Exodus / Chapter 33

Exodus 33

23 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex 2 traditions available

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

God offers to send Israel to the promised land but withdraws His personal presence — 'I will not go up among you, lest I consume you.' The people mourn. Moses meets God in the tent of meeting, asks to know God's ways, and makes the extraordinary request 'Show me Your glory.' God agrees to pass His goodness before Moses but shields him in the cleft of a rock.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The most devastating sentence in the post-golden-calf narrative is 'I will not go up among you' (v3) — God offers land without presence. Distance is mercy, not abandonment, but it is still loss. Moses's response redefines the stakes: 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here' (v15). Land without God is not the promised land. The request 'Show me Your glory' (har'eni na et-kevodekha, v18) is the boldest human petition in Scripture, and God's response — 'I will make all My goodness pass before you' (v19) — redefines glory as goodness.

Translation Friction

We rendered 'I will not go up among you' (lo e'eleh beqirbekha, v3) in its stark literalness to preserve the shock. The phrase panim el-panim ('face to face,' v11) describing God's conversation with Moses posed tension with v20 ('you cannot see My face and live'); we rendered both literally, as the Hebrew holds both together without resolving the paradox. The cleft of the rock (niqrat hatsur, v22) we rendered literally — the image of God shielding Moses with His hand while passing by defies illustration but conveys real theology.

Connections

Moses in the rock-cleft anticipates Elijah's encounter at Horeb (1 Kings 19:9-13). The 'face to face' language echoes Numbers 12:8 and Deuteronomy 34:10. God's refusal to let Moses see His face connects to John 1:18 ('No one has ever seen God'). The tent of meeting outside the camp (v7) prefigures the tabernacle's mediating function. **Tradition comparisons:** Targum Onkelos interprets this chapter with notable Aramaic renderings: 'My face' (panai, literally 'my faces') is rendered 'my Shekinah.' God's face — the most intimate anthropomorphism — becomes the Shekinah, the divine presence that accompanies Israel without compromis... (3 notable renderings in this chapter) See the [Targum Onkelos on Exodus](/targum/exodus). The Joseph Smith Translation includes a significant revision for this chapter: Seeing God's face — made conditional rather than absolute denial The KJV's declaration that no man can see God's face and live is revised in the JST to indicate that sinful or unprepared humans cannot endure God's presence, but that this is a condition of the perso... See the [JST notes](/jst/exodus).

Exodus 33:1

וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֙ לֵ֣ךְ עֲלֵ֣ה מִזֶּ֔ה אַתָּ֣ה וְהָעָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶֽעֱלִ֖יתָ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִ֠שְׁבַּ֠עְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָ֨ם לְיִצְחָ֤ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹב֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֖ אֶתְּנֶֽנָּה׃

The LORD said to Moses, "Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'To your offspring I will give it.'

KJV And 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 sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God repeats the land promise but distances Himself from the journey. 'You and the people you brought up' — again, God uses 'you brought,' not 'I brought.' The disowning language from 32:7 continues. The promise of land survives, but the promise of presence is withdrawn.
Exodus 33:2

וְשָׁלַחְתִּ֥י לְפָנֶ֖יךָ מַלְאָ֑ךְ וְגֵֽרַשְׁתִּ֗י אֶת־הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י וְהַֽחִתִּי֙ וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י הַחִוִּ֖י וְהַיְבוּסִֽי׃

I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

KJV And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. An angel will go instead of God Himself. This is diminished presence — guidance without intimacy. The angel can drive out enemies but cannot replace the direct fellowship Israel experienced at Sinai.
Exodus 33:3

אֶל־אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָ֑שׁ כִּי֩ לֹ֨א אֶֽעֱלֶ֜ה בְּקִרְבְּךָ֗ כִּ֤י עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֙רֶף֙ אַ֔תָּה פֶּן־אֲכֶלְךָ֖ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ׃

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey — but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way."

KJV Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'I will not go up among you' (ki lo e'eleh beqirbekha) — the most devastating sentence in the post-golden-calf narrative. God offers land without presence. The reason is protective: God's holiness would destroy the stiff-necked people en route. Distance is mercy, not abandonment — but it is still loss.
Exodus 33:4

וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע הָעָ֗ם אֶת־הַדָּבָ֥ר הָרָ֛ע הַזֶּ֖ה וַיִּתְאַבָּ֑לוּ וְלֹא־שָׁ֛תוּ אִ֥ישׁ עֶדְי֖וֹ עָלָֽיו׃

When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.

KJV And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'This disastrous word' (haddavar hara hazzeh) — the people recognize the catastrophe. Mourning and stripping off ornaments are signs of grief and repentance. The gold they stripped off to make the calf is now stripped off in remorse.
Exodus 33:5

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֱמֹ֤ר אֶל־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אַתֶּ֣ם עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֔רֶף רֶ֧גַע אֶחָ֛ד אֶֽעֱלֶ֥ה בְקִרְבְּךָ֖ וְכִלִּיתִ֑יךָ וְעַתָּ֗ה הוֹרֵ֤ד עֶדְיְךָ֙ מֵֽעָלֶ֔יךָ וְאֵדְעָ֖ה מָ֥ה אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לָּֽךְ׃

The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the sons of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If for a single moment I were to go up among you, I would consume you. Now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.'"

KJV For 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 in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God's demand to remove ornaments serves a dual purpose: it is penitential (acknowledging sin) and diagnostic ('that I may know what to do with you'). God presents Himself as deliberating — the outcome is not yet final. The stiff-necked people have a window for repentance.
Exodus 33:6

וַיִּֽתְנַצְּל֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־עֶדְיָ֖ם מֵהַ֥ר חוֹרֵֽב׃

So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

KJV And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'From Mount Horeb onward' (mehar Chorev) — the ornament removal is permanent, not temporary. Israel leaves Sinai marked by the absence of the adornment they misused. The gold that should have built the tabernacle is now gone.
Exodus 33:7

וּמֹשֶׁה֩ יִקַּ֨ח אֶת־הָאֹ֜הֶל וְנָֽטָה־ל֣וֹ ׀ מִח֣וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֗ה הַרְחֵק֙ מִן־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וְקָ֥רָא ל֖וֹ אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וְהָיָה֙ כׇּל־מְבַקֵּ֣שׁ יְהֹוָ֔ה יֵצֵא֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד אֲשֶׁ֖ר מִח֥וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃

Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

KJV And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched 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 sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The tent of meeting (ohel mo'ed) is pitched outside the camp — a provisional arrangement reflecting the fractured relationship. God will not dwell inside the camp after the golden calf. Anyone seeking the LORD must go outside — the journey to God now requires physical distance from the community that sinned.
Exodus 33:8

וְהָיָ֗ה כְּצֵ֤את מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־הָאֹ֔הֶל יָק֙וּמוּ֙ כׇּל־הָעָ֔ם וְנִ֨צְּב֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ פֶּ֣תַח אׇהֳל֑וֹ וְהִבִּ֙יטוּ֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֔ה עַד־בֹּא֖וֹ הָאֹֽהֱלָה׃

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and watch Moses until he entered the tent.

KJV And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The people watch Moses walk to the tent — standing at their own tent doors, they observe the mediator crossing the gap between camp and presence. The watching is reverent and anxious: will God speak? Will the relationship survive?
Exodus 33:9

וְהָיָ֗ה כְּבֹ֤א מֹשֶׁה֙ הָאֹ֔הֱלָה יֵרֵד֙ עַמּ֣וּד הֶֽעָנָ֔ן וְעָמַ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וְדִבֶּ֖ר עִם־מֹשֶֽׁה׃

When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses.

KJV And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The pillar of cloud descends when Moses enters — visible confirmation that God still meets with the mediator, even if He has withdrawn from the camp. The cloud at the tent entrance is the Shekhinah in diminished form: localized to one tent, accessible to one man.
Exodus 33:10

וְרָאָ֤ה כׇל־הָעָם֙ אֶת־עַמּ֣וּד הֶֽעָנָ֔ן עֹמֵ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וְקָ֤ם כׇּל־הָעָם֙ וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ פֶּ֥תַח אׇהֳלֽוֹ׃

When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.

KJV And 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The people worship from a distance — each at his own tent entrance. They can see the cloud but cannot approach it. The worship is real but remote, separated by the gap the golden calf created.
Exodus 33:11

וְדִבֶּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֙ פָּנִ֣ים אֶל־פָּנִ֔ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר יְדַבֵּ֥ר אִ֖ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֑הוּ וְשָׁב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וּמְשָׁ֨רְת֜וֹ יְהוֹשֻׁ֤עַ בִּן־נוּן֙ נַ֔עַר לֹ֥א יָמִ֖ישׁ מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֹֽהֶל׃ {פ}

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים panim el panim
"face to face" — face to face, directly, without mediation, in intimate presence

The same phrase from Jacob's Peniel experience (Genesis 32:30). Moses's face-to-face communion with God defines the prophetic office at its highest level. Deuteronomy 34:10 will declare: 'There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.'

Translator Notes

  1. 'Face to face, as a man speaks to his friend' (panim el-panim ka'asher yedabber ish el-re'ehu) — the most intimate description of divine-human communication in the Bible. Moses and God speak as friends. The word re'a ('friend, companion') implies mutual regard and trust. This verse will be qualified by v20 ('you cannot see My face'), creating a productive tension: Moses knows God face-to-face yet cannot see God's face fully. Intimacy is real but not unlimited.
Exodus 33:12

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶל־יְהֹוָ֗ה רְ֠אֵ֠ה אַתָּ֞ה אֹמֵ֤ר אֵלַי֙ הַ֚עַל אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְאַתָּה֙ לֹ֣א הֽוֹדַעְתַּ֔נִי אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־תִּשְׁלַ֖ח עִמִּ֑י וְאַתָּ֤ה אָמַ֙רְתָּ֙ יְדַעְתִּ֣יךָֽ בְשֵׁ֔ם וְגַם־מָצָ֥אתָ חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינָֽי׃

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 favor in My eyes.'

KJV And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Moses presses for clarity: who will accompany them? God's promise of an angel (v2) is insufficient. Moses wants to know God's ways (derakhekha), not just God's commands. The request is for deeper relationship, not merely better instructions.
Exodus 33:13

וְעַתָּ֡ה אִם־נָא֩ מָצָ֨אתִי חֵ֜ן בְּעֵינֶ֗יךָ הוֹדִעֵ֤נִי נָא֙ אֶת־דְּרָכֶ֔ךָ וְאֵדָ֣עֲךָ֔ לְמַ֥עַן אֶמְצָא־חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ וּרְאֵ֕ה כִּ֥י עַמְּךָ֖ הַגּ֥וֹי הַזֶּֽה׃

Now if I have found favor in Your eyes, please show me Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your eyes. Consider too that this nation is Your people."

KJV Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Show me Your ways, that I may know You' (hodi'eni na et-derakhekha ve'eda'akha) — the verb yada ('know') is the deepest relational knowledge in Hebrew — intimate, personal, experiential. Moses wants not information about God but encounter with God. 'Consider that this nation is Your people' — Moses insists on God's ownership again: they are Yours, not mine.
Exodus 33:14

וַיֹּאמַ֑ר פָּנַ֥י יֵלֵ֖כוּ וַהֲנִחֹ֥תִי לָֽךְ׃

He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

KJV And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

פָּנַי יֵלֵכוּ panai yelekhu
"My presence will go" — My face will go, My presence will accompany, I Myself will go

God's panim ('face/presence') is restored to the journey. The crisis of v3 ('I will not go among you') is reversed through Moses's intercession. What the golden calf threatened to destroy — God's personal, direct presence — is recovered through the mediator's prayer.

Translator Notes

  1. 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest' (panai yelekhu vahanichoti lakh) — God's panai ('My face/presence') will go. The crisis of v3 ('I will not go among you') is reversed. Moses's intercession has restored divine presence. The verb nuach ('give rest') echoes Noah's name and the Sabbath rest — God will bring Israel to the place of completed rest.

Targum Onkelos (Aramaic, 1st-5th c. CE)shekinah

"My Shekinah shall go, and I will give you rest."

'My face' (panai, literally 'my faces') is rendered 'my Shekinah.' God's face — the most intimate anthropomorphism — becomes the Shekinah, the divine presence that accompanies Israel without compromising God's transcendence.

Exodus 33:15

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֵלָ֑יו אִם־אֵ֤ין פָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ הֹלְכִ֔ים אַֽל־תַּעֲלֵ֖נוּ מִזֶּֽה׃

Moses said to Him, "If Your presence will not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

KJV And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Moses tests the promise: 'If Your presence will not go, do not bring us up.' The land without God's presence is worthless. Moses would rather stay in the wilderness with God than enter the promised land without Him. This is the deepest statement of covenant priority in the Torah: presence over prosperity, relationship over real estate.
Exodus 33:16

וּבַמֶּ֣ה ׀ יִוָּדַ֣ע אֵפ֗וֹא כִּֽי־מָצָ֨אתִי חֵ֤ן בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ אֲנִ֣י וְעַמֶּ֔ךָ הֲל֖וֹא בְּלֶכְתְּךָ֣ עִמָּ֑נוּ וְנִפְלִ֙ינוּ֙ אֲנִ֣י וְעַמְּךָ֔ מִכׇּ֨ל־הָעָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ {פ}

For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we are distinct — I and Your people — from every other people on the face of the earth?"

KJV For 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? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Is it not by Your going with us, so that we are distinct?' (halo belekhtekha immanu venifleinu) — the verb palah ('be distinct, be set apart') returns from the plague narrative (8:18; 9:4; 11:7). What distinguishes Israel from every other nation is not their law, their land, or their lineage — it is God's presence among them. Without the Shekhinah, Israel is just another people.
Exodus 33:17

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה גַּ֣ם אֶת־הַדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּ֛ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֑ה כִּֽי־מָצָ֤אתָ חֵן֙ בְּעֵינַ֔י וָאֵדָעֲךָ֖ בְּשֵֽׁם׃

The LORD said to Moses, "I will do this very thing that you have spoken, for you have found favor in My eyes, and I know you by name."

KJV And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God grants Moses's request in full: 'I will do this very thing.' The intercession succeeds not because Moses is eloquent but because God has chosen to be accessible to prayer. 'I know you by name' (va'eda'akha beshem) — God's knowledge of Moses is personal, not categorical. The same verb (yada) Moses used in v13 ('that I may know You') is now applied by God to Moses. The knowing is mutual.
Exodus 33:18

וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַרְאֵ֥נִי נָ֖א אֶת־כְּבֹדֶֽךָ׃

Moses said, "Please, show me Your glory."

KJV And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

כְּבֹדֶךָ kevodekha
"Your glory" — Your glory, Your weight, Your substance, Your full reality

Moses asks to see God's kavod — the weightiest possible request. Kavod is the full, tangible, overwhelming reality of God's being. The request pushes beyond conversation, beyond friendship, to the deepest possible encounter with divine reality.

Translator Notes

  1. 'Show me Your glory' (har'eni na et-kevodekha) — the climactic request. Moses has secured God's presence for the journey; now he asks for more. He wants to see the kavod — the full, weighty, tangible reality of God. This is the most audacious prayer in the Hebrew Bible.
Exodus 33:19

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֲנִ֨י אַעֲבִ֤יר כׇּל־טוּבִי֙ עַל־פָּנֶ֔יךָ וְקָרָ֧אתִֽי בְשֵׁ֛ם יְהֹוָ֖ה לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וְחַנֹּתִי֙ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָחֹ֔ן וְרִחַמְתִּ֖י אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲרַחֵֽם׃

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 show compassion to whom I will show compassion.

KJV And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

וְחַנֹּתִי אֶת אֲשֶׁר אָחֹן vechannoti et asher achon
"I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" — sovereign grace, freely given mercy, uncompelled compassion

God's grace (chen) is sovereignly free — not earned, not owed, not predictable. The doubled formula ('I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion') declares absolute divine freedom in bestowing mercy. Paul cites this in Romans 9:15 as the foundation of God's sovereign election.

Translator Notes

  1. God's answer is layered: He will show His goodness (tuv), proclaim His name, and declare His sovereign freedom ('I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious'). The formula of sovereign mercy (channoti et-asher achon verichamti et-asher arachem) establishes that God's grace is not compelled but freely given. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:15.
Exodus 33:20

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לֹ֥א תוּכַ֖ל לִרְאֹ֣ת אֶת־פָּנָ֑י כִּ֛י לֹֽא־יִרְאַ֥נִי הָאָדָ֖ם וָחָֽי׃

But He said, "you cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live."

KJV And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live' (lo tukhal lir'ot et-panai ki lo-yir'ani ha'adam vachai) — the limitation is not arbitrary but protective. The full, unfiltered reality of God (His panim, His kavod) would overwhelm and destroy any created being. Moses can experience God's goodness, hear God's name, and see God's back — but not the unmediated face. The face remains beyond mortal capacity.

Targum Onkelos (Aramaic, 1st-5th c. CE)literal

"You are not able to see my face, for no man shall see me and live."

Remarkably, Onkelos preserves 'my face' here rather than substituting Shekinah or glory. The point is prohibition: no one can see God's face. The literal rendering reinforces the impossibility of direct vision of God, which is the very principle that drives Onkelos' anti-anthropomorphism everywhere else.

Joseph Smith Translation (Appendix)theological

The KJV's declaration that no man can see God's face and live is revised in the JST to indicate that sinful or unprepared humans cannot endure God's presence, but that this is a condition of the person's state rather than an absolute metaphysical impossibility. The JST further revises the context of the second tablets of the law, clarifying that the higher law originally intended for Israel was withheld due to their unworthiness, and that Moses received a lesser law suited to Israel's spiritual condition. This frames the Mosaic law as a preparatory or schoolmaster code rather than the fullness of divine instruction.

The JST revision of Exodus 33:20 is central to the LDS doctrine that God is a glorified, embodied Being who can be seen, and that certain mortals (Moses, Joseph Smith) do in fact see God face to face.

Exodus 33:21

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֔ה הִנֵּ֥ה מָק֖וֹם אִתִּ֑י וְנִצַּבְתָּ֖ עַל־הַצּֽוּר׃

The LORD said, "There is a place near Me where you shall stand on the rock.

KJV And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'A place near Me' (makom itti) — God provides a location for the encounter. The word makom ('place') is the same word that will become a rabbinic name for God Himself (HaMakom). God creates the conditions under which Moses can survive the encounter.
Exodus 33:22

וְהָיָה֙ בַּעֲבֹ֣ר כְּבֹדִ֔י וְשַׂמְתִּ֖יךָ בְּנִקְרַ֣ת הַצּ֑וּר וְשַׂכֹּתִ֥י כַפִּ֛י עָלֶ֖יךָ עַד־עׇבְרִֽי׃

When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

KJV And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand' (vesamtikha beniqrat hatsur vesakoti khappi alekha) — God shields Moses in the rock (tsur, which is also a divine title) and covers him with His hand (kaf). The imagery is profoundly tender: God hides Moses to protect him, then passes by. The divine hand both conceals and shelters.
Exodus 33:23

וַהֲסִרֹתִי֙ אֶת־כַּפִּ֔י וְרָאִ֖יתָ אֶת־אֲחֹרָ֑י וּפָנַ֖י לֹ֥א יֵרָאֽוּ׃ {פ}*(ספק פרשה סתומה בכתר ארם צובה)

Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

KJV And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'You shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen' (vera'ita et-achorai ufanai lo yera'u) — Moses sees where God has been (achor, 'the back, what follows, the aftermath') but not where God is going (panim, 'the face, the front, the presence'). The back of God is what God leaves behind — the trace, the aftereffect, the residue of glory. This is how all mortals know God: not by looking at Him directly but by seeing what His presence has produced.

Targum Onkelos (Aramaic, 1st-5th c. CE)anti-anthropomorphism

"And you shall see what is behind me, but my face shall not be seen."

'My back' becomes 'what is behind me' (di vatrai), subtly shifting from a body part to a spatial/temporal concept — what follows after God's passing, not God's physical backside.

Chapter 32 Report an error Exodus index Chapter 34