1The Lord refuseth to go with the people. 4The people mourn thereat. 7The tabernacle is removed out of the camp. 9The Lord talketh familiarly with Moses out of the cloudy pillar. 12Moses prayeth for the continuance of God's presence, 18and desireth to see the glory of God.
1AND the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I 1sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 2saying, Unto thya seed will I give it:
1 That is, promised unto them by oath: whence also the Land of Canaan was called the land of promise.
2 Namely, to each one of those three patriarchs in particular, and at several times.
a Gen. 12:7; 26:4; 28:13.
2And I will send an angel 3before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the 4Jebusite:
3 He does not speak here of the Son of God, as before Exod. 23:20, but of a created angel.
4 Understand in addition the Girgashites, expressed in Deut. 7:1.
3Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for 5I will not go up in the midst of thee; forb thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
5 That is, I shall not conduct you henceforward any longer by a visible sign of My presence, as hitherto I did by the cloudy pillar: nevertheless God of His goodness was entreated again, and did continue marching along before and with His people as formerly.
b Exod. 32:9; Deut. 9:13.
4¶And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
5For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee 6in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
6 Other, in a moment, if I did go up in the midst of thee, would I destroy thee. The sense is, if ye would chance to trespass once again so abominably against Me, as ye did with the setting up of the golden calf, I would assuredly destroy you altogether suddenly.
6And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments 7by the mount Horeb.
7 That is, afar off from mount Horeb. See verse 7.
7And Moses took 8the tabernacle, and 9pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which 10sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
8 Other, a tent. Not the tent where the people was to assemble together for the exercise of the public worship, for, the same was not made yet, as appears in Exodus 36. But this was Moses’ own tent, or another, which was made of purpose for Moses to take up his abode for a time in the same, where the people might repair unto him until they would be reconciled with God.
9 Since God was departed from the camp, verse 3, Moses would not remain there either.
10 Or, inquired counsel; namely, by Moses.
8And it came to pass, when Moses 11went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people 12rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
11 Namely, out of the camp, to his pitched tent outside the camp to intercede with God for the people.
12 Heb. they stood.
9And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the 13cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and 14the LORD 15talked with Moses.
13 Namely, from the mount.
14 The words the LORD is inserted here from verse 11.
15 Namely, out of the cloudy pillar, which was an assured token of God’s grace and favor; Psalm 99:7.
10And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
11And the LORD spake unto Moses 16face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And 17he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, 18departed not out of the tabernacle.
16 That is, familiarly, plainly, by a clear and articulate voice; this was a special privilege which no other prophets had, Num. 12:6, 7, 8; Deut. 5:4; 34:10.
17 Namely, Moses.
18 That is, he came not into the midst of the camp, but remained constantly in the tent outside the camp.
12¶And Moses said unto the LORD, See, 19thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know 20whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I 21know thee by name, and thou 22hast also found grace in my sight.
19 Verse 1.
20 Other, what.
21 That is, I have known and chosen thee in love before others, and take a very particular care of thee; compare Gen. 18:19; Exod. 31:2.
22 See Gen. 6:8.
13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, 23shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, 24that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
23 That is, show me the means whereby Thou intendest to guide and guard this people; or, how Thou wilt deal with them.
24 Other, because I found grace, etc., or, that I may find grace, etc.
14And he said, 25My presence 26shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
25 That is, the visible tokens of My gracious presence, such as was the cloudy pillar and the pillar of fire.
26 Other, Shall My presence go, etc.
15And 27he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
27 Namely, Moses.
16For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? soc shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
c Deut. 4:7.
17And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing 28also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, 29and I know thee by name.
28 That is, I will go up along with you.
29 See verse 12.
18And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I 30will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; andd will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
30 Or, proclaim the Name Jehovah; see the fulfillment of it, Exod. 34:6.
d Rom. 9:15.
20And he said, Thou canst 31not see 32my face: for there shall no man see 33me, and live.
31 We cannot see God in this mortal and corruptible life: see Gen. 16:13; but hereafter we shall see Him as He is; 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2.
32 That is, My own Essence and proper Being, nor My Glory in its perfection, by reason of thy sinfulness, Rom. 3:23.
33 From this arose the common opinion among the Jews that they must die when they would see the Lord, Deut. 5:24, 25; Judges 13:22; Isa. 6:5; Dan. 10:8; Rev. 1:17.
21And the LORD said, Behold, there is 34a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
34 Namely, on mount Sinai or Horeb.
22And it shall come to pass, 35while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clifte of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
35 That is, when I shall pass by thee in My glory.
e cleft, hollow
23And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but 36my face shall not be seen.
36 See verse 20.