Exodus 33:5
in Exodus 33For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people; if I go up into the midst of thee for one moment, I shall consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
KJV
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, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
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This verse in Exodus 33
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
when the people heard these evil tidings
on Exodus 33:4-6
The people mourn at the withdrawal, and the sign of the mourning is that no man puts on his ornaments. God's own order at verse 5 leaves the outcome open, put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee, so the stripping is a posture taken before a decision rather than after one. The gold that went into the calf at 32:2 and 32:3 comes off here, and the same kind of freewill gold is brought for the tabernacle at 35:22. Verse 6 sets the scene by mount Horeb, the mountain of the bush at 3:1 and of the water from the rock at 17:6.
This site's exposition
Now take off your jewelry
Matthew Henry reads the order to take off their jewelry as a call to repentance, a sign that the LORD intends mercy. He sets it beside Hosea 11:8, where God asks how He can give up Ephraim. The people had gone into mourning at verse 4.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
Note, Calls to repentance are plain indications of mercy designed. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, justice knows what to do with a stiff-necked people: but God has no pleasure in the death of those that die; let them return and repent, and then mercy, which otherwise is at a loss, knows what to do.
For the Lord had said to Moses,....
Had he dealt with them according to their sins, he had taken them away with a swift destruction. Note, Those whom God pardons must be made to know what their sin deserved, and how miserable they would have been if they had been unpardoned, that God's mercy may be the more magnified.
He settles a correspondence between God and them, and both God and the people signify their approbation of that correspondence, God by descending in a cloudy pillar, and the people by worshipping at the tent doors,
"Go," says God to Moses, "go and tell them that they are so." He that knows them better than they know themselves says so of them. God would have brought them under the yoke of his law, and into the bond of his covenant, but their necks were too stiff to bow to them.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
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. […]
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he had said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֗ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֱמֹ֤ר | ʾemor | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [are] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| קְשֵׁה־ | kesheh- | stiff of | H7186 → | 36 times |
| עֹ֔רֶף | ʾoref | neck | H6203 → | 33 times |
| רֶ֧גַע | rega' | a moment | H7281 → | |
| אֶחָ֛ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| אֶֽעֱלֶ֥ה | ʾeeleh | I will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בְקִרְבְּךָ֖ | vekirbecha | in midst your | H7130 → | 227 times |
| וְכִלִּיתִ֑יךָ | vekhilitikha | and I will make an end of you | H3615 → | 208 times |
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הוֹרֵ֤ד | hored | take down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| עֶדְיְךָ֙ | ʾedyekha | ornament[s] your | H5716 → | 14 times |
| מֵֽעָלֶ֔יךָ | mealeikha | from on <the> yourself | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְאֵדְעָ֖ה | veedeah | so let me consider | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מָ֥ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־ | ʾeeseh- | will I do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָּֽךְ׃ | lakh | to <the> you |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he had said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֱמֹ֤רsay
ʾemorH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
עַם־[are] a people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
קְשֵׁה־stiff of
kesheh-H7186 →36 times
עֹ֔רֶףneck
ʾorefH6203 →33 times
רֶ֧גַעa moment
rega'H7281 →
אֶחָ֛דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
אֶֽעֱלֶ֥הI will go up
ʾeelehH5927 →890 times
בְקִרְבְּךָ֖in midst your
vekirbechaH7130 →227 times
וְכִלִּיתִ֑יךָand I will make an end of you
vekhilitikhaH3615 →208 times
וְעַתָּ֗הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
הוֹרֵ֤דtake down
horedH3381 →381 times
עֶדְיְךָ֙ornament[s] your
ʾedyekhaH5716 →14 times
מֵֽעָלֶ֔יךָfrom on <the> yourself
mealeikhaH5921 →5755 times
וְאֵדְעָ֖הso let me consider
veedeahH3045 →945 times
מָ֥הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־will I do
ʾeeseh-H6213 →2628 times
לָּֽךְ׃to <the> you
lakh
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
Psalms 139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:7
so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 26:2
Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
- Job 31:6
let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
- Proverbs 17:3
A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
- 1 Peter 1:7
Through
Deuteronomy 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
it leads to
- James 1:3
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
- Deuteronomy 8:16
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I…
- James 1:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.