Exodus 33:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 33:12
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
See
רְ֠אֵהRe.'eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
sayest
אֹמֵ֤ר'o.Mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
up
הַ֚עַלHa.'al
H5927
to ascend · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
people
הָעָ֣םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
know
הֽוֹדַעְתַּ֔נִיho.da'.Ta.ni
H3045
to know (properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
send
תִּשְׁלַ֖חtish.Lach
H7971
to send away · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
said
אָמַ֙רְתָּ֙'a.Mar.ta
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
know
יְדַעְתִּ֣יךָֽye.da'.Ti.kha
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
name
בְשֵׁ֔םve.Shem
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
found
מָצָ֥אתָma.Tza.ta
H4672
properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
grace
חֵ֖ןchen
H2580
graciousness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sight
בְּעֵינָֽיbe.'ei.Nai
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by nam…
John 10:14-15 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Exodus 32:34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in…
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet…
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the n…
Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and ju…
Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called…
Exodus 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 33:12–end
Moses, having returned to the door of the tabernacle, becomes a humble and importunate supplicant there for two very great favours, and as a prince he has power with God, and prevails for both: herein he was a type of Christ the great intercessor, whom the Father heareth always.
I. He is very earnest with God for a grant of his presence with Israel in the rest of their march to Canaan, notwithstanding their provocations. The people had by their sin deserved the wrath of God, and for the turning away of that Moses had already prevailed, Exo 32:14. But they had likewise forfeited God's favourable presence, and all the benefit and comfort of that, and this Moses is here begging for the return o…
the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle--How would the downcast hearts of the people revive--how would the tide of joy swell in every bosom, when the symbolic cloud was seen slowly and majestically to descend and stand at the entrance of the tabernacle!
as Moses entered--It was when he appeared as their mediator, when he repaired from day to day to intercede for them, that welcome token of assurance was given that his advocacy prevailed, that Israel's sin was forgiven, and that God would again be gracious.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 33:12
Moses said unto the Lord - We may suppose that after Moses had quitted the tabernacle he went to the camp, and gave the people some general information relative to the conversation he lately had with the Lord; after which he returned to the tabernacle or tent, and began to plead with God, as we find in this and the following verses.
Thou hast not let me know, etc. - As God had said he would not go up with this people, Moses wished to know whom he would send with him, as he had only said, in general terms, that he would send an angel.
John Gill on Exodus 33:12
And Moses said unto the Lord,.... Having returned from the camp to the tabernacle again:
see, thou sayest unto me, bring up this people: from hence to the land of Canaan, as in Exodus 33:1.
and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me; to guide and direct him, help and assist him, protect and defend him, and the people with him; he had signified something of this kind, but by some expressions, and by his present conduct, he was at a loss to know who was to go with him: he had told him that the uncreated Angel, in whom his name and he himself were, should go with them; but now it had been declared that he would not go up in the midst of them himself, but send an angel, a create…
The Church Fathers
It is necessary to notice that Moses said to God: You said to me: I know you more than to all. But nowhere before we read that God told Moses before Moses remembered him. By this we understand that not all the things that God spoke with Moses have been written. In any case, it is necessary to investigate more carefully in the previous parts of the Scripture to see if it really is that way.
Jesus says to her: "Mary." After he called her by the common word for her sex, and was not recognized, he calls her by name. As if he openly said to her: Recognize him by whom you are recognized. To the perfect man also it is said: "I know you by name," because "man" is the common word for all of us, but "Moses" is proper, to whom it is rightly said that he is known by name, as if the Lord openly said to him: I do not know you generally as the rest, but specially.
What does what God says to Moses mean: Because I know you more than all? Does God know some other things and other things less? Or is it something similar to what is said of some in the Gospel: I do not know you? (Mt 25,12) Ultimately, God knew Moses more than all, because Moses liked God above all, that is, he knew him with that kind of knowledge according to which it is said that God knows the things that he likes and that he does not know the things that displease him; not because he ignores them, but because he does not approve of them; as it is said with all property that the art does not know the vices, nevertheless that it experiences vices.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Boldness · .Moses — .Moses
Communion With God · Exemplified: Moses — Exemplified: Moses
Favour Of God, The · Plead, in prayer — Plead, in prayer
Prayer · .By Moses, suppli — .By Moses, suppli
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
See, thou, sayest unto me, Bring up this people Moses is still diligently engaged in endeavoring to reconcile the people, for the fuller promise was inserted by way of anticipation. Since the revolt, however, God had promised no more than that He would give the land to the people; but although wishing only to assure them that they should possess the land, He had added that His angel should lead them, still this was but a temporary blessing, and one which He is wont to confer promiscuously on other nations also. Thus Moses saw that he and the people were deprived of a special privilege which they had previously enjoyed; for that same angel who had gone before them was frequently called the Go…
Jehovah had commanded Moses to lead the people to Canaan, and promised him the guidance of an angel; but He had expressly distinguished this angel from His own personal presence (Exo 33:1-3). Moreover, though it has not been mentioned before, Jehovah had said to Moses, "I have known thee by name," - i.e., I have recognised thee as Mine, and chosen and called thee to execute My will (cf. Isa 43:1; Isa 49:1), or put thee into "a specifically personal relation to God, which was peculiar to Moses, and therefore was associated with his name" (Oehler); - "and thou hast also found grace in My eyes," inasmuch as God had granted a hearing to his former intercession. Moses now reminded the Lord of thi…
Moses begged for God to go with him and the people to the Promised Land. In these verses the word personally (33:14-15) usually reflects a Hebrew term literally rendered face. Moses wanted to continue experiencing the “face to face” relationship he had begun to have (33:11). He also wanted the people to have that experience in some sense.
33:12 I know you by name: Moses had been appointed by God himself.
Rashi on Exodus 33:12
ראה אתה אמר אלי SEE. THOU SAYEST UNTO ME — Set Thy eyes and Thy heart to Thy own words (Think for a moment of what Thou, Thyself, hast told me)
אתה אמר אלי וגו׳ ואתה לא הודעתני וגו׳ THOU SAYEST UNTO ME [BRING UP THIS PEOPLE] AND NEVERTHELESS THOU HAST NOT LET ME KNOW [WHOM THOU WILT SEND WITH ME] — for what You have said to me (Exodus 23:20) “And I will send an angel before thee” is not “letting me know”, for I am not satisfied with it.
ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם YET THOU HAST SAID, I HAVE KNOWN THEE BY NAME — I have distinguished you from all other human beings by a characteristic (שם) which shows my importance in Thy eyes, for, see, Thou hast said to me, (Exodus 19:9) “Behold, I come unto thee…
