Exodus 34:9
in Exodus 34“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
KJV
And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
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This verse in Exodus 34
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Moses bowed . . . and worshipped--In the East, people bow the head to royalty, and are silent when it passes by, while in the West, they take off their hats and shout.
This site's exposition
And Moses made haste, and bowed his head
on Exodus 34:8-9
Moses hears mercy proclaimed and asks at once for the thing he has been asking since chapter 32, that God go among the people. His ground is the very sentence God had used to explain his distance, that they are a stiffnecked people, at Exodus 32:9 and 33:3 and 33:5. He takes the reason for judgment and makes it the reason for mercy, which is the shape Derek Prince and Dutch Sheets both point to when they teach intercession as standing in the gap.
This site's exposition
if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord
Adam Clarke notes that both titles here are Adonai, the word the Berean prints as Lord, and he refers them to the Angel of the Covenant, the Messiah. Moses counts himself in the confession of iniquity and sin. John Wesley notes that he asks for what God had already granted at 33:17.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
These things God had already promised Moses; and yet he prays for them, not as doubting the sincerity of God's grants, but as one solicitous for the ratification of them. But it is a strange plea he urges, for it is a stiff-necked people - God had given this as a reason why he would not go along with them, chap. xxxiii, 3.
And he said, if now I have found grace in thy sight,....
God's promises are intended, not to supersede, but to direct and encourage, prayer. Those who have some good hopes, through grace, that their sins are pardoned, must yet continue to pray for pardon, for the renewing of their pardon, and the clearing of it more and more to their souls.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us - The original is not יהוה Jehovah, but אדני Adonai in both these places, and seems to refer particularly to the Angel of the Covenant, the Messiah. See Clarke’s note on Gen 15:8.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
This yearning struggle after assurance is like the often-repeated utterance of the heart, when it receives a blessing beyond its hopes, “can this be real?”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֡אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| נָא֩ | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| מָצָ֨אתִי | matzati | I have found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| חֵ֤ן | chen | favor | H2580 → | 69 times |
| בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ | beeineikha | in view your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֔י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יֵֽלֶךְ־ | yelekh- | let him go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| נָ֥א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֖י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| בְּקִרְבֵּ֑נוּ | bekirbenu | in midst our | H7130 → | 227 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [is] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| קְשֵׁה־ | kesheh- | stiff of | H7186 → | 36 times |
| עֹ֙רֶף֙ | ʾoref | neck | H6203 → | 33 times |
| ה֔וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְסָלַחְתָּ֛ | vesalachta | and you will forgive | H5545 → | |
| לַעֲוֹנֵ֥נוּ | laavonenu | <to> iniquity our | H5771 → | 233 times |
| וּלְחַטָּאתֵ֖נוּ | ulechatatenu | and <to> sin our | H2403 → | 295 times |
| וּנְחַלְתָּֽנוּ׃ | unechaltanu | and you will take as a possession us | H5157 → | 59 times |
וַיֹּ֡אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
נָא֩please
na'H4994 →404 times
מָצָ֨אתִיI have found
matzatiH4672 →455 times
חֵ֤ןfavor
chenH2580 →69 times
בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙in view your
beeineikhaH5869 →887 times
אֲדֹנָ֔יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יֵֽלֶךְ־let him go
yelekh-H1980 →1546 times
נָ֥אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
אֲדֹנָ֖י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
בְּקִרְבֵּ֑נוּin midst our
bekirbenuH7130 →227 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עַם־[is] a people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
קְשֵׁה־stiff of
kesheh-H7186 →36 times
עֹ֙רֶף֙neck
ʾorefH6203 →33 times
ה֔וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וְסָלַחְתָּ֛and you will forgive
vesalachtaH5545 →
לַעֲוֹנֵ֥נוּ<to> iniquity our
laavonenuH5771 →233 times
וּלְחַטָּאתֵ֖נוּand <to> sin our
ulechatatenuH2403 →295 times
וּנְחַלְתָּֽנוּ׃and you will take as a possession us
unechaltanuH5157 →59 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
Psalms 33:12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!
it leads to
- Psalms 144:15
Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- John 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
- Psalms 144:15
Through
Psalms 94:14For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:9
But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 12:22
Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Romans 11:1–2
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- Deuteronomy 32:9
Through
Deuteronomy 32:9But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:16
The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Jeremiah 10:16
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Derek Prince, Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting; Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.