Albert Barnes Commentary Exodus 33
Albert Barnes Commentary
Exodus 33
Albert Barnes Commentary
Exodus 33
"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: 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." — Exodus 33:2-3 (ASV)
See (Exodus 3:8).
For I will not go up in the midst of thee - The covenant on which the original promise (Exodus 23:20–23) was based had been broken by the people. Yahweh now therefore declared that though His Angel should go before Moses, He would withhold His own favoring presence. The nation should be put on a level with other nations, to lose its character as the people in special covenant with Yahweh (see the note at Exodus 33:16). Thus were the people forcibly warned that His presence could prove a blessing to them only on condition of their keeping their part of the covenant (Exodus 33:3). If they failed in this, His presence would be to them a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24).
"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people; if I go up into the midst of thee for one moment, I shall consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee." — Exodus 33:5 (ASV)
I will come up ... - Better: If I were to go up for one moment in your midst, I would consume you.
That I may know ... - By that sign of their repentance Yahweh would decide in what way they were to be punished.
"And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward." — Exodus 33:6 (ASV)
By the mount Horeb - From Mount Horeb onward. They ceased to wear their ornaments from the time they were at Mount Horeb.
"Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp; and he called it, The tent of meeting. And it came to pass, that every one that sought Jehovah went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp." — Exodus 33:7 (ASV)
The tabernacle - The tent. The only word in the Old Testament that should be rendered “tabernacle,” משׁכן mı̂shkān, does not occur once in this narrative (Exodus 26:1). What is meant here is a tent appointed for this temporary purpose by Moses, possibly the one in which he was accustomed to live.
Pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp - This was so that the people might feel that they had forfeited the divine presence . This tent was to be a place for meeting with Yahweh, like the tabernacle which was about to be constructed.
The tent of meeting (as it should be called, see Exodus 27:21 note, and note at end of Exodus 40:0) was placed afar off from the camp, and the mediator and his faithful servant Joshua were alone admitted to it (Exodus 33:11).
"And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent door." — Exodus 33:10 (ASV)
The tabernacle door - The entrance of the tent.
The people by their act of worship gave another proof of their penitence.
Jump to: