Keluaran 33:11-14

33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, ¹  the way a person speaks ²  to a friend. Then Moses ³  would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent. ⁴ 

33:12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ ⁵  but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, ⁶  and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me ⁷  your way, that I may know you, ⁸  that I may continue to find ⁹  favor in your sight. And see ¹⁰  that this nation is your people.”

33:14 And the Lord ¹¹  said, “My presence ¹²  will go with you, ¹³  and I will give you rest.” ¹⁴ 

[33:11]  ¹ tn “Face to face” is circumstantial to the action of the verb, explaining how they spoke (see GKC 489-90 §156.c). The point of this note of friendly relationship with Moses is that Moses was “at home” in this tent speaking with God. Moses would derive courage from this when he interceded for the people (B. Jacob, Exodus, 966).

[33:11]  ² tn The verb in this clause is a progressive imperfect.

[33:11]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:11]  ⁴ sn Moses did not live in the tent. But Joshua remained there most of the time to guard the tent, it seems, lest any of the people approach it out of curiosity.

[33:12]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil imperative is from the same verb that has been used before for bringing the people up from Egypt and leading them to Canaan.

[33:12]  ⁶ tn That is, “chosen you.”

[33:13]  ⁷ tn The prayer uses the Hiphil imperative of the verb “to know.” “Cause me to know” is “show me, reveal to me, teach or inform me.” Moses wanted to know more of God’s dealings with people, especially after all that has happened in the preceding chapter.

[33:13]  ⁸ tn The imperfect tense of the verb “to know” with the vav follows the imperative of this root, and so this indicates the purpose clause (final imperfect): “in order that I may know you.” S. R. Driver summarizes it this way: that I may understand what your nature and character is, and shape my petitions accordingly, so that I may find grace in your sight, and my future prayers may be answered (Exodus, 361).

[33:13]  ⁹ tn The purpose clause simply uses the imperfect, “that I may find.” But since he already has found favor in God’s eyes, he is clearly praying that it be so in the future as well as now.

[33:13]  ¹⁰ tn The verb “see” (an imperative) is a request for God to acknowledge Israel as his people by providing the divine leadership needed. So his main appeal will be for the people and not himself. To underscore this, he repeats “see” the way the section opened.

[33:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:14]  ¹² sn Heb “my face.” This represents the presence of Yahweh going with the people (see 2 Sam 17:11 for an illustration). The “presence” probably refers to the angel of the presence or some similar manifestation of God’s leading and caring for his people.

[33:14]  ¹³ tn The phrase “with you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[33:14]  ¹⁴ sn The expression certainly refers to the peace of mind and security of knowing that God was with them. But the expression came to mean “settle them in the land of promise” and give them rest and peace from their enemies. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 434) observes how in 32:10 God had told Moses, “Leave me alone” (“give me rest”), but now he promises to give them rest. The parallelism underscores the great transition through intercession.