Exodus 33:13
in Exodus 33Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee, to the end that I may find favor in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
KJV
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
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This verse in Exodus 33
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAs a result Moses, convinced that God will never be known to human wisdom, says, "Reveal yourself to me," and finds himself forced to enter "into the darkness" where the voice of God was present; in other words, into the unapproachable, imageless, intellectual concepts relating to ultimate reality. For God does not exist in darkness. He is not in space at all. He is beyond space and time and anything belonging to created beings. Similarly he is not found in any section. He contains nothing. He is contained by nothing. He is not subject to limit or division.
This site's exposition
thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people
on Exodus 33:12-13
Moses argues from what God has already said to him, quoting two sentences back, I know thee by name and thou hast found grace in my sight. What he asks for is to be shown the way in order to know God himself, so knowledge of God is the request and the errand is the reason he gives for it. The last clause hands the calf argument back where it started, since God said thy people to Moses at 32:7 and Moses answered thy people at 32:11, and here he asks God to consider that this nation is thy people.
This site's exposition
please let me know Your ways
Psalm 103:7 answers this prayer, saying God made known His ways to Moses and His deeds to Israel. Adam Clarke takes the ways as the manner in which the LORD would lead this people. John Wesley notes that Moses pleads the LORD’s own word.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Moses says to him, "Show me yourself." You see that then also the prophets saw Christ, that is, in the measure each was able. "Show me yourself, that I may see you clearly." But he said, "No one sees me and still lives." Therefore, because no one could see the face of the Godhead and live, he assumed the face of human nature, that seeing this we might live. Yet when he wished to show even this with a little majesty, at the time when "his face shone as the sun," the disciples fell to the earth terrified. His bodily countenance shined, not according to the full power of him who wrought it but in the measure the disciples could bear. Now if this terrified them and even thus they could not bear it, how could anyone gaze upon the majesty of the Godhead? It is a great thing which you desire, O Moses, the Lord says; and I approve your insatiable longing and "this word will I do" for you, but according to your capacity. "Behold, I will set you in the hollow of the rock";10 for as you are small, you will lodge in a small place.
Again, in ancient times, in the case of the faithful servant of God, Moses, who was destined to labor on this earth and to rule the chosen people, it would not be surprising that what he asked was granted: that he might see the glory of the Lord, to whom he said, "If I have found favor before you, show me yourself openly." He received an answer adapted to present conditions: that he could not see the face of God, because no man could see him and live. Thus God made clear that the vision belongs to another and better life. In addition to that, the mystery of the future church of Christ was foreshadowed by the words of God.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Now therefore, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me thy way - What favour God had expressed to the people they had forfeited the benefit of; and therefore Moses lays the stress of his plea upon what God had said to him.
Commentary on Chapter XXXIII 5. I will come up - 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.
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Observe what it is he is thus earnest for: Show me thy way, that I may know that I find grace in thy sight. Note, Divine direction is one of the best evidences of divine favour. By this we may know that we find grace in God's sight, if we find grace in our hearts to guide and quicken us in the way of our duty.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thy way - He desires not to be left in uncertainty, but to be assured, by Yahweh’s mode of proceeding, of the reality of the promises that had been made to him.
Show me now thy way - Let me know the manner in which thou wouldst have this people led up and governed, because this nation is thy people, and should be governed and guided in thy own way.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
‘SEE, THOU SAYEST UNTO ME: BRING UP THIS PEOPLE.’ This happened on Mount Sinai, when Moses went up there on the nineteenth of Tammuz.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
In the opinion of all commentators this means, “I myself will go.” And they brought a parallel expression to this from the verse, ‘upanecha’ (and thine own person) shalt go to battle. 478 II Samuel:11.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֡ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| נָא֩ | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| מָצָ֨אתִי | matzati | I have found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| חֵ֜ן | chen | favor | H2580 → | 69 times |
| בְּעֵינֶ֗יךָ | beeineikha | in view your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| הוֹדִעֵ֤נִי | hodieni | show me | H3045 → | 945 times |
| נָא֙ | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּרָכֶ֔ךָ | derakhekha | ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְאֵדָ֣עֲךָ֔ | veedaakha | so I may know you | H3045 → | 945 times |
| לְמַ֥עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| אֶמְצָא־ | ʾemtza'- | I may find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| חֵ֖ן | chen | favor | H2580 → | 69 times |
| בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ | beeineikha | in view your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּרְאֵ֕ה | ureeh | and consider | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַמְּךָ֖ | ʾamekha | [is] people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַגּ֥וֹי | hagoy | the nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וְעַתָּ֡הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
נָא֩please
na'H4994 →404 times
מָצָ֨אתִיI have found
matzatiH4672 →455 times
חֵ֜ןfavor
chenH2580 →69 times
בְּעֵינֶ֗יךָin view your
beeineikhaH5869 →887 times
הוֹדִעֵ֤נִיshow me
hodieniH3045 →945 times
נָא֙please
na'H4994 →404 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּרָכֶ֔ךָways your
derakhekhaH1870 →707 times
וְאֵדָ֣עֲךָ֔so I may know you
veedaakhaH3045 →945 times
לְמַ֥עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
אֶמְצָא־I may find
ʾemtza'-H4672 →455 times
חֵ֖ןfavor
chenH2580 →69 times
בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָin view your
beeineikhaH5869 →887 times
וּרְאֵ֕הand consider
ureehH7200 →1300 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
עַמְּךָ֖[is] people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →1873 times
הַגּ֥וֹיthe nation
hagoyH1471 →561 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
it leads to
- 1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son…
- 1 John 5:11–12
And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
- John 3:17
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
- Jeremiah 9:23–24
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- John 17:25
Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me.
- 1 John 5:20
Through
Psalms 25:4Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:11
Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 5:8
Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 86:11
Through
Psalms 86:11Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.
it leads to
- Psalms 25:4–5
Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 25:4–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 147.32; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 10.7; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.