Christian Standard Bible
Exodus 33:3
3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”
Exodus 33:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Context of Exodus 33:3
1The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. 2I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.” 4When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry. 5For the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.”
Read all of Exodus 33Exodus 33:3 word by word
אֶל־אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָ֑שׁ כִּי֩ לֹ֨א אֶֽעֱלֶ֜ה בְּקִרְבְּךָ֗ כִּ֤י עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֙רֶף֙ אַ֔תָּה פֶּן־אֲכֶלְךָ֖ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Unto a landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- flowingזוּבzûb · to flow: flowingH2100
- with milkחָלָבchâlâb · milkH2461
- and honeyדְּבַשׁdebash · honeyH1706
- for I will not go upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
- a stiffneckedעֹ֫רֶף‛ôreph · neckH6203
- a stiffneckedקָשֶׁהqâsheh · severeH7186
- peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- lest I consumeכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: destroyH3615
- thee in the wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
Cross-references for Exodus 33:3
- Exodus 3:8and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Exodus 13:5When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors that he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you must carry out this ceremony in this month.
- Leviticus 20:24And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who set you apart from the peoples.
- Numbers 13:27They reported to Moses, “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit.
- Numbers 14:8If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.
- Numbers 16:13Is it not enough that you brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Do you also have to appoint yourself as ruler over us?
- Joshua 5:6For the Israelites wandered in the wilderness forty years until all the nation’s men of war who came out of Egypt had died off because they did not obey the Lord. So the Lord vowed never to let them see the land he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Jeremiah 11:5in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.’” I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
- Exodus 33:15“If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here.
- Exodus 32:10Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Numbers 14:12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”
- Deuteronomy 32:26“I would have said: I will cut them to pieces and blot out the memory of them from mankind,
- 1 Samuel 2:30“Therefore, this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the Lord’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced.
- Jeremiah 18:7At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.
- Ezekiel 3:18If I say to the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him — you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life — that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Ezekiel 33:13When I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, but he trusts in his righteousness and acts unjustly, then none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the injustice he has committed.
Commentaries on Exodus 33:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3I will not go up in the midst of thee - Consequently, the angel here promised to be their guide was not that angel in whom Jehovah's name was: and so the people understood it; hence the mourning which is afterwards mentioned.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3land flowing with milk and honey: Canaan was not as fertile as the Nile Valley in Egypt, but it was much more productive than the Sinai desert. stiff-necked people: They did not keep their promises. I might destroy you: As God of the covenant, the Lord would enforce the covenant terms that required the destruction of those who violated it (see study note on 23:20–33; also see 24:7–8 and study notes).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. I will not go up ... lest I consume thee--Here the Lord is represented as determined to do what He afterwards did not. (See on Ex 32:7).Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 33:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 33
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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