Shemot 33:2

2 And I will send a Malach before thee; and I will drive out the Kena’ani, the Emori, the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi;

Shemot 33:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 33:2

And I will send an angel before thee
Not the angel before promised, ( Exodus 23:20 ) the Angel of his presence, the eternal Word and Son of God, but a created angel; and so Aben Ezra observes, he does not say the Angel that was known, that his name was in him; though even this was to be looked upon as a favour, and showed that he had not utterly cast them off:

and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite,
the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
who were now the inhabitants of the land, and these he promises drive out, to make way for their possession of it; and that "by his hand", as the Targum of Jonathan interprets it, by the hand of the angel. Only six nations are mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashite is omitted, but added in the Septuagint version.

Shemot 33:2 In-Context

1 3 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Depart, and go from here, thou and HaAm which thou hast brought up out of Eretz Mitzrayim, unto HaAretz which I swore unto Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov, saying, Unto thy zera will I give it;

2 And I will send a Malach before thee; and I will drive out the Kena’ani, the Emori, the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi;

3 Unto an Eretz zavat cholov and devash; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art an Am Kesheh Oref (stiffnecked, obstinate people); lest I consume thee in HaDerech.

4 And when HaAm heard these evil tidings, they mourned; and no ish did put on him his ornamental attire.

5 For Hashem had said unto Moshe, Say unto the Bnei Yisroel, Ye are an Am Kesheh Oref; I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee; therefore now put off thy ornamental attire from thee, that I may decide what to do unto thee.