Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 33:17
And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
17. this thing also ] i.e., as the text stands, accompany you personally to Canaan ( v. 16): but, if vv. 14 16 (see on v. 14) stood originally after Exo 34:9, give Moses a knowledge of His ‘ways’ ( v. 13). In either case, the new paragraph would begin better at v. 18.
and I know thee by name ] See on v. 12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare Exo 33:13. His petition for the nation, and his own claims as a mediator, are now granted to the full.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. I will do this thing also] My presence shall go with thee, and I will keep thee separate from all the people of the earth. Both these promises have been remarkably fulfilled. God continued miraculously with them till he brought them into the promised land; and from the day in which he brought them out of Egypt to the present day, he has kept them a distinct, unmixed people! Who can account for this on any principle but that of a continual especial providence, and a constant Divine interference? The Jews have ever been a people fond of money; had they been mingled with the people of the earth among whom they have been scattered, their secular interests would have been greatly promoted by it; and they who have sacrificed every thing besides to their love of money, on this point have been incorruptible! They chose in every part of their dispersions rather to be a poor, despised, persecuted people, and continue separate from all the people of the earth, than to enjoy ease and affluence by becoming mixed with the nations. For what great purposes must God be preserving this people! for it does not appear that any moral principle binds them together-they seem lost to this; and yet in opposition to their interests, for which in other respects they would sacrifice every thing, they are still kept distinct from all the people of the earth: for this an especial providence alone can account.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken,…. Or asked for, namely, go with them himself in this amazing and distinguished manner, in the pillar of the cloud and fire; this he would do as well as show him his way and his works, and indeed all this he did by granting that:
for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name; he owns the truth of the thing, on which Moses had formed his plan, and by granting his request gave a fresh proof and evidence of it; and what can be a greater blessing than to partake of the special grace, favour, and good will of God, and to be particularly and personally known to him, with such a knowledge as has connected with it the strongest affection and highest esteem?
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
17. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also He adds nothing new, but confirms by repetition what He had just said, in order to remove all doubt. Still He declares that He is induced by no other reason than by the gratuitous favor wherewith He had embraced Moses. This, therefore, is a kind of renewal of the Covenant, when the people is consecrated to God, so as to recover again the sacerdotal kingdom.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken.At length the promise is unambiguously given. Moses is rewarded for his importunity. Gods people have found grace in His sight. He will go up with them, and so separate them, or distinguish them, from all the people that are on the face of the earth. Now at last Moses is satisfied.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 33:17. The Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also Though we cannot suppose that prayer can make the Deity more compassionate, or produce a change in his sentiments; yet, as he has been pleased to suspend the grant of his favours on the condition of prayer; we have the strongest reason and the best encouragement, to continue unwearied in the use of it; and to intercede earnestly for those blessings for ourselves and others, which the unbounded goodness of God is always ready to bestow upon such as are fit to receive them.
REFLECTIONS.Moses now appears before God, pleading for the people, and prevails. He had gained for them already a respite from wrath, but he seeks the manifestation of the presence and favour of Jehovah.
1. We have his prayer. Since it pleased God to employ him, he begs his Presence with him: though Israel had forfeited all favour, he pleads God’s gracious expressions to himself, and that they may appear in the grant of mercy to the people at his intercession. He desires the Divine guidance, as sensible that he else could never lead them aright; and introduces at last their covenant-relation to God. Though they were rebellious children, he insinuates, God was a Father to them still: nay, he insists upon the impossibility of advancing, unless God go with them; and rather chooses to die there, than move without him. He then closes with an argument drawn from God’s glory for the success of his petition; and if the people were unworthy, or himself undeserving, yet for his own great Name’s sake, he pleads for his Presence among them, Learn, (1.) Without Divine guidance we never could find the way to heaven. (2.) If ever we are led thither, we must be indebted to the intercession of our dear Redeemer, for whose sake alone God can have any respect to us.
2. God’s answer. He grants his request, promises his Presence, and acknowledges the efficacy of his pleadings. Note; (1.) When Jesus is our Advocate, we are sure of prevailing: not only guilt will be pardoned, but grace conferred, and glory secured to us. (2.) They will never fail of an answer of peace, who thus, with Moses, in humble faith and importunity, make their requests known unto God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This is the grand cause of all, having found grace in the Lord’s sight. Rom 9:15 ; Mat 11:26 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
Ver. 17. I know thee by name. ] As princes do their favourites, who easily forget others, as Saul did David. 1Sa 17:55
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will do: Gen 18:32, Gen 19:21, Isa 65:24, Joh 16:23, Jam 5:16, 1Jo 5:14, 1Jo 5:15
thou hast: Exo 33:12, Gen 6:8, Gen 19:19, Gen 19:21
Reciprocal: Exo 31:2 – I have Exo 33:13 – if Exo 34:9 – If now Num 14:19 – and as thou Deu 9:19 – But the Deu 10:10 – the Lord hearkened 2Sa 14:22 – I have found Isa 43:1 – I have called Isa 45:3 – which call Jer 1:5 – I knew Mar 9:5 – it is Joh 10:3 – and he Joh 20:16 – Mary Act 10:3 – Cornelius Rom 8:29 – whom 1Co 8:3 – is Gal 4:9 – are known
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 33:17. I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken See the power of prayer! See the riches of Gods goodness! See, in type, the prevalency of Christs intercession, which he ever lives to make for all those that come to God by him! and the ground of that prevalency is purely in his own merit; it is because thou hast found grace in my sight And now God is perfectly reconciled to them, and his presence in the pillar of cloud returns to them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God promised this too (Exo 33:17).
Third, Moses requested a greater perception of God’s essential being than he had experienced thus far. This would also enable him to serve God more effectively in view of the altered relationship (Exo 33:18). God explained that no one can view Him directly and live.
"As our bodily eye is dazzled, and its power of vision destroyed, by looking directly at the brightness of the sun, so would our whole nature be destroyed by an unveiled sight of the brilliancy of the glory of God." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:237.]
God did grant Moses a greater revelation of Himself, even though it was a limited revelation. This revelation helped Moses fulfill his duty as a mediator by giving him a greater appreciation for the person of Yahweh (cf. 2Co 12:4). This is what all the leaders of God’s people need (cf. Php 3:8-10).
". . . though Yahweh does indeed come to Moses in theophany, what he gives to Moses is quite specifically not the sight of this beauty, his glory, his Presence-that, indeed, he pointedly denies. What he gives rather is a description, and at that, a description not of how he looks but of how he is." [Note: Durham, p. 452.]