Bible Strands
Exodus 33:5
For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses at the mountain, commanding him to relay to the Israelites that His continued presence among them would result in destruction due to their rebellion, following their mourning response in Exodus 33:4.
The words — The supplied Hebrew highlights וַיֹּאמֶר (va.yo.mer, "and he had said") and אֱמֹר ('e.mor, "say"), framing the divine command to Moses to speak directly to the people of Israel.
The thread — This warning echoes the divine refusal to accompany the camp in Exodus 33:3, parallels the threat of instant consumption in Numbers 16:21, and aligns with the wilderness humbling described in Deuteronomy 8:2.
Why it lands — The text demands the removal of idolatrous adornments and forces a direct assessment of human rebellion against divine holiness before any further covenant progression.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
Cross-references
- Exodus 33:3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”
- Numbers 16:21 “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
- Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Numbers 16:45 “Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
- Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Genesis 22:12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
- Job 34:20 They die in an instant, in the middle of the night. The people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
- Psalms 73:19 How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
- Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Genesis 18:21 I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”