
Text -- Exodus 33:1-6 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley: Exo 33:5 - -- As if he had said, ye deserve that I should do so. Put off thine ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee - That is, put thyself into the postu...
As if he had said, ye deserve that I should do so. Put off thine ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee - That is, put thyself into the posture of a penitent, that the dispute may be determined in thy favour, and mercy may rejoice against judgment.

Wesley: Exo 33:6 - -- Stand afar off, like the publican, Luk 18:13. God bid them lay aside their ornaments, and they did so; both to shew in general their deep mourning, an...
Stand afar off, like the publican, Luk 18:13. God bid them lay aside their ornaments, and they did so; both to shew in general their deep mourning, and in particular to take a holy revenge upon themselves for giving their ear - rings to make the golden calf of.
JFB: Exo 33:1 - -- Rather "had" said unto Moses. The conference detailed in this chapter must be considered as having occurred prior to the pathetic intercession of Mose...
Rather "had" said unto Moses. The conference detailed in this chapter must be considered as having occurred prior to the pathetic intercession of Moses, recorded at the close of the preceding chapter; and the historian, having mentioned the fact of his earnest and painful anxiety, under the overwhelming pressure of which he poured forth that intercessory prayer for his apostate countrymen, now enters on a detailed account of the circumstances.

JFB: Exo 33:3 - -- Here the Lord is represented as determined to do what He afterwards did not. (See on Exo 32:7).
Here the Lord is represented as determined to do what He afterwards did not. (See on Exo 32:7).

From Moses on his descent from the mount.

JFB: Exo 33:5 - -- In seasons of mourning, it is customary with Eastern people to lay aside all gewgaws and divest themselves of their jewels, their gold, and every thin...
In seasons of mourning, it is customary with Eastern people to lay aside all gewgaws and divest themselves of their jewels, their gold, and every thing rich and splendid in their dress. This token of their sorrow the Lord required of His offending people.

JFB: Exo 33:5 - -- The language is accommodated to the feeble apprehensions of men. God judges the state of the heart by the tenor of the conduct. In the case of the Isr...
The language is accommodated to the feeble apprehensions of men. God judges the state of the heart by the tenor of the conduct. In the case of the Israelites, He cherished a design of mercy; and the moment He discerned the first symptoms of contrition, by their stripping off their ornaments, as penitents conscious of their error and sincerely sorrowful, this fact added its weight to the fervency of Moses' prayers, and gave them prevalence with God in behalf of the people.
Clarke: Exo 33:1 - -- Unto the land - That is, towards it, or to the borders of it. See Exo 32:34 (note).
Unto the land - That is, towards it, or to the borders of it. See Exo 32:34 (note).

Clarke: Exo 33:2 - -- I will send an angel - In Exo 23:20, God promises to send an angel to conduct them into the good land, in whom the name of God should be; that is, i...
I will send an angel - In Exo 23:20, God promises to send an angel to conduct them into the good land, in whom the name of God should be; that is, in whom God should dwell. See Clarke’ s note on Exo 23:20 (note). Here he promises that an angel shall be their conductor; but as there is nothing particularly specified of him, it has been thought that an ordinary angel is intended, and not that Angel of the Covenant promised before. And this sentiment seems to be confirmed by the following verse.

Clarke: Exo 33:3 - -- I will not go up in the midst of thee - Consequently, the angel here promised to be their guide was not that angel in whom Jehovah’ s name was:...
I will not go up in the midst of thee - Consequently, the angel here promised to be their guide was not that angel in whom Jehovah’ s name was: and so the people understood it; hence the mourning which is afterwards mentioned.

Clarke: Exo 33:5 - -- Now put off thy ornaments from thee - "The Septuagint, in their translation, suppose that the children of Israel not only laid aside their ear-rings...
Now put off thy ornaments from thee - "The Septuagint, in their translation, suppose that the children of Israel not only laid aside their ear-rings, and such like ornaments, in a time of professed deep humiliation before God, but their upper or more beautiful garments too. Moses says nothing of this last circumstance; but as it is a modern practice, so it appears by their version to have been as ancient as their time, and probably took place long before that. The Septuagint gives us this as the translation of the passage: ‘ The people, having heard this sad declaration, mourned with lamentations. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Now, therefore, put off your robes of glory, and your ornaments, and I will show you the things I will do unto you. And the children of Israel put off their ornaments and robes by the mount, by Horeb.’
"If it had not been the custom to put off their upper garments in times of deep mourning, in the days that the Septuagint translation was made, they would not have inserted this circumstance in the account Moses gives of their mourning, and concerning which he was silent. They must have supposed too that this practice might be in use in those elder times
"That it is now practiced in the east, appears from the account Pitts gives of the ceremonies of the Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca. ‘ A few days after this we came to a place called Rabbock, about four days’ sail on this side of Mecca, where all the hagges or pilgrims, (excepting those of the female sex) do enter into hirrawem or ihram, i.e., they take off all their clothes, covering themselves with two hirrawems, or large white cotton wrappers; one they put about their middle, which reaches down to their ankles; with the other they cover the upper part of their body, except the head; and they wear no other thing on their bodies but these wrappers, only a pair of grimgameca, that is thin-soled shoes like sandals, the over-leather of which covers only the toes, the insteps being all naked. In this manner, like humble penitents, they go from Rabbock until they come to Mecca, to approach the temple, many times enduring the scorching heat of the sun until the very skin is burnt off their backs and arms, and their heads swollen to a very great degree.’ - pp. 115,116. Presently after he informs us ‘ that the time of their wearing this mortifying habit is about the space of seven days.’ Again, (p. 138): ‘ It was a sight, indeed, able to pierce one’ s heart, to behold so many thousands in their garments of humility and mortification, with their naked heads, and cheeks watered with tears; and to hear their grievous sighs and sobs, begging earnestly for the remission of their sins, promising newness of life, using a form of penitential expressions, and thus continuing for the space of four or five hours.’
"The Septuagint suppose the Israelites made much the same appearance as these Mohammedan pilgrims, when Israel stood in anguish of soul at the foot of Mount Horeb, though Moses says nothing of putting off any of their vestments
"Some passages of the Jewish prophets seem to confirm the notion of their stripping themselves of some of their clothes in times of deep humiliation, particularly Mic 1:8 : Therefore I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls
"Saul’ s stripping himself, mentioned 1Sa 19:24, is perhaps to be understood of his assuming the appearance of those that were deeply engaged in devotional exercises, into which he was unintentionally brought by the prophetic influences that came upon him, and in which he saw others engaged."- Harmer’ s Observat., vol. iv., p. 172
The ancient Jewish commentators were of opinion that the Israelites had the name

Clarke: Exo 33:5 - -- That I may know what to do unto thee - For it seems that while they had these emblematic ornaments on them, they were still considered as under the ...
That I may know what to do unto thee - For it seems that while they had these emblematic ornaments on them, they were still considered as under the Divine protection. These were a shield to them, which God commands them to throw aside. Though many had parted with their choicest ornaments, yet not all, only a few comparatively, of the wives, daughters, and sons of 600,000 men, could have been thus stripped to make one golden calf. The major part still had these ornaments, and they are now commanded to lay them aside.
Calvin: Exo 33:1 - -- 1.Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people I have used the pluperfect tense; 360 for the reason is here given, whereby Moses was stirred up to su...
1.Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people I have used the pluperfect tense; 360 for the reason is here given, whereby Moses was stirred up to such vehemence in prayer, viz., because, although God had not altogether abandoned the care of the people, still He had renounced His covenant, and had proclaimed to them that, after He had once performed His engagement of giving them possession of the land, He would have no more to do with them. Wherefore, what is here related, preceded, in order of time, the prayer of Moses; for, being astonished at the sad and almost fatal message, he burst forth into that confused and wild request, that he might be blotted out of the book of life.
Let us now endeavor to elicit the true meaning of the passage. It is plain, that when God bids Moses depart with the people, He utterly renounces the charge which He Himself had hitherto sustained. He only promises that He will cause them to attain the promised inheritance, and not that He will preside over them, will there preserve them in safety, and even cherish them, as a father does his children; in fact, that he will merely fulfill the promise He had made to their fathers. And thus He anticipates their complaints; for they might reply, that consequently His promise would be rendered vain and ineffectual; but by way of anticipation, He says, that although He should renounce them, still He should maintain this truth, because He will cast out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, so that their abode would be vacant for them. In sum, He repudiates them, that they may no longer count themselves to be His peculiar people, or expect more from Him, than as if they were strangers, He mentions His oath, lest they should accuse Him of faithlessness; as if He had said that He should be discharged from His engagement when they had obtained the land. And thus, whilst depriving them of the hope of salvation, and the grace of adoption, He still asserts the stability and stedfastness of His covenant. I, therefore, understand the word angel in a different sense from that which it has just before, and in many other passages of this book; for, when mention was before made of the angel, the familiar presence of God was denoted by it, nay, it was used interchangeably with the name of God itself. But here God is said to be so about to send the angel, as to separate Himself from the people. “I will not go up (He says) in the midst of thee;” and the reason is subjoined, viz., because it could not be that He could endure any longer their perverse spirits. Again He uses a similitude taken from refractory oxen, which cannot be broken to bear the yoke. The sum is, that because they are so intractable, God cannot perform the office of their guide without straightway destroying them.

Calvin: Exo 33:4 - -- 4.And when the people heard these evil tidings Hence it more clearly appears that, as I have said, it was like a thunderbolt to them when God withdre...
4.And when the people heard these evil tidings Hence it more clearly appears that, as I have said, it was like a thunderbolt to them when God withdrew Himself from the people; for this divorce is more fatal than innumerable deaths. It might indeed at first sight seem delightful to be the masters of a rich and fertile land; but dull as the people generally were, God smote them suddenly, so that all its delights became insipid, and its fruitfulness like famine itself, when they perceived that they would be but fatted unto the day of slaughter. A useful piece of instruction is to be gained from hence, viz., that if we neglect God’s favor and are captivated by the sweetness of His blessings, we are ensnared like fishes on a hook. God promised the Israelites what might attract them for a little season: He denied them what they should have alone desired, that He would be their God. The evil tidings affected them with sorrow, for they felt that men cannot be happy unless God be propitious; nay, that nothing can be more wretched than to be alienated from Him. “It is good for me to draw near to God,” (Psa 73:28,) says David; and elsewhere, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” (Psa 33:12, and Psa 144:15;) again, “the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, my lot is fallen in pleasant places.” (Psa 16:5.) This, therefore, is the climax of all miseries to have God against us, whilst we are fed by His bounty; and consequently the Israelites began to shew some wisdom, when, awaking from their lethargy, they counted all other things as naught, unless God should pursue them with His paternal favor. We infer from the grossness of their stupidity, that it was brought to pass by a special gift of God, that they were affected with such sorrow as to conduct them to a solemn mourning. First, Moses says that they did not put on their ornaments, and then that they were commanded by God to put them off; but this will be perfectly consistent if we take the latter as explanatory, as if he had said that they did not wear their ornaments because God had forbidden it, by enjoining them to mourn.
God here assumes the character of an angry judge, preparing to inflict vengeance in His wrath, in the words, “I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee;” in order that their alarm may humble them the more, and stir them up to earnest prayer. It was avisible sign of mourning to He in squalidhess and uncleanness, that thus their penitence might be openly testified; for there was no efficacy in the rite and ceremony to propitiate God, except in so far as the inward affection of the mind manifested itself by a true and genuine confession. For we must bear in mind what God requires by Joel, (Joe 2:13,) that we should “rend our heart, and not our garments;” nevertheless, whilst He cares not for the outward appearance, nay, whilst He abominates hypocrisy, still, if the sinner has truly repented, it cannot be but that, humbly acknowledging his guilt, he will add the outward profession of it. For if Paul, who was guiltless of any offense, deemed that the Corinthians were to be mourned for by him when they had not “repented of their uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness,” because God humbled him in their sin, (2Co 12:21;) how should not those mourn publicly who are conscious of their own guilt, especially when, being convicted by the judgment of men, they are summoned to the tribunal of God? And therefore it is not without reason that he elsewhere teaches, that the sorrow which worketh repentance should also bring forth these other fruits, viz., carefulness, clearing of themselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, revenge. (2Co 7:10.) For the sake of example also, sinners should not only grieve in silence before God, but willingly undergo the penalty of ignominy before men, so as by self-condenmation to confess that God is a just Judge, to provoke others to imitate them, and, by this warning of human frailty to prevent them from a similar fall.
After, however, God has inspired them with fear, He allays His anger as it were, and declares that He will consider what He will do with them, in order that they may gather courage to ask for pardon; for, although he does not actually pardon them, He sufficiently arouses them to hope, by giving them some taste of His mercy; for, by seeming to leave them in suspense, it is not with the intention that they should approach Him hesitatingly to ask forgiveness, but that their anxiety may urge them more and more to earnest prayer, and keep them in a state of humility.
TSK: Exo 33:1 - -- Depart : Exo 32:34
thou hast : Exo 17:3, Exo 32:1, Exo 32:7
the land : Exo 32:13; Gen 22:16-18, Gen 26:3, Gen 28:13-15
Unto : Gen 12:7, Gen 13:14-17, ...
Depart : Exo 32:34
thou hast : Exo 17:3, Exo 32:1, Exo 32:7
the land : Exo 32:13; Gen 22:16-18, Gen 26:3, Gen 28:13-15
Unto : Gen 12:7, Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:18

TSK: Exo 33:2 - -- an angel : Exo 23:20, Exo 32:34, Exo 34:11
the Canaanite : Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Deu 7:22; Jos 24:11

TSK: Exo 33:3 - -- a land : Exo 3:8, Exo 13:5; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27, Num 14:8, Num 16:13; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5
for I : Exo 33:15-17, Exo 32:10, Exo 32:14; Num 14:12; Deu 32...
a land : Exo 3:8, Exo 13:5; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27, Num 14:8, Num 16:13; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5
for I : Exo 33:15-17, Exo 32:10, Exo 32:14; Num 14:12; Deu 32:26, Deu 32:27; 1Sa 2:30; Jer 18:7-10; Eze 3:18, Eze 3:19, Eze 33:13-16; Jon 3:4, Jon 3:10
stiffnecked : Exo 32:9, Exo 34:9; Deu 9:6-13; Psa 78:8; Act 7:51
lest I : Exo 23:21, Exo 32:10; Num 16:21, Num 16:45; Amo 3:13, Amo 3:14

TSK: Exo 33:4 - -- they mourned : Num 14:1, Num 14:39; Hos 7:14; Zec 7:3, Zec 7:5
and no : Lev 10:6; 2Sa 19:24; 1Ki 21:27; 2Ki 19:1; Ezr 9:3; Est 4:1-4; Job 1:20, Job 2:...

TSK: Exo 33:5 - -- Ye are : Exo 33:3; Num 16:45, Num 16:46
in a moment : Num 16:21, Num 16:45; Job 34:20; Psa 73:19; Lam 4:6
put off : Isa 22:12
I may : Gen 18:21, Gen 2...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes: Exo 33:2-3 - -- See Exo 3:8. For I will not go up in the midst of thee - The covenant on which the original promise Exo 23:20-23 was based had been broken by ...
See Exo 3:8.
For I will not go up in the midst of thee - The covenant on which the original promise Exo 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 Exo 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 Exo 33:3. If they failed in this, His presence would be to them "a consuming fire"(Deu 4:24; compare Exo 32:10).

Barnes: Exo 33:5 - -- I will come up ... - Better; If I were to go up for one moment in the midst of thee, I should consume thee. That I may know ... - By that...
I will come up ... - Better; If I were to go up for one moment in the midst of thee, I should consume thee.
That I may know ... - By that sign of their repentance Yahweh would decide in what way they were to be punished.

Barnes: Exo 33:6 - -- By the mount Horeb - From Mount Horeb onward. They ceased to wear their ornaments from the time they were at Mount Horeb.
By the mount Horeb - From Mount Horeb onward. They ceased to wear their ornaments from the time they were at Mount Horeb.
Poole: Exo 33:3 - -- I will not go up in the midst of thee by my own special and gracious presence, as hitherto I have done, but I will depart from thee. In pursuance her...
I will not go up in the midst of thee by my own special and gracious presence, as hitherto I have done, but I will depart from thee. In pursuance hereof God removes his tabernacle without the camp, Exo 33:7 . I will only make good my promise to thy fathers, and send an angel to accomplish it, but I will show no peculiar and further kindness to thee.
Lest I consume thee in the way ; lest thy sins should be aggravated by my presence and favour, and thereby I should be provoked utterly to destroy thee. So he shows that their perverseness makes this severity necessary for them, and that God even in his judgment remembers mercy to them.

Poole: Exo 33:4 - -- Their precious garments or jewels, which the women reserved, as we saw, Exo 33:3 . This was a visible sign and profession of their inward humiliatio...
Their precious garments or jewels, which the women reserved, as we saw, Exo 33:3 . This was a visible sign and profession of their inward humiliation and repentance for their sin, and of their deep sense of God’ s displeasure.

Poole: Exo 33:5 - -- I will come up into the midst of thee , to wit, in anger; not in favour, Exo 33:3 , where the words are the same, but the sense differing,
and consum...
I will come up into the midst of thee , to wit, in anger; not in favour, Exo 33:3 , where the words are the same, but the sense differing,
and consume thee .
Object . But God had promised he would not do so, Exo 33:3 .
Answ . That was signified to Moses, not to the people, to whom the threatening was most proper and profitable; and this threatening hath a condition implied, to wit, except they repent, as the next words plainly show.
That I may know what to do unto thee ; that I may either inflict my judgments, or suspend them, as thou art penitent or impenitent.
This place. Mount Sinai, (Menochius) or the tabernacle, ver. 7. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 33:3 - -- I will not go: "in majesty" (Chaldean) and "brightness," Arabic. The angel shall go in his own name, and shall not perform such great miracles. My ...
I will not go: "in majesty" (Chaldean) and "brightness," Arabic. The angel shall go in his own name, and shall not perform such great miracles. My tabernacle shall be removed to a respectful distance, lest, not being able to endure the barefaced impiety of the people, I slay you in my fury. God addresses Moses, as the representative of the nation, (Menochius) and adopts the language of men, appearing as a king, who cannot bear to be insulted to his face. (Haydock)

Haydock: Exo 33:4 - -- Ornaments. Chaldean and Syriac, "arms." They had brought jewels, &c., out of Egypt. (Menochius)
Ornaments. Chaldean and Syriac, "arms." They had brought jewels, &c., out of Egypt. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 33:5 - -- Once, &c. "In a moment." (Pagnin.) ---
Shall destroy, if you prove rebellious any more, as I foresee you will. ---
Lay aside, as you have done....
Once, &c. "In a moment." (Pagnin.) ---
Shall destroy, if you prove rebellious any more, as I foresee you will. ---
Lay aside, as you have done. ---
To thee, according to the measure of your repentance or negligence. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 33:6 - -- By Horeb, or at the foot of the mount. Some think they put them on no more in the wilderness; (Calmet) or at least till they had obtained the tables...
By Horeb, or at the foot of the mount. Some think they put them on no more in the wilderness; (Calmet) or at least till they had obtained the tables of the law again, in testimony of God's reconciliation with them. (Salien.)
Gill: Exo 33:1 - -- And the Lord said unto Moses, depart, and go up hence,.... Not from the place where Moses was, which was the top of the mount, but where the camp of I...
And the Lord said unto Moses, depart, and go up hence,.... Not from the place where Moses was, which was the top of the mount, but where the camp of Israel was, at the bottom of the mount; where they had lain encamped some time, but were now ordered to proceed on their journey:
thou, and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt; though his wrath was in some measure mitigated, and he had so far forgave their sin, that he would not cut them off from being a people; yet still he does not call them his people, or own that he brought them out of Egypt, as he does in the preface to the commands they had now broke, as if they were not under his care and conduct; but speaks of them in a different manner, as a people that Moses had brought out from thence, and whom he orders to go on with:
unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, unto thy seed will I give it: meaning the land of Canaan, which as he had promised with an oath to their fathers to give it to them, he would faithfully observe it, though they were unworthy of such a favour.

Gill: Exo 33:2 - -- And I will send an angel before thee,.... Not the angel before promised, Exo 23:20 the Angel of his presence, the eternal Word and Son of God, but a c...
And I will send an angel before thee,.... Not the angel before promised, Exo 23:20 the Angel of his presence, the eternal Word and Son of God, but a created angel; and so Aben Ezra observes, he does not say the Angel that was known, that his name was in him; though even this was to be looked upon as a favour, and showed that he had not utterly cast them off:
and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; who were now the inhabitants of the land, and these he promises drive out, to make way for their possession of it; and that "by his hand", as the Targum of Jonathan interprets it, by the hand of the angel. Only six nations are mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashite is omitted, but added in the Septuagint version.

Gill: Exo 33:3 - -- Unto a land flowing with milk and honey,.... Abounding with all the necessaries and good things of life, a description of the land of Canaan frequentl...
Unto a land flowing with milk and honey,.... Abounding with all the necessaries and good things of life, a description of the land of Canaan frequently made, see Exo 3:8,
for I will not go up in the midst of thee; would not grant them his presence in so near, visible, and respectable a manner as he had before done, though he would not utterly forsake them: the tabernacle was before in the midst of the camp, that is, that which was erected until the large one, ordered to be made, was finished, but now it was removed without the camp, Exo 33:7.
for thou art a stiffnecked people; See Gill on Exo 32:9,
lest I consume them in the way; in the way to the land of Canaan, and so never get there; the meaning is, that the Lord being in the midst of them, their sin would be the more aggravated to be committed in his presence, before his face; and the glory of his majesty would require that immediate notice be taken of it, and just punishment inflicted; so that by this step God both consulted his own honour and their safety.

Gill: Exo 33:4 - -- And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That God would withdraw his gracious presence, and go not up with them himself, only send an angel w...
And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That God would withdraw his gracious presence, and go not up with them himself, only send an angel with them; and especially this may respect what is threatened, Exo 33:5 and had been said at this time:
they mourned; were inwardly and heartily grieved for their sin, whereby they had provoked the Lord to depart from them, and gave some outward and open tokens of it:
and no man did put on his ornaments; they used to wear at other times, their rings and jewels, which the princes and the chief among the people especially were wont to wear; and in common the people did not put on their best clothes, or what they usually wore, but clothed themselves in mournful habits, in sackcloth and ashes, or in some such like manner.

Gill: Exo 33:5 - -- For the Lord had said to Moses,.... At the same time he had told it to the people:
say unto the children of Israel: Menachem, as quoted by Ainswort...
For the Lord had said to Moses,.... At the same time he had told it to the people:
say unto the children of Israel: Menachem, as quoted by Ainsworth, observes, that this is said in a way of mercy; for since their idolatry he had only called them the people of Moses, and the people, but now calls them by their beloved name, the children of Israel; but whether this was any hint of mercy and favour, is not very apparent by what follows:
ye are a stiffnecked people; obstinate and untractable; see Gill on Exo 32:9,
I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee; before he threatens them that he would not go up in the midst of them, that is, in a way of grace and mercy, to guide, protect, and defend them himself; and now that he would come up in the midst of them, but in a different manner, in a way of wrath, and to take vengeance on them for their sins; and the meaning is, either that should he do so but one moment it would be all over with them, or they would be utterly consumed; or this is threatened on condition, provided they did not repent of their sins, and humble themselves:
therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee; not their armour, as some, nor the clothes they wore at the festival for the golden calf, for this was long after that; but the clothes they usually wore, the best they had, with all their decorations and ornaments, and put on mournful habits as an outward token of their repentance and mourning for their sins, if they had any real concern: this shows that these words must have been said before; since the people on hearing the evil tidings had clothed themselves in a mournful habit, and did not put on their ornaments, Exo 33:4,
that I may know what to do unto thee; which does not suppose ignorance or irresolution in God, but is said after the manner of men, that he should deal with them in proportion to their conduct and behaviour, and as that should outwardly appear.

Gill: Exo 33:6 - -- And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments,.... Such as before described, and this they did:
by the Mount Horeb; before thei...
And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments,.... Such as before described, and this they did:
by the Mount Horeb; before their departure from thence, and where they had been guilty of the idolatry: the words may be literally rendered, "from Mount Horeb" u; and Jonathan understands the preceding clause of something they put off which they received from thence; but the meaning is, that they went to some distance from Mount Horeb, and there stripped themselves to show their greater humiliation, and the sense they had of their unworthiness of being near to the Lord, or enjoying his presence.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Exo 33:2 See T. Ishida, “The Structure and Historical Implications of Lists of Pre-Israelite Nations,” Bib (1979): 461-90.

NET Notes: Exo 33:3 The clause is “lest I consume you.” It would go with the decision not to accompany them: “I will not go up with you…lest I con...

NET Notes: Exo 33:4 The people would rather have risked divine discipline than to go without Yahweh in their midst. So they mourned, and they took off the ornaments. Such...

NET Notes: Exo 33:5 This last clause begins with the interrogative “what,” but it is used here as an indirect interrogative. It introduces a noun clause, the ...
Geneva Bible: Exo 33:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, [and] ( a ) go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land ...

Geneva Bible: Exo 33:5 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, a...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Exo 33:1-23
TSK Synopsis: Exo 33:1-23 - --1 The Lord refuses to go as he had promised with the people.4 The people mourn thereat.7 The tabernacle is removed out of the camp.9 The Lord talks fa...
MHCC -> Exo 33:1-6
MHCC: Exo 33:1-6 - --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 displeasu...
Matthew Henry -> Exo 33:1-6
Matthew Henry: Exo 33:1-6 - -- Here is, I. The message which God sent by Moses to the children of Israel, signifying the continuance of the displeasure against them, and the bad t...
Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 33:1-3 - --
Moses' negotiations with the people, for the purpose of bringing them to sorrow and repentance, commenced with the announcement of what Jehovah had ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 33:4 - --
The people were so overwhelmed with sorrow by this evil word, that they all put off their ornaments, and showed by this outward sign the trouble of ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 33:5 - --
That this good beginning of repentance might lead to a true and permanent change of heart, Jehovah repeated His threat in a most emphatic manner: " ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 33:6 - --
And the people obeyed this commandment, renouncing all that pleased the eye. " The children of Israel spoiled themselves (see at Exo 12:36) of the...
Constable: Exo 15:22--Lev 1:1 - --II. THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL 15:22--40:38
The second major section of Exodus records the events associated with Go...

Constable: Exo 32:1--34:35 - --D. The breaking and renewal of the covenant chs. 32-34
"If a narrative paradigmatic of what Exodus is re...
