Exodus33
New King James Version
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’
2And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
4And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
5For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.’ ”
6So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
7Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp.
8So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle.
9And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
10All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door.
11So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
12Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’
13Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
14And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
16For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
17So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
18And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
19Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
20But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
21And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
22So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
23Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 33.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Lord refuses to go with Israel. (1–6). The tabernacle of Moses removed without the camp. (7–11). Moses desires to see the glory of God. (12–23).
vv1-6
Those whom God pardons, must be made to know what their sin deserved. “Let them go forward as they are;” this was very expressive of God's displeasure. Though he promises to make good his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with. The people mourned for their sin. Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most, God's departure from them. Canaan itself would be no pleasant land without the Lord's presence. Those who parted with ornaments to maintain sin, could do no less than lay aside ornaments, in token of sorrow and shame for it.
vv7-11
Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp. This seems to have been a temporary building, set up for worship, and at which he judged disputes among the people. The people looked after him; they were very desirous to be at peace with God, and concerned to know what would come to pass. The cloudy pillar which had withdrawn from the camp when it was polluted with idolatry, now returned. If our hearts go forth toward God to meet him, he will graciously come to meet us.
vv12-23
Moses is very earnest with God. Thus, by the intercession of Christ, we are not only saved from ruin, but become entitled to everlasting happiness. Observe here how he pleads. We find grace in God's sight, if we find grace in our hearts to guide and quicken us in the way of our duty. Moses speaks as one who dreaded the thought of going forward without the Lord's presence. God's gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer. Observe how he speeds. See, in a type, Christ's intercession, which he ever lives to make for all that come to God by him; and that it is not by any thing in those for whom he intercedes. Moses then entreats a sight of God's glory, and is heard in that also. A full discovery of the glory of God, would overwhelm even Moses himself. Man is mean, and unworthy of it; weak, and could not bear it; guilty, and could not but dread it. The merciful display which is made in Christ Jesus, alone can be borne by us. The Lord granted that which would abundantly satisfy. God's goodness is his glory; and he will have us to know him by the glory of his mercy, more than by the glory of his majesty. Upon the rock there was a fit place for Moses to view the goodness and glory of God. The rock in Horeb was typical of Christ the Rock; the Rock of refuge, salvation, and strength. Happy are they who stand upon this Rock. The cleft may be an emblem of Christ, as smitten, crucified, wounded, and slain. What follows, denotes the imperfect knowledge of God in the present state, even as revealed in Christ; for this, when compared with the heavenly sight of him. is but like seeing a man that is gone by, whose back only is to be seen. God in Christ, as he is, even the fullest and brightest displays of his glory, grace, and goodness, are reserved to another state.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
יָלַךְ: to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)
עָלָה: to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
זֶה: the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
מִצְרַיִם: Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt
Cross References
Exodus 33Paul quotes verse 19 verbatim to demonstrate God's absolute sovereignty in election and mercy.
Supported by John Calvin
Directly explains why God's face cannot be seen: no man can see Him and live.
Directly recalls this chapter's key description of Moses' unique privilege of speaking to God 'face to face'.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels God's intimate, direct communication with Moses, contrasting it with ordinary prophetic dreams.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies the spiritual Rock as Christ, in whom believers are securely placed.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Affirms that no man has seen God's essence; He is revealed only in Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Typologically links going 'without the camp' to find God's tabernacle with believers going out to Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Moses immediately utilizes God's revealed grace to intercede further for the stiffnecked nation.
Clarifies the impossibility of seeing God's essence, fully revealed only in the incarnate Son.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel revelation of God's presence passing by Elijah on Mount Horeb.
Elijah wraps his face in his mantle as the Lord passes by, shielding his sight.
Contrasts our present, limited, 'back parts' knowledge of God with future 'face to face' sight.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Confirms God dwells in unapproachable light, whom no human eye has seen or can see.
Parallels Moses' description as God's friend with Abraham's title, signifying deep covenant intimacy.
Refers historically to God's presence ('the angel of his presence') leading and saving Israel.
Echoes Moses' plea that God's presence is what separates Israel from all other nations.
Portrays God as the protecting Rock of refuge, salvation, and strength.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Points to Christ as the ultimate mediator in whom God displays His merciful presence.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Highlights that we only see the mere 'outer fringes' of God's ways.
Provides the immediate literary context of God ordering Moses to lead the people after the golden calf.
Supported by JFB