Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 33:13
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people.
13. if, &c.] A common Heb. phrase: Gen 18:3; Gen 30:27 al. shew
ways ] His ways of dealing with men, Deu 32:4: see Exo 34:6 f.
that I may know thee, &c.] understand what Thy nature and character is, and shape my petitions accordingly, that so I may find grace in thy sight, and my future prayers may be answered.
is thy people ] and should not, therefore, be left by Thee without a leader.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy way – He desires not to be left in uncertainty, but to be assured, by Yahwehs mode of proceeding, of the reality of the promises that had been made to him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. Show me now thy way] Let me know the manner in which thou wouldst have this people led up and governed, because this nation is thy people, and should be governed and guided in thy own way.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Show me now thy way; the course and manner of thy dealings with men, and particularly thy purpose and will concerning me and thy people, and the method which thou wilt choose for the fulfilling of thy promise, and the course which thou wouldst have me take, and the way by which I shall conduct thy people to the Promised Land.
That I may know thee, i.e. thy mind herein; men are said to know God when they know his mind and will; or that I may experimentally know thee to be what thou hast promised thou wilt be to me and to thy people; or rather,
that I may thereby know thee, namely, that I shall find grace
in thy sight, as it follows; that I may be assured that thou wilt be reconciled to and present with me and thy people.
Thy people, both by thy own choice and purpose, and promise to their parents, and by their recognition of thee for their God, and their returning to thee again.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight,…. Which he said, not as doubting whether he had or not, but as taking it for granted he had, and so argues from it, and improves his interest in it, in his pleading with God:
shew me now thy way: either the way which he himself would take, the way of his providence in bringing the children of Israel into the land of Canaan; or the way he would have him take, the way of his duty, how he would have him behave in conducting them thither; unless he means the Messiah, Christ, the way to the heavenly Canaan, to whom he seems greatly to have respect in the following part of this chapter:
that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight; by which he might have a further evidence of his being acceptable to God, and having a share in his good will; as well as he would better know in what way grace is communicated, Christ being the way both of access into the grace of God, and of acceptance with him, and of the communication of grace from him:
and consider that this nation [is] thy people; though they had sinned against him in the manner they had done, they were a people he had chosen above all people to be his; he had made a covenant with them, and was their covenant God; he had redeemed them out of Egypt, and had called them from thence, and had wrought a great salvation for them, and had bestowed many peculiar favours upon them; and though for this their gross idolatry and sad apostasy from him they were unworthy of the relation, and he had thought fit not to call them his people, but the people, or the people of Moses, yet they still were his people, and he entreats he would consider the relation they stood in to him, and show mercy to them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) Shew me now thy wayi.e., Thy courseThy intention. Let me know if Thou really intendest to withdraw Thyself from us, and put a created being in Thy place or no.
Consider that this nation is thy people.Moses glances back at Gods words recorded in Exo. 32:7, and reminds God that the Israelites are not merely his (Moses) people, but also, in a higher sense, Gods people. As such, God had acknowledged them (Exo. 3:7; Exo. 3:10; Exo. 5:1; Exo. 6:7; Exo. 7:4, &c.).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Show me now thy way The way thou wilt lead us; the manner in which the guiding Angel will direct our ways, and drive out our enemies before us .
That I may know thee Notwithstanding all the communion face to face between Jehovah and Moses, (Exo 33:11,) this leader of the chosen nation feels that he does not sufficiently know Jehovah . He prays for a fuller, clearer revelation of his nature and his glory .
This nation is thy people Jehovah had spoken to Moses of Israel as “the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, (Exo 33:1, comp . Exo 32:7😉 Moses now insists that Jehovah had called this nation as his own. Thus had he called them when he first appeared to Moses at the bush, and sent him unto Pharaoh. See Exo 3:7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Observe how Moses improves upon God’s mercy; just now it was this people, and the Lord in displeasure had called them Moses’ people, but now Moses calls them God’s people. What a sweet prayer is that of the prophet’s to this amount. Isa 63:15-19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 33:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people.
Ver. 13. That I may know thee. ] Moses knew more of God than any man; he was but newly come down from the mount, and at the tabernacle door God spake with Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” Exo 33:11 The more a man knows of God, the more desirous he is to know him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thy way. Different from Thy works. Compare Psa 103:7. “Ways ” are esoteric, “acts ” are exoteric; we must go “outside the camp “to learn the “ways”. of Jehovah.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
if: Exo 33:17, Exo 34:9
show: Psa 25:4, Psa 27:11, Psa 86:11, Psa 119:33, Son 1:7, Son 1:8, Isa 30:21
that I: Exo 33:18, Joh 17:3, Eph 1:17, Col 1:10, 2Pe 3:18
consider: Exo 32:7, Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29, Isa 63:17, Isa 63:19, Joe 2:17, Rom 11:28
Reciprocal: Gen 18:32 – I will not Gen 33:10 – if now Jdg 6:17 – If now Est 8:5 – if I Isa 51:4 – O my
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 33:13. Now, if I have found grace in thy sight What favour God had expressed to the people they had forfeited the benefit of; and therefore Moses lays the stress of his plea upon what God had said to him. By this, therefore, he takes hold on God; Lord, if thou wilt do any thing for me, do this for the people. Thus our Lord Jesus, in his intercession, presents himself to the Father as one in whom he is always well pleased, and so obtains mercy for us, with whom he is justly displeased. Show me thy way What course thou meanest now to take with us; that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight That by proof and experience I may know how good thou art to them that seek thee, and may be assured that I have found grace in thy sight. He intimates that the people also, though most unworthy, yet were in some relation to God; consider that this nation is thy people A people that thou hast done great things for, redeemed to thyself, and taken into covenant with thyself; Lord, they are thy own, do not leave them.