed by the rest of a bracket ). The KJV often used colons instead of periods or full stops. And in this case a period would have been appropriate.

It is the continuation of the thought, therefore, a colon is appropriate and not a period.

The parenthetical is pretty long. I think that colon in the parenthetical is there to remind you of the colon before the parenthetical.

I do not think about the punctuation marks what they indicate for it has no bearing on understanding the scriptures for me.

Put a comma, colon, semicolon, quartercolon, doublecolon, a mark that looks like a colon from the body, quotation marks, dash, hyphen, bracket, it does not matter, and neither do I think what they indicate.

No matter the mark I do not think it has a bearing on understanding for me.

I get the meaning from the words and can tell the intensity, and what it is trying to convey from that.

It seems like unnecessary to me, and all I use is comma, and period, not even a question mark.

I can tell it is posed as a question without a question mark.

I am not playing these silly English language games.

The word bomb, and then tomb is the same spelling but pronounced different, and then room is spelled different but the same pronunciation, and so on, and so on.

Putting letters in words that is silent, having long words that can be spelled shorter and you say it the same, and some long words you cannot say it because they have letters in a row that you do not know how it should be pronounced.

Altar Alter, Ascent Assent, Capital Capitol, Cite Site, and so on.

What kind of game are they playing.

This is madness.

It’s connecting the first thought about the old covenant law given from Sinai with the following thought about the new covenant the semi colon is connecting the two points

This whole thought

“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (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: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:18-21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

is connected to this whole thought

“but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:22-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

It’s meant to be like a pause between two segments of a cohesive thought in this case the changing of the two covenants

Yes. A colon (continuation) links the two verses together more closely than a period (hard stop) or semi-colon (softer stop and closer link than a period). They are literary tools for writers and translators to convey thoughts and ideas.

A colon ) is pretty much synonymous with a dash (-) where both punctuation marks are a "continuation of the thought" as you noted. They can also denote a definition where the sentence that comes after a colon or dash defines and/or elaborates the preceding sentence.

The NIV translators chose to use a period instead which is more appropriate today as @Nehemiah6 noted:

Hebrews 12:21-22

New International Version

20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[a] 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[b]
21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

Interestingly, the NKJV translators made this correction as well but left in the brackets that start at verse 20:

Hebrews 12:21-22

New King James Version

20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned [a]or shot with an arrow.”
21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,

Here are the original KJV verses for comparison:

Hebrews 12:20-22

King James Version

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
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

I like the different words chosen for each translation as well (quake, trembling, and fear) that shows how language evolves over time.

Thanks to all who have replied. I understand now.

Considering that Hebrews was written to people that had walked in the faith for quite a while, drawing comparisons between the OT and the New covenant and that the New was better makes sense. It also makes sense to connect verse 21 to 22. Kind of like making a 180 degree turn to get to where one needs to go in their car.

Again thanks for all the replies - they have really helped.

david