Exodus 33:1

The Command to Leave Sinai

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Depart; go up from here, you 1and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To 2your offspring I will give it.'

Exodus 33:1 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 33:1

And the Lord said unto Moses, depart, and go up hence
Not from the place where Moses was, which was the top of the mount, but where the camp of Israel was, at the bottom of the mount; where they had lain encamped some time, but were now ordered to proceed on their journey:

thou, and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of
Egypt;
though his wrath was in some measure mitigated, and he had so far forgave their sin, that he would not cut them off from being a people; yet still he does not call them his people, or own that he brought them out of Egypt, as he does in the preface to the commands they had now broke, as if they were not under his care and conduct; but speaks of them in a different manner, as a people that Moses had brought out from thence, and whom he orders to go on with:

unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,
saying, unto thy seed will I give it:
meaning the land of Canaan, which as he had promised with an oath to their fathers to give it to them, he would faithfully observe it, though they were unworthy of such a favour.

Exodus 33:1 In-Context

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your offspring I will give it.'
2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."
4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.'"

Cross References 2

  • 1. Exodus 32:7
  • 2. Exodus 32:13; See Genesis 12:7
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.