to turn off (literal or figurative) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
hand
כַּפִּ֔יka.Pi
H3709
the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
see
וְרָאִ֖יתָve.ra.'I.ta
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
parts
אֲחֹרָ֑י'a.cho.Rai
H268
the hinder part · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
face
וּפָנַ֖יu.fa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
seen
יֵרָאֽוּye.ra.'U
H7200
to see · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
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 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Job 11:7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1 Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and p…
Job 26:14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
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…
I beseech thee, show me thy glory--This is one of the most mysterious scenes described in the Bible: he had, for his comfort and encouragement, a splendid and full display of the divine majesty, not in its unveiled effulgence, but as far as the weakness of humanity would admit. The face, hand, back parts, are to be understood figuratively.
Next: Exodus Chapter 34
Adam Clarke on Exodus 33:21
Behold, there is a place by me - There seems to be a reference here to a well-known place on the mount where God was accustomed to meet with Moses. This was a rock; and it appears there was a cleft or cave in it, in which Moses was to stand while the Divine Majesty was pleased to show him all that human nature was capable of bearing: but this appears to have referred more to the counsels of his mercy and goodness, relative to his purpose of redeeming the human race, than to any visible appearance of the Divine Majesty itself. See Clarke on Exo 33:18 (note).
1. The conclusion of this chapter is very obscure: we can scarcely pretend to say, in any precise manner, what it means; and it is very…
And I will take away mine hand,.... As being covered with the hand may signify the obscurity of the former dispensation, the taking of it away may denote a more clear revelation of the grace and goodness of God in Christ, and so of the glory of it under the Gospel dispensation; and yet what is seen in this, in comparison of the reality of things as they are, or of the heavenly state, are but as next expressed:
and thou shalt see my back parts; which some understand of the humanity of Christ, and his sufferings in it, sometimes expressed by his heel, and the bruising of it, Genesis 3:15 or else the works of God in creation, by which the invisible things of God are seen, and which give a know…
The Church Fathers
Like to this also is that which is said by God through Moses: "Behold, I have set you in a hole of the rock, and you shall see My back parts." Therefore this rock, which is Christ, is not closed on every side, but has a hole. And the hole of the rock is that which reveals God and makes Him known to men. No one, then, sees the Father except the Son; no one, then, sees the last things of God — that is, the things which come to pass in the last times — except one placed in the hole of the rock, namely when he has learned those things by the revelation of Christ.
For it is well known that he, that is, the one who gave the oracles to Moses, says, "You shall not see my face but my back." Certainly these statements must be understood by the aid of that symbolism which is appropriate to the understanding of divine sayings, and those old wives' fables, which ignorant people invent on the subject of the front and back parts of God, must be utterly rejected and despised. Nor indeed must anyone suppose that we have entertained some impious thought in saying that the Father is not visible even to the Savior, but he must consider the exact meaning of the terms we use in controverting the heretics. For we have said that it is one thing to see and be seen, another to perceive and be perceived or to know and be known. To see and be seen is a property of bodies, which it would certainly not be right to apply either to the Father or to the Son or to the Holy Spirit in their relations one with another. For the Trinity by its nature transcends the limits of vision, although it grants to those who are in bodies, that is, to all other creatures, the property of being seen one by another. But incorporeal and above all intellectual nature is capable of nothing else but to know and be known, as the Savior himself declares when he says, "No one knows the Son save the Father, neither does any know the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him." It is clear then that he did not say, "No one sees the Father save the Son" but "No one knows the Father save the Son."
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
Communion With God · Exemplified: Moses — Exemplified: Moses
Condescension Of God · Indulges Moses’ prayer to behold his glory — Indulges Moses’ prayer to behold his glory
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · God’s glory shown to Moses — God’s glory shown to Moses
Glory Of God, The · Exhibited to: Moses — Exhibited to: Moses
Vision · .Of the glory of Go — .Of the glory of Go
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).
And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me This description may illdeed appear puerile, but it is well adapted to our imperfection; nor will any despise it who is duly conscious of his own imbecility and ignorance. There seems to be a contradiction between these two things, that the beauty of God should be shewn to Moses, and still that the sight of Him should be refused. This difficulty is here solved, for Moses was to see God only from behind. It is a similitude taken from men, whom we only partially recognise, if their face be turned away; for clear recognition is only obtained by seeing the face and countenance.
The fissure or hole in the rock was like a narrow and oblique window…
Moses was emboldened by this, and now prayed to the Lord, "Let me see Thy glory." What Moses desired to see, as the answer of God clearly shows, must have been something surpassing all former revelations of the glory of Jehovah (Exo 16:7, Exo 16:10; Exo 24:16-17), and even going beyond Jehovah's talking with him face to face (Exo 33:11). When God talked with him face to face, or mouth to mouth, he merely saw a "similitude of Jehovah" (Num 12:8), a form which rendered the invisible being of God visible to the human eye, i.e., a manifestation of the divine glory in a certain form, and not the direct or essential glory of Jehovah, whilst the people saw this glory under the veil of a dark cloud,…
God longs to show us his character, but to see his face (his essence) and his glorious presence (33:22) would be to die. Moses was permitted a glimpse of that, but nothing more.
Rashi on Exodus 33:23
והסרתי את כפי AND I WILL REMOVE MY HAND — The Targum renders this by ואעדי ית דברת יקרי “I will remove the guidance of My Glory”; it means: when I shall remove the guidance of My Glory from before thine eyes — to go right away from that place,
וראית את אחרי THEN THOU SHALT SEE WHAT IS BEHIND ME — He showed him the Tephillin-knot which is placed behind the head (cf. Berakhot 7a; Menachot 35b).
