Exodus 23:21

21 Take thou heed to him, and hear thou his voice, neither guess thou him to be despised, or despisable; for he shall not forgive (thee), when thou sinnest, and my name is in him (for my authority is with him)

Exodus 23:21 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:21

Beware of him
Of his face or countenance; observe his looks towards you in a providential way, whether frowning or smiling; observe his directions and instructions, laws and commands:

and obey his voice;
hearken to what he says, and cheerfully, readily, and punctually do as he orders:

provoke him not;
by unbelief, by murmurings and complaints, by unbecoming words and actions, by transgressing his commands, and acting contrary to his will;

for he will not pardon your transgressions:
or suffer them to pass unchastised and uncorrected, but will, as he did, take vengeance on their inventions, and on them because of them, though he forgave their iniquities; for that he was such an Angel as could forgive sin, which none but God can do, is evident; because it would be absurd to say he will not pardon, if he could not pardon their transgressions, see ( Matthew 9:6 ) ,

for my name is in him;
the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; the nature and perfections of God are in the Word and Son of God, and so his name Jehovah, which is peculiar to him; Christ is Jehovah our righteousness: or "though my name is in him" F13; as Abendana and others, his name the Lord God, gracious and merciful, pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin, as afterwards proclaimed in him; and yet, notwithstanding this, he would not clear the guilty, or suffer the Israelites to go unpunished, if they offended him: the Targum of Onkelos is,

``or in my name is his word,''

he is my ambassador and speaks in my name.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (ymv yk) "quamvis nomen menum", Drusius.

Exodus 23:21 In-Context

19 Thou shalt bear the first things of the fruits of thy land into the house of thy Lord God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in the milk of his mother
20 Lo! I send mine angel, that shall go before thee, and shall keep thee in the way, and shall lead thee to the place which I have made ready to thee. (Lo! I shall send an angel before thee, and he shall keep thee safe on the way, and he shall lead thee to the place which I have prepared for thee.)
21 Take thou heed to him, and hear thou his voice, neither guess thou him to be despised, or despisable; for he shall not forgive (thee), when thou sinnest, and my name is in him (for my authority is with him)
22 For if thou hearest his voice, and doest all things which I speak (But if thou listenest to his voice, and doest all the things which I say to thee), I shall be (an) enemy to thine enemies, and I shall torment them, that torment thee;
23 and mine angel shall go before thee, and he shall lead in thee to Amorites (and he shall lead thee to the Amorites), and Hittites, and Perizzites, and Canaanites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, which I shall break, or destroy.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.