Exodus 33:5

For the Lord had said to Moses,.... At the same time he had told it to the people: say unto the children of Israel: Menachem, as quoted by Ainsworth, observes, that this is said in a way of mercy;

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

I will come up into the midst of thee, to wit, in anger; not in favour, , where the words are the same, but the sense differing, and consume thee. Object. But God had promised he would not do so, . Answ. That was signified to Moses, not to the people, to whom the threatening was most proper and profitable; and this threatening hath a condition implied, to wit, except they repent, as the next words plainly show. That I may know what to do unto thee; that I may either inflict my judgments, or suspend them, as thou art penitent or impenitent.

Exodus 33:5 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.Ver. 5. And consume thee.] God’ s threatenings are cordial, but conditional. Minatur Deus ut non puniat. "Fury is not in me." He punisheth not "till there be no other remedy," as the bee stings not till provoked.

(5)For the Lord had said unto Moses.—Rather, And the Lord said unto Moses. The message did not precede the repentance of the people, but followed it. I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee.—Rather, were I to go up in the midst of thee, even for a moment (a brief space), I should consume thee. The people learnt by this the reason of God’s proposed withdrawal. It was in mercy, that they might not be consumed, as there was danger of their being unless they repented and turned to God. Put off thy ornaments.—Rather, leave off thy ornaments, i.e., put them aside altogether; show thy penitence by giving up the use of them; then shall I know what to do with thee; then shall I be able to deal with thee in a way which otherwise were impossible.

Verse 5. 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 practised in the east, appears from the account Pitts gives of the ceremonies of the Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca. 'A few days after this we came to a place called Rabbock, about four days' sail on this side of Mecca, where all the hagges or pilgrims, (excepting those of the female sex) do enter into hirrawem or ihram, i.e., they take off all their clothes, covering themselves with two hirrawems, or large white cotton wrappers; one they put about their middle, which reaches down to their ancles; with the other they cover the upper part of their body, except the head; and they wear no other thing on their bodies but these wrappers, only a pair of grimgameca, that is thin-soled shoes like sandals, the over-leather of which covers only the toes, the insteps being all naked. In this manner, like humble penitents, they go from Rabbock until they come to Mecca, to approach the temple, many times enduring the scorching heat of the sun until the very skin is burnt off their backs and arms, and their heads swollen to a very great degree.' - pp. 115, 116. Presently after he informs us 'that the time of their wearing this mortifying habit is about the space of seven days.' Again, (p.

5. The people are here told to do what they have already done (v. 4b), a clear proof that two narratives have been combined. In v. 4 the removal of the ornaments is a spontaneous token of grief; in v. 5 it is done at Jehovah’s command. It is true, LXX. omit v. 4b: but the omission is open to the suspicion of having been made to avoid the awkward anticipation of v. 5b. Ye are, &c.] The compiler (so Di.) emphasizes afresh (see v. 3) Israel’s stiffneckedness. The entire context of the words assigned to E has naturally not been preserved. go up in the midst of thee] viz. towards Canaan (as v. 3). what to do unto thee] i.e. how o deal with thee.

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.

5. I will come up — This passage is better translated conditionally: One moment let me come in thy midst, and I would consume thee. So terrible is the power of the presence of the Holy One.