And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here.
- BSB “If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here.
- NKJV Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
- NASB Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.
- NLT Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses replies that without God's presence he does not want to go up at all. God's presence matters more than the promised land itself.
Overview
Moses refuses to value the journey or the land above the nearness of God. He grasps that what makes Israel's pilgrimage worthwhile is God Himself going with them. This radical priority rebukes any religion that seeks God's gifts while being content to do without God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Exod 34:9And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
- Ps 4:6There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
- Exod 33:3Unto 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 33:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.