New English Translation
Exodus 33:3
3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and 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 said to Moses, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way.” 4When the people heard this troubling word they mourned; no one put on his ornaments. 5For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, that I may know what I should do to 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 3:8I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Exodus 13:5When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you will keep this ceremony in this month.
- Leviticus 20:24So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples.
- Numbers 13:27They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
- Numbers 14:8If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey.
- Numbers 16:13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us?
- Joshua 5:6Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, a land rich in milk and honey.
- Jeremiah 11:5Then I will keep the promise I swore on oath to your ancestors to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.” That is the very land that you still live in today.’” And I responded, “Amen! Let it be so, Lord!”
- Exodus 33:15And Moses said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here.
- Exodus 32:10So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”
- Numbers 14:12I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!”
- Deuteronomy 32:26“I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed.
- 1 Samuel 2:30Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!
- Jeremiah 18:7There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom.
- Ezekiel 3:18When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death.
- Ezekiel 33:13Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die.
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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