Exodus 33:20-22

33:20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can ¹  see me and live.” ²  33:21 The Lord said, “Here ³  is a place by me; you will station yourself ⁴  on a rock. 33:22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover ⁵  you with my hand ⁶  while I pass by. ⁷ 

[33:20]  ¹ tn In view of the use of the verb “can, be able to” in the first clause, this imperfect tense is given a potential nuance.

[33:20]  ² tn Gesenius notes that sometimes a negative statement takes the place of a conditional clause; here it is equal to “if a man sees me he does not live” (GKC 498 §159.gg). The other passages that teach this are Gen 32:30; Deut 4:33, 5:24, 26; Judg 6:22, 13:22, and Isa 6:5.

[33:21]  ³ tn The deictic particle is used here simply to call attention to a place of God’s knowing and choosing.

[33:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you will,” or interpretively, “where you will.”

[33:22]  ⁵ sn Note the use in Exod 40:3, “and you will screen the ark with the curtain.” The glory is covered, veiled from being seen.

[33:22]  ⁶ tn The circumstantial clause is simply, “my hand [being] over you.” This protecting hand of Yahweh represents a fairly common theme in the Bible.

[33:22]  ⁷ tn The construction has a preposition with an infinitive construct and a suffix: “while [or until] I pass by” (Heb “in the passing by of me”).