And the Lord said unto Moses, &c.— One would imagine, that this was a repetition of what is said in the 34th verse of the last chapter; to which is added (Exodus 33:4.) a detail of the consequences which the declaration of God (Exodus 33:1-3.) had upon the people. In this view it should be rendered, now the Lord had said unto Moses, Depart, go, &c. The Almighty disclaims the people, and speaks of them only as brought up out of Egypt by Moses; see ch. Exodus 32:7. And though, in consequence of the intercession of Moses, he determines to fulfil his promise, and to give them the land which he sware unto Abraham; yet he refuses to go up with them himself, lest their refractoriness and continued disobedience should occasion their immediate and total destruction: he promises, however, to send an angel before them; a messenger or minister of an inferior order; from which it is evident, that the angel mentioned in the preceding Chapter s, as going before and conducting the Israelites, was, as we have had occasion often to observe, JEHOVAH himself, the MESSIAH, or Angel of the covenant. Compare these verses with ch. Exodus 23:20-21.
Related Commentaries of Exodus 33:1
Exodus 33:1-3
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.