Exodus 33:20 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

My face; either,

1. My essence. But that no man can see, neither in this life, nor in the next. Or rather,

2. My glorious presence. This may note either,

1. God's purpose that that blissful vision of God in glory shall be given to no man here, but is reserved for the future life. Or rather,

2. The impossibility of the thing from man's weakness, which is such, that if God should display all the beams of his glory to him, it would certainly astonish, overwhelm, and destroy him.

Exodus 33:20

20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.