Exodus 33:8

8 And when Moses went out to the tabernacle, all the people rose, and each man stood in the door of his tent, and they beheld after Moses, till he entered into the tent. (And when Moses went out to the Tabernacle, all the people rose up, and they all stood at the entrance to their tents, and they watched Moses, until he entered into the Tent.)

Exodus 33:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 33:8

And it came to pass, when Moses went out of the tabernacle,
&c.] For when he had pitched it he did not continue there; which shows it was not the tent or tabernacle he dwelt in, but whither he went to and fro, both to meet the Lord in it, and transact the affairs of the people, and especially the great affair now depending between God and them:

[that] all the people rose up:
in reverence of him as their ruler, and the minister of God, and as their Mediator between God and them, though they had but lately thought and spoke very meanly and contemptibly of him, ( Exodus 32:1 ) see ( Job 29:8 )

and stood every man at his tent door;
none offering to go in, nor to sit down until he was gone into the tabernacle, which was an instance of their respect to him:

and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle;
kept their eye on him as long as they could see him, thereby expressing their esteem of him, signifying their desire that he would intercede for them, and wishing him success therein: the Targum of Jonathan interprets all this of the ungodly among them that looked after Moses with an evil eye.

Exodus 33:8 In-Context

6 Therefore the sons of Israel putted away their adorning, from the hill of Horeb (onwards). (And so, the Israelites put away their adornment, from that day at Mount Sinai, and forevermore.)
7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and set it far without the tents, and he called the name thereof the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace. And all the people that had any question, went out to the tabernacle of the bond of peace, without the tents. (And Moses took the Tabernacle, and set it up far away from the tents, and he called it the Tabernacle of the Covenant, that is, the Tabernacle of the Witnessing. And all the people, who had any question, went out to the Tabernacle of the Covenant, which was pitched far away from the camp.)
8 And when Moses went out to the tabernacle, all the people rose, and each man stood in the door of his tent, and they beheld after Moses, till he entered into the tent. (And when Moses went out to the Tabernacle, all the people rose up, and they all stood at the entrance to their tents, and they watched Moses, until he entered into the Tent.)
9 Soothly when he entered into the tabernacle of the bond of peace, a pillar of cloud came down, and stood at the door of the tabernacle; and the Lord spake with Moses, (And when he entered into the Tabernacle of the Covenant, that is, the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, a pillar of cloud came down, and stood at the entrance to the Tabernacle; and the Lord spoke with Moses,)
10 while all men saw that the pillar of cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle; and they stood, and worshipped, at the doors of their tabernacles. (while everyone saw that the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the Tabernacle; and they stood, and worshipped, at the entrance to their tents.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.