And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. It is not easy to perceive the precise object of Moses in making this request, He had enjoyed repeated opportunities of beholding extraordinary displays of the divine glory-on the summit of Sinai (Exodus 19:1-25; Exodus 20:1-26), along with the whole people of Israel-on an elevated platform of that mountain, when admitted with Aaron and the 70 elders to the privilege of a special interview (Exodus 24:11) - at a subsequent period, when alone in communion with Yahweh during forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:18). But he was not satisfied with what he had witnessed; each successive exhibition stimulated his desires for fuller discoveries of the divine nature [so the Septuagint understood it, for they render this clause: Emfanison moi seauton, show me Thyself]; and his condescending Lord, appearing to be won by his importunity, was pleased to grant a gracious answer to his prayer.
It was not, as some say, a vain curiosity and ambition to penetrate into things unknown, but the impulse of a pure, ardent devotion that prompted the desire of Moses. It appears, however, that Yahweh, while he granted one part of the request (Exodus 33:19), thought fit to deny another (Exodus 33:20). But that this manifestation of the divine glory must have been different from, as well as superior to, the former displays of it, is evident, both because Moses asked and the Lord granted it as a higher favour.
This is one of the most solemn and mysterious scenes described in the Bible. In the cloudy pillar above, and in the answers of the oracle within the tabernacle, Moses possessed unmistakeable tokens of the reality of the divine presence. Not satisfied with that faith which is "the evidence of things not seen," he longed for those full impressions which only a vision of the divine glory could impart, and which, though withheld from the people at large, he, as mediator of the covenant, might receive as a special privilege. Accordingly he had for his comfort and encouragement a splendid and full display of the Divine Majesty-not indeed in its unveiled effulgence, as he most probably desired, but as far as the weakness of fallen humanity would admit. The face, hand, back parts are figurative expressions in the Anthropomorphic style-as it is impossible to conceive of a spirit but through the medium of the senses.