Passage

Exodus 33.21-23

Book: Exodus · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

19. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20. And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live.

21. And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock: 22. and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by: 23. and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33:19-23, ASV)

WEB

19. He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 20. He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”

21. Yahweh also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22. It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23. then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:19-23, WEB)

KJV

19. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. 20. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

21. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33:19-23, KJV)

YLT

19. and He saith, 'I cause all My goodness to pass before thy face, and have called concerning the Name of Jehovah before thee, and favoured him whom I favour, and loved him whom I love.' 20. He saith also, 'Thou art unable to see My face, for man doth not see Me, and live;'

21. Jehovah also saith, 'Lo, a place [is] by Me, and thou hast stood on the rock, 22. and it hath come to pass, in the passing by of Mine honour, that I have set thee in a cleft of the rock, and spread out My hands over thee, until My passing by, 23. and I have turned aside My hands, and thou hast seen My back parts, and My face is not seen.' (Exodus 33:19-23, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H3519 - kavod, kavod, Strong's H3519
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Concepts:

Jabal al-Lawz, via Exodus 33.22

Lexicon:

H3519 - kavod, via Exodus 33.18-23
H8034 - shem, via Exodus 33.18-23

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.