Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Jack,

> Would someone be so kind as to help me out with Exodus
> 33:12-23.

HH: Why start with verse 12? The puzzle starts at 
least in verse 11 (as you yourself notice below), 
and it continues after verse 23, since the climax 
is in 34:6-7.

> Moses: I am uncomfortable being the leader of these people
> because I am uncertain if I really know how to continue to
> please you, no matter how much success I have had in the
> past.  Teach me your ways so I can always please you.
>
> Yahweh: My FACE (presence) will go with you, which will
> make you comfortable.
>
> Moses: But what if your FACE does not go with me, how will
> people know you favor me?  How will our people be
> distinguished from the other people on the FACE of the
> earth.
>
> Yahweh: I will do what you ask because you please me.  [At
> this point the only thing Moses has asked is to be taught
> Yahweh?s ways]

HH: Moses has also by implication asked that God 
go with Him and Israel (33:15-16), and that is 
part of what God responds to in saying that He 
would do what Moses asked.

> Moses:  Show me your glory.  [This seems like a non-
> sequitur unless it means to be taught Yahweh?s ways]

HH: And it does. But Moses has already hinted that He wants to know God 
better:

Ex. 33:12 ¶ Moses said to the LORD,  "You have 
been telling me,  'Lead these people,' but you 
have not let me know whom you will send with me. 
You have said,  'I know you by name and you have 
found favor with me.'

HH: God knows Moses, but Moses wants to know the 
one who will go with him. Verse 12 probably 
arises because of verse 2:

Ex. 33:2 I will send an angel before you and 
drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, 
Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

HH: The word "angel" is ML)K, or messenger, a 
somewhat ambivalent word in Hebrew. Seeing God's 
glory would help Moses to know God better. 
Wanting to know God's ways includes wanting to 
know God better. This messenger is later defined 
as the messenger (angel) of God's FACE, really 
His presence:

Is. 63:9 In all their distress he too was 
distressed, and the angel of his presence saved 
them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he 
lifted them up and carried them all the days of 
old.

> Yahweh: I will pass my goodness by your FACE and cry out by
> the name Yahweh to your FACE.  [Moses did not ask to see
> his goodness or hear him cry out].

HH: His goodness is part of His glory. His name is expression of his Person.

> I favor who is the favorite (vehanotiy et-asher ahon) and I
> love who is the beloved (verihametiy et-asher arahem).
> [This seems to parallel Ex 3:14 eheyeh asher eheyeh.]

HH: This is not a good translation. The standard 
translations are correct. The phrasing alludes to 
the Lord's liberty in showing favor and 
compassion. It is an idiomatic expression. Here 
it particularly refers to His liberty in showing 
favor to Moses and Israel, despite the fact that 
Israel might deserve His wrath:

Ex. 33:3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and 
honey. But I will not go with you, because you 
are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you 
on the way."

> No man may see my FACE and live.  [Yet in Ex 33:11, just a
> few passages earlier Yahweh and Moses spoke paniym el-
> paniym as a man does with a friend]

HH: This just shows that the word FACE is used 
more than one way (see below). In verse 11 it is 
evidently part of an idiom "face to face" (one 
that we still use today), but in the OT the idiom 
is applied to human relations with God:

Gen. 32:30 ¶ So Jacob called the place Peniel, 
saying,  "It is because I saw God face to face, 
and yet my life was spared."
Ex. 33:11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to 
face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses 
would return to the camp, but his young aide 
Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
Deut. 34:10 ¶ Since then, no prophet has risen in 
Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to 
face,
Judg. 6:22 When Gideon realized that it was the 
angel of the LORD, he exclaimed,  "Ah, Sovereign 
LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to 
face!"
Ezek. 20:35 I will bring you into the desert of 
the nations and there, face to face, I will 
execute judgment upon you.

> Stand on this rock near me.  When my glory passes I will
> put you into a crevice (fissure or hole) in the rock and
> cover you with my hand.
>
> When I finish passing by I will remove my hand you can see
> my backside but not my FACE.
>
> Yahweh is pleased with Moses and will grant his wish.
> Moses asked to be taught the ways of Yahweh or to see his
> glory.  Moses wasn?t taught anything and did not see
> Yahweh?s glory.

HH: Actually, God did see the glory of God, 
although He did not see His face. And he did 
learn about God, since God declared to him key 
characteristics of His nature (Ex 34:6-7).

>  God went to great lengths to ensure that
> Moses did not see Yahweh?s face despite the fact Moses did
> not ask to see it (although Moses seems to have seen in Ex
> 33:11 and Deu 34:10).

HH: Ex. 33:11 evidently involves an idiom for a 
personal, direct interchange, but something short 
of the sight of God's face that would cause death 
(a direct perception of the unveiled glory of 
God's face).

>   Moses did see Yahweh?s goodness,
> hear Yahweh cry out, and saw his backside from a hole in a
> rock.
>
> What happened here?  Did I mistranslate something or do I
> simply not understand what the words mean?  Is there some
> literary or historical context I missing?  Also, there has
> to be some reason the author used the word FACE (paniy,
> paneyka) at every possible opportunity.  Thanks in advance.

HH: I don't know how important some occurrences 
of the word FACE are, because it is an 
exceedingly common word, especially in the 
prepositional form it has in verse 19. But if 
anything, it suggests how close God draws near to 
Moses.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard