10523. Exodus 33
1. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Go! go up from here, you and the people whom you have caused to come up out of the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your seed I will give it.
2. And I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
3. [Go up] to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, since you are a stiff-necked people [and] perchance I might consume you on the way.
4. And the people heard this bad news 1
, and mourned; and no one put on his finery 2
.
5. And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people; were I for one moment to go up in your midst I would consume you. And now, take off your finery 3
, and I shall know what I am to do to you.
6. And the children of Israel tore away their finery 4
at Mount Horeb.
7. And Moses took a tent and pitched it for himself outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tent of meeting. And so it was, that everyone asking Jehovah a question went out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
8. And so it was, when Moses went out to the tent, that all the people rose and stood, each at the door of his tent, and looked after Moses 5
until he had entered the tent.
9. And so it was, when Moses entered the tent, that the pillar of cloud came down, and stood at the door of the tent, and talked to Moses.
10. And all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent; and all the people rose, and they bowed down, each at the door of his tent.
11. And Jehovah spoke to Moses face to face, as a man (vir) speaks to his neighbour. And he returned to the camp, and his minister Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not move away from the midst of the tent.
12. And Moses said to Jehovah, See, You say to me, Cause this people to go up; and You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. And You have said, I know you by name, and also you have found grace in My eyes.
13. And now if, I beg You, I have found grace in Your eyes, make Your way known to me, I beg You, and I shall know You, because I have found grace in Your eyes. And consider 6
that this nation is Your people.
14. And He said, My face 7
will go [with you], and I will cause you to rest.
15. And he said to Him, If Your face 7
is not going [before me], do not cause us to go up from here.
16. And how will it ever be made known that I have found grace in Your eyes, I and Your people? Will it not be in Your going with us? And I and Your people will be made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground.
17. And Jehovah said to Moses, I will also do this thing that you have spoken, since you have found grace in My eyes and I know you by name.
18. And he said, Cause me, I beg You, to see Your glory.
19. And He said, I will cause all My goodness to pass by 8
your face, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you; and I will be gracious to whom I am gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I show mercy.
20. And He said, You cannot see My face, for no one will see Me and live 9
.
21. And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
22. And so it will be, as My glory passes through, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover My palm over you until I have passed through.
23. And I will take My palm away, and you will see My back parts; and My face will not be seen.
CONTENTS
The internal sense of this chapter takes the subject of the Israelite nation further; but now the essential nature of the worship among that nation, and so the things there which belong to the Church, is dealt with. Verses 1-6 show that even though the representative forms constituting the external things of worship and the Church could reside among them nothing Divine did so because there was nothing internal. Verses 7-17 show that what was Divine could reside within the actual worship regarded in isolation, thus separately from them. Verses 18-23 show that this was not however visible or perceptible to them.
Fusnotat:
