4When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewelry.
5Yahweh had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’ ”
6The children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
4 When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewelry.
5 Yahweh had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’ ”
6 The children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
KJVKing James Version
4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
5 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.
6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned; and no man did put on him his ornaments.
5 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto the children of Israel: Ye are a stiffnecked people; if I go up into the midst of thee for one moment, I shall consume thee; therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.'
6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward.
Numbers 14:39(v4)Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
Numbers 16:21(v5)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”
Exodus 33:3-4(v5)Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the…
Numbers 16:45-46(v5)“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, “Take your…
Deuteronomy 8:2(v5)You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test…
Show all 32 cross-references
Psalms 139:23(v5)Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
Genesis 22:12(v5)He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son,…
Exodus 33:4(v6)When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewelry.
Leviticus 10:6(v4)Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, “Don’t let the hair of your heads go loose, and don’t tear your clothes, so…
Numbers 14:1(v4)All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Job 34:20(v5)In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand.
Psalms 73:19(v5)How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
Isaiah 22:12(v5)In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth;
Ezekiel 24:17(v4)Sigh, but not aloud. Make no mourning for the dead. Bind your headdress on you, and put your sandals on your feet. Don’t cover your lips,…
Ezekiel 24:23(v4)Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You won’t mourn or weep; but you will pine away in your iniquities, and…
Ezekiel 26:16(v4)Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments.…
Genesis 18:21(v5)I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
Exodus 32:3(v6)All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
2 Samuel 19:24(v4)Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither groomed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his…
1 Kings 21:27(v4)When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
2 Kings 19:1(v4)When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s house.
Ezra 9:3(v4)When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
Esther 4:1-4(v4)Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of…
Job 1:20(v4)Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped.
Job 2:12(v4)When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe,…
Isaiah 32:11(v4)Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your…
Jeremiah 2:19(v6)“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
Lamentations 4:6(v5)For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment. No hands were laid on…
Hosea 7:14(v4)They haven’t cried to me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away…
Jonah 3:6(v4)The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in…
Zechariah 7:3(v4)and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating…
Zechariah 7:5(v4)“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v5That either I may show mercy, if thou repent,…
That either I may show mercy, if thou repent, or else punish thy rebellion.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Exo 33:4 And when the people heard these evil…
Exo 33:4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
Ver. 4. They mourned.] As good cause they had: for "woe be unto thee when I depart from thee." {Hos 9:12}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv4–5Their precious garments or jewels, which the women reserved,…
Their precious garments or jewels, which the women reserved, as we saw, Exo 33:3. This was a visible sign and profession of their inward humiliation and repentance for their sin, and of their deep sense of God’s displeasure.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv4–6And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That…
And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That God would withdraw his gracious presence, and go not up with them himself, only send an angel with them; and especially this may respect what is threatened, Exo 33:5 and had been said at this time:
they mourned; were inwardly and heartily grieved for their sin, whereby they had provoked the Lord to depart from them, and gave some outward and open tokens of it:
Read full note →
and no man did put on his ornaments; they used to wear at other times, their rings and jewels, which the princes and the chief among the people especially were wont to wear; and in common the people did not put on their best clothes, or what they usually wore, but clothed themselves in mournful habits, in sackcloth and ashes, or in some such like manner.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv5–6I will come up - As if he had…
I will come up - As if he had said, ye deserve that I should do so. Put off thine ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee - That is, put thyself into the posture of a penitent, that the dispute may be determined in thy favour, and mercy may rejoice against judgment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn v5Verse 5. Now put off thy ornaments from thee]…
Verse 5. Now put off thy ornaments from thee] "The Septuagint, in their translation, suppose that the children of Israel not only laid aside their ear-rings, and such like ornaments, in a time of professed deep humiliation before God, but their upper or more beautiful garments too. Moses says nothing of this last circumstance; but as it is a modern practice, so it appears by their version to have been as ancient as their time, and probably took place long before that. The Septuagint gives us this as the translation of the passage: 'The people, having heard this sad declaration, mourned with lamentations. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Now, therefore, put off your robes of glory, and your ornaments, and I will show you the things I will do unto you. And the children of Israel put off their ornaments and robes by the mount, by Horeb.'
"If it had not been the custom to put off their upper garments in times of deep mourning, in the days that the Septuagint translation was made, they would not have inserted this circumstance in the account Moses gives of their mourning, and concerning which he was silent. They must have supposed too that this practice might be in use in those elder times.
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"That it is now practised in the east, appears from the account Pitts gives of the ceremonies of the Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca. 'A few days after this we came to a place called Rabbock, about four days' sail on this side of Mecca, where all the hagges or pilgrims, (excepting those of the female sex) do enter into hirrawem or ihram, i.e., they take off all their clothes, covering themselves with two hirrawems, or large white cotton wrappers; one they put about their middle, which reaches down to their ancles; with the other they cover the upper part of their body, except the head; and they wear no other thing on their bodies but these wrappers, only a pair of grimgameca, that is thin-soled shoes like sandals, the over-leather of which covers only the toes, the insteps being all naked. In this manner, like humble penitents, they go from Rabbock until they come to Mecca, to approach the temple, many times enduring the scorching heat of the sun until the very skin is burnt off their backs and arms, and their heads swollen to a very great degree.' - pp. 115, 116. Presently after he informs us 'that the time of their wearing this mortifying habit is about the space of seven days.' Again, (p. 138:) 'It was a sight, indeed, able to pierce one's heart, to behold so many thousands in their garments of humility and mortification, with their naked heads, and cheeks watered with tears; and to hear their grievous sighs and sobs, begging earnestly for the remission of their sins, promising newness of life, using a form of penitential expressions, and thus continuing for the space of four or five hours.'
"The Septuagint suppose the Israelites made much the same appearance as these Mohammedan pilgrims, when Israel stood in anguish of soul at the foot of Mount Horeb, though Moses says nothing of putting off any of their vestments.
"Some passages of the Jewish prophets seem to confirm the notion of their stripping themselves of some of their clothes in times of deep humiliation, particularly Mic 1:8: Therefore I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
"Saul's stripping himself, mentioned 1Sa 19:24, is perhaps to be understood of his assuming the appearance of those that were deeply engaged in devotional exercises, into which he was unintentionally brought by the prophetic influences that came upon him, and in which he saw others engaged." - Harmer's Observat., vol. iv., p. 172.
The ancient Jewish commentators were of opinion that the Israelites had the name יהוה Jehovah inscribed on them in such a way as to ensure them the Divine protection; and that this, inscribed probably on a plate of gold, was considered their choicest ornament; and that when they gave their ornaments to make the golden calf, this was given by many, in consequence of which they were considered as naked and defenceless. All the remaining parts of their ornaments, which it is likely were all emblematical of spiritual things, God commands them here to lay off; for they could not with propriety bear the symbols of the Divine protection, who had forfeited that protection for their transgression.
That I may know what to do unto thee.] For it seems that while they had these emblematic ornaments on them, they were still considered as under the Divine protection. These were a shield to them, which God commands them to throw aside. Though many had parted with their choicest ornaments, yet not all, only a few comparatively, of the wives, daughters, and sons of 600,000 men, could have been thus stripped to make one golden calf. The major part still had these ornaments, and they are now commanded to lay them aside.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv4–5Exo 33:4. No man did put on his ornaments…
Exo 33:4. No man did put on his ornaments — This was a visible sign and profession of their inward humiliation and repentance for their sin, and of their deep sense of God’s displeasure.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv5–6I will come up ... - Better; If I…
I will come up ... - Better; If I were to go up for one moment in the midst of thee, I should consume thee.
That I may know ... - By that sign of their repentance Yahweh would decide in what way they were to be punished.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Ornaments. Chaldean and Syriac, "arms." They had brought jewels,…
Ornaments. Chaldean and Syriac, "arms." They had brought jewels, &c., out of Egypt. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv4–5when the people heard these evil tidings--from Moses on…
when the people heard these evil tidings--from Moses on his descent from the mount.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv4–54. The people heard… mourned — The withdrawal of…
4. The people heard… mourned — The withdrawal of the divine presence seemed to them to be ominous of evil. Though God’s voice out of Sinai filled them with terror, (see Exo_20:19,) and they could not endure the nearness of such excessive majesty, the thought that the Holy One is about to forsake them in wrath excites even deeper fear.
Ornaments — See also in Exo_33:5-6. The putting off of these was a sign of humiliation and penitence. In a time of sorrow and guilt the adornments of the person were strikingly out of place.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv4–64. these evil tidings] that Jehovah would not accompany…
4. these evil tidings] that Jehovah would not accompany them to Canaan.
and no man, &c.] The removal of ornaments was a mark of mourning and grief: Eze_24:17; Eze_26:16, Jdt_10:3 f. (Kn.).
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4–6. The people strip themselves of their ornaments.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv4–6(4) When the people heard these evil tidings, they…
(4) When the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned.—It was something that the people felt the tidings to be “evil.” It is natural for sinful men to shrink from the near presence of God (Mat_8:34; Luk_5:8); and so the Israelites had shrunk from it a short time previously (Exo_20:19). Even now they would probably have feared a too near contact; but still, they were unwilling that God should cease to be the leader and guide of the host: they set a value on His presence and protection, which they felt that that of an angel would ill replace. Accordingly, when Moses communicated to them what God had said (Exo_33:1-3), they “mourned,” i.e., not only grieved inwardly, but showed the outward tokens of grief—made a public and, as it were, national lamentation.
No man did put on him his ornaments.—The Orientals, both men and women, have always affected ornament, and taken an extreme delight in it. Herodotus tells us that the Persians who accompanied Xerxes into Greece wore generally collars and bracelets of gold (Hist. ix. 80). Xenophon says that the Medes indulged a similar taste (Cyropœd. i. 3, § 2). In Egypt, at the time of the exodus, men of station wore generally collars, armlets, and bracelets, occasionally anklets. The Assyrians wore armlets, bracelets, and ear-rings. To strip himself of his ornaments was a great act of self-denial on the part of an Oriental; but it was done commonly in the case of mourning on account of a family bereavement, and sometimes in the case of national misfortunes. (See Note on Exo_33:1-6.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv4–6When the people heard. Moses had communicated to the…
When the people heard. Moses had communicated to the people what God had said to him. They felt it to be evil tidings they woke up at last to a feeling of the ineffable value of the privileges which they bad hitherto enjoyed his guidance by the pillar of the cloud (Exo_13:21) his counsel, if there were need to ask anything (Exo_15:25) his aid in the day of battle (Exo_17:8-13) his near presence, by day and by night, constantly (Exo_13:22) and they dreaded a change, which they felt must involve a loss, and one the extent of which they could not measure. "An angel" is a poor consolation when we are craving for Jehovah! So the people mourned felt true sorrow were really troubled in their hearts and, to show their penitence, ceased to wear their customary ornaments. These may have consisted of armlets, bracelets, and even, perhaps, anklets, all of which were worn by men in Egypt at this period.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v4Put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may…
Exo_33:4-8
Put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
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The work of Lent
Lent is a season with a likeness to Jewish ordinances, because man in his nature and wants is ever the same; it is a Christian season, because its one object is to make us know more of the nearness of God to man, which is the great fact of Christianity. In the text we have one of Gods most explicit statements of the need of such observance; and we ask the meaning of that reason which He assigns for a season of special penitence and humiliation.
1. God wishes to know what to do with us. If the putting aside of ornaments, no matter how valuable or brilliant, is the condition of that process, it ought to be done; for Gods action must be full of power and love; and to be told that His hand is to be felt in our life, must imply that a blessing is to be bestowed upon us far beyond anything that can come from any other addition.
2. Never at any stage of His revelation has God ceased, in one form or other, to prescribe temporary and voluntary relinquishments, in order that He may enter. The ornaments, or Gods voice--that is the simple form of choice.
3. The object of Gods dealings with men is, that He may destroy their sin. And there is no more fruitful source of sin than those ornaments which He tells us to put away. The things which gather about our lives are causes of separation from our brother. The innocence or the desirability of the ornament may make no difference in the result. Learning, applause, and culture may make us just as forgetful, or unsympathetic, or even cruel towards others, as the more material possessions of life.
4. We can see, therefore, that this command is like the call of a John Baptist: Make the way plain, the path straight and level, for the coming of the Lord; remove the stumbling-block which has been in thy own or thy brothers path. Men must learn to see their oneness as brothers, before sin can be done away; lives very different from each other must be placed side by side, and then new modes of thought and comparison will at once enter. How often one word, which gives us a glimpse into the real condition of anothers heart, makes us ashamed of some feeling which we have been cherishing toward him!
5. But the sins against our brethren are not the only evil that our ornaments work, and do not constitute the only reason why they must be abandoned before God can do His work for us. Those very sins spring from a deeper injury which has been done to our souls. These things that have attached themselves to life come to be regarded as its substance, and to regulate its whole movement. What the text says to us, then, is this: Cease to depend upon the present condition and surroundings of life. Think of yourself as an immortal soul. Try to imagine yourself as cut off from all these pursuits and surroundings, for so, in fact, you must be at some time; then count over the treasures of your life, and see whether there is enough to support an immortal soul.
6. The Lenten call is a call to greater moderation in the use of the things of this life, so that they shall not become our masters; it is a call to exalt the true Master of our life, so that every ornament of our being shall be discarded for ever, which is got worthy to minister to His glory, or which attempts to fight against His supremacy, so that all which remains shall be used in obedience to His commands, and in subservience to His purposes. It is by this test that innocent and sinful indulgence in the things of this life is to be discriminated, that the line of the too much and the too little is to be drawn, and that we are to be made men and women worthy and fit to use the world rightly.
7. But why does God need that the ornaments of mens lives should be put off before He shall know what to do unto them? Is it not limiting His power to say that He cannot deal with us as we are, with all our ornaments upon us? The work which God is to do for us has for its greatest mark that it is dependent upon what we are. It is the work of overcoming sin. God, when He made man, gave him all he needed for full development and growth. His course was forward and upward, ever increasing in power and glory, while obedience and dependence upon God ruled his action. No redemption would be necessary for such a being. Mans sin, his desire after the things of this world, his willingness to build up his life with those, created the great necessity. The self-will of man called upon God for new action--action which His Divine wisdom could alone create, and which His Divine power could alone execute. That He may know what it shall be, He asks some indication of mans desire. There is nothing to do but to punish, to let the life which persistently holds to what has been its destruction, go its own sad way of separation from God, if there is no relaxing of the nervous grasp on earthly good and ornament. But at the very first sign of a willingness to put such things away, to bridle lifes passion, and to restrain lifes desire, the way of redeeming love is open. Man is ready; and God knows what to do, and He is able to make him His child once more.
8. Let us, then, rejoice at this season for putting away the mere ornaments of life, and in it open our ear anxiously, constantly, eagerly, to hear the word of His gracious intention. Gods treasury is full of the true ornaments of life. He readily offers them to us. Receive them as readily, and the worlds ornaments will lose their false glitter; our hearts will cease to desire them with that eager covetousness which conceals all the better impulses of the soul, and God will be able to do for us all the deep purposes of His wisdom and His love. (Arthur Brooks.)
Repentance of the Israelites
I. God is not able to exercise mercy towards an impenitent transgressor. He cannot do this, because it would--
1. Be inconsistent with His own perfections.
2. Be ineffectual for the happiness of the persons themselves.
3. Introduce disorder into the whole universe.
II. Where humiliation is manifested, mercy may be expected. This appears from--
1. The very mode in which repentance is here enjoined.
2. The experience of penitents in all ages.
Application:
1. Consider what obstructions you have laid in the way of your own happiness.
2. Endeavour instantly to remove them. (C. Simon, M. A.)
A fashionable sin
The house of prayer is a poor place to exhibit beads, ribbons, ruffles, gewgaws, and trinkets. The evils of such extravagance are many. It keeps people from worship, when they have not apparel as gorgeous as their neighbours. It loads the poor with burdens too heavy to be borne to procure fashionable clothing. It leads many into temptations, debt, dishonesty, and sin. It causes many a poor shop girl to work nearly all Saturday night, that some customers fine clothes may be ready for the Sunday show. It keeps people at home in cloudy or stormy weather, when, if they wore plain clothing, they could defy clouds and storms. It consumes the hours in dressing, crimping, and fussing, keeping people from church, and wasting time, hindering the reading of the Scripture, and making Sunday a day of folly. It makes the poor emulous, malicious, and envious, and plants many a bitter thought in the minds of children and others, when they see their neighbours decked in finery--often unpaid for--and feel that people are respected, not for their integrity of character, but for the fashion of their clothes. It is forbidden in Gods Word. And yet we seldom find a minister that dare open his mouth against this fashionable sin. Christian people should dress plainly before the Lord, for examples sake at home and abroad, for decencys sake, and for the sake of Christ. (Christian Age.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v4beautiful clothing as well as chains and rings with…
jewelry
beautiful clothing as well as chains and rings with jewels in them
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a stubborn people
"people who refuse to change." See how you translated this in Exodus 33:3.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v5 That either I may show mercy, if thou repent,…
That either I may show mercy, if thou repent, or else punish thy rebellion.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Exo 33:4 And when the people heard these evil…
Exo 33:4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
Ver. 4. They mourned.] As good cause they had: for "woe be unto thee when I depart from thee." {Hos 9:12}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4–5 Their precious garments or jewels, which the women reserved,…
Their precious garments or jewels, which the women reserved, as we saw, Exo 33:3. This was a visible sign and profession of their inward humiliation and repentance for their sin, and of their deep sense of God’s displeasure.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–6 And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That…
And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That God would withdraw his gracious presence, and go not up with them himself, only send an angel with them; and especially this may respect what is threatened, Exo 33:5 and had been said at this time:
they mourned; were inwardly and heartily grieved for their sin, whereby they had provoked the Lord to depart from them, and gave some outward and open tokens of it:
Read full note →
and no man did put on his ornaments; they used to wear at other times, their rings and jewels, which the princes and the chief among the people especially were wont to wear; and in common the people did not put on their best clothes, or what they usually wore, but clothed themselves in mournful habits, in sackcloth and ashes, or in some such like manner.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5–6 I will come up - As if he had…
I will come up - As if he had said, ye deserve that I should do so. Put off thine ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee - That is, put thyself into the posture of a penitent, that the dispute may be determined in thy favour, and mercy may rejoice against judgment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v5 Verse 5. Now put off thy ornaments from thee]…
Verse 5. Now put off thy ornaments from thee] "The Septuagint, in their translation, suppose that the children of Israel not only laid aside their ear-rings, and such like ornaments, in a time of professed deep humiliation before God, but their upper or more beautiful garments too. Moses says nothing of this last circumstance; but as it is a modern practice, so it appears by their version to have been as ancient as their time, and probably took place long before that. The Septuagint gives us this as the translation of the passage: 'The people, having heard this sad declaration, mourned with lamentations. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Now, therefore, put off your robes of glory, and your ornaments, and I will show you the things I will do unto you. And the children of Israel put off their ornaments and robes by the mount, by Horeb.'
"If it had not been the custom to put off their upper garments in times of deep mourning, in the days that the Septuagint translation was made, they would not have inserted this circumstance in the account Moses gives of their mourning, and concerning which he was silent. They must have supposed too that this practice might be in use in those elder times.
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"That it is now practised in the east, appears from the account Pitts gives of the ceremonies of the Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca. 'A few days after this we came to a place called Rabbock, about four days' sail on this side of Mecca, where all the hagges or pilgrims, (excepting those of the female sex) do enter into hirrawem or ihram, i.e., they take off all their clothes, covering themselves with two hirrawems, or large white cotton wrappers; one they put about their middle, which reaches down to their ancles; with the other they cover the upper part of their body, except the head; and they wear no other thing on their bodies but these wrappers, only a pair of grimgameca, that is thin-soled shoes like sandals, the over-leather of which covers only the toes, the insteps being all naked. In this manner, like humble penitents, they go from Rabbock until they come to Mecca, to approach the temple, many times enduring the scorching heat of the sun until the very skin is burnt off their backs and arms, and their heads swollen to a very great degree.' - pp. 115, 116. Presently after he informs us 'that the time of their wearing this mortifying habit is about the space of seven days.' Again, (p. 138:) 'It was a sight, indeed, able to pierce one's heart, to behold so many thousands in their garments of humility and mortification, with their naked heads, and cheeks watered with tears; and to hear their grievous sighs and sobs, begging earnestly for the remission of their sins, promising newness of life, using a form of penitential expressions, and thus continuing for the space of four or five hours.'
"The Septuagint suppose the Israelites made much the same appearance as these Mohammedan pilgrims, when Israel stood in anguish of soul at the foot of Mount Horeb, though Moses says nothing of putting off any of their vestments.
"Some passages of the Jewish prophets seem to confirm the notion of their stripping themselves of some of their clothes in times of deep humiliation, particularly Mic 1:8: Therefore I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
"Saul's stripping himself, mentioned 1Sa 19:24, is perhaps to be understood of his assuming the appearance of those that were deeply engaged in devotional exercises, into which he was unintentionally brought by the prophetic influences that came upon him, and in which he saw others engaged." - Harmer's Observat., vol. iv., p. 172.
The ancient Jewish commentators were of opinion that the Israelites had the name יהוה Jehovah inscribed on them in such a way as to ensure them the Divine protection; and that this, inscribed probably on a plate of gold, was considered their choicest ornament; and that when they gave their ornaments to make the golden calf, this was given by many, in consequence of which they were considered as naked and defenceless. All the remaining parts of their ornaments, which it is likely were all emblematical of spiritual things, God commands them here to lay off; for they could not with propriety bear the symbols of the Divine protection, who had forfeited that protection for their transgression.
That I may know what to do unto thee.] For it seems that while they had these emblematic ornaments on them, they were still considered as under the Divine protection. These were a shield to them, which God commands them to throw aside. Though many had parted with their choicest ornaments, yet not all, only a few comparatively, of the wives, daughters, and sons of 600,000 men, could have been thus stripped to make one golden calf. The major part still had these ornaments, and they are now commanded to lay them aside.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4–5 Exo 33:4. No man did put on his ornaments…
Exo 33:4. No man did put on his ornaments — This was a visible sign and profession of their inward humiliation and repentance for their sin, and of their deep sense of God’s displeasure.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5–6 I will come up ... - Better; If I…
I will come up ... - Better; If I were to go up for one moment in the midst of thee, I should consume thee.
That I may know ... - By that sign of their repentance Yahweh would decide in what way they were to be punished.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Ornaments. Chaldean and Syriac, "arms." They had brought jewels,…
Ornaments. Chaldean and Syriac, "arms." They had brought jewels, &c., out of Egypt. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–5 when the people heard these evil tidings--from Moses on…
when the people heard these evil tidings--from Moses on his descent from the mount.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4–5 4. The people heard… mourned — The withdrawal of…
4. The people heard… mourned — The withdrawal of the divine presence seemed to them to be ominous of evil. Though God’s voice out of Sinai filled them with terror, (see Exo_20:19,) and they could not endure the nearness of such excessive majesty, the thought that the Holy One is about to forsake them in wrath excites even deeper fear.
Ornaments — See also in Exo_33:5-6. The putting off of these was a sign of humiliation and penitence. In a time of sorrow and guilt the adornments of the person were strikingly out of place.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. these evil tidings] that Jehovah would not accompany…
4. these evil tidings] that Jehovah would not accompany them to Canaan.
and no man, &c.] The removal of ornaments was a mark of mourning and grief: Eze_24:17; Eze_26:16, Jdt_10:3 f. (Kn.).
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4–6. The people strip themselves of their ornaments.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 (4) When the people heard these evil tidings, they…
(4) When the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned.—It was something that the people felt the tidings to be “evil.” It is natural for sinful men to shrink from the near presence of God (Mat_8:34; Luk_5:8); and so the Israelites had shrunk from it a short time previously (Exo_20:19). Even now they would probably have feared a too near contact; but still, they were unwilling that God should cease to be the leader and guide of the host: they set a value on His presence and protection, which they felt that that of an angel would ill replace. Accordingly, when Moses communicated to them what God had said (Exo_33:1-3), they “mourned,” i.e., not only grieved inwardly, but showed the outward tokens of grief—made a public and, as it were, national lamentation.
No man did put on him his ornaments.—The Orientals, both men and women, have always affected ornament, and taken an extreme delight in it. Herodotus tells us that the Persians who accompanied Xerxes into Greece wore generally collars and bracelets of gold (Hist. ix. 80). Xenophon says that the Medes indulged a similar taste (Cyropœd. i. 3, § 2). In Egypt, at the time of the exodus, men of station wore generally collars, armlets, and bracelets, occasionally anklets. The Assyrians wore armlets, bracelets, and ear-rings. To strip himself of his ornaments was a great act of self-denial on the part of an Oriental; but it was done commonly in the case of mourning on account of a family bereavement, and sometimes in the case of national misfortunes. (See Note on Exo_33:1-6.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–6 When the people heard. Moses had communicated to the…
When the people heard. Moses had communicated to the people what God had said to him. They felt it to be evil tidings they woke up at last to a feeling of the ineffable value of the privileges which they bad hitherto enjoyed his guidance by the pillar of the cloud (Exo_13:21) his counsel, if there were need to ask anything (Exo_15:25) his aid in the day of battle (Exo_17:8-13) his near presence, by day and by night, constantly (Exo_13:22) and they dreaded a change, which they felt must involve a loss, and one the extent of which they could not measure. "An angel" is a poor consolation when we are craving for Jehovah! So the people mourned felt true sorrow were really troubled in their hearts and, to show their penitence, ceased to wear their customary ornaments. These may have consisted of armlets, bracelets, and even, perhaps, anklets, all of which were worn by men in Egypt at this period.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v4 Put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may…
Exo_33:4-8
Put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
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The work of Lent
Lent is a season with a likeness to Jewish ordinances, because man in his nature and wants is ever the same; it is a Christian season, because its one object is to make us know more of the nearness of God to man, which is the great fact of Christianity. In the text we have one of Gods most explicit statements of the need of such observance; and we ask the meaning of that reason which He assigns for a season of special penitence and humiliation.
1. God wishes to know what to do with us. If the putting aside of ornaments, no matter how valuable or brilliant, is the condition of that process, it ought to be done; for Gods action must be full of power and love; and to be told that His hand is to be felt in our life, must imply that a blessing is to be bestowed upon us far beyond anything that can come from any other addition.
2. Never at any stage of His revelation has God ceased, in one form or other, to prescribe temporary and voluntary relinquishments, in order that He may enter. The ornaments, or Gods voice--that is the simple form of choice.
3. The object of Gods dealings with men is, that He may destroy their sin. And there is no more fruitful source of sin than those ornaments which He tells us to put away. The things which gather about our lives are causes of separation from our brother. The innocence or the desirability of the ornament may make no difference in the result. Learning, applause, and culture may make us just as forgetful, or unsympathetic, or even cruel towards others, as the more material possessions of life.
4. We can see, therefore, that this command is like the call of a John Baptist: Make the way plain, the path straight and level, for the coming of the Lord; remove the stumbling-block which has been in thy own or thy brothers path. Men must learn to see their oneness as brothers, before sin can be done away; lives very different from each other must be placed side by side, and then new modes of thought and comparison will at once enter. How often one word, which gives us a glimpse into the real condition of anothers heart, makes us ashamed of some feeling which we have been cherishing toward him!
5. But the sins against our brethren are not the only evil that our ornaments work, and do not constitute the only reason why they must be abandoned before God can do His work for us. Those very sins spring from a deeper injury which has been done to our souls. These things that have attached themselves to life come to be regarded as its substance, and to regulate its whole movement. What the text says to us, then, is this: Cease to depend upon the present condition and surroundings of life. Think of yourself as an immortal soul. Try to imagine yourself as cut off from all these pursuits and surroundings, for so, in fact, you must be at some time; then count over the treasures of your life, and see whether there is enough to support an immortal soul.
6. The Lenten call is a call to greater moderation in the use of the things of this life, so that they shall not become our masters; it is a call to exalt the true Master of our life, so that every ornament of our being shall be discarded for ever, which is got worthy to minister to His glory, or which attempts to fight against His supremacy, so that all which remains shall be used in obedience to His commands, and in subservience to His purposes. It is by this test that innocent and sinful indulgence in the things of this life is to be discriminated, that the line of the too much and the too little is to be drawn, and that we are to be made men and women worthy and fit to use the world rightly.
7. But why does God need that the ornaments of mens lives should be put off before He shall know what to do unto them? Is it not limiting His power to say that He cannot deal with us as we are, with all our ornaments upon us? The work which God is to do for us has for its greatest mark that it is dependent upon what we are. It is the work of overcoming sin. God, when He made man, gave him all he needed for full development and growth. His course was forward and upward, ever increasing in power and glory, while obedience and dependence upon God ruled his action. No redemption would be necessary for such a being. Mans sin, his desire after the things of this world, his willingness to build up his life with those, created the great necessity. The self-will of man called upon God for new action--action which His Divine wisdom could alone create, and which His Divine power could alone execute. That He may know what it shall be, He asks some indication of mans desire. There is nothing to do but to punish, to let the life which persistently holds to what has been its destruction, go its own sad way of separation from God, if there is no relaxing of the nervous grasp on earthly good and ornament. But at the very first sign of a willingness to put such things away, to bridle lifes passion, and to restrain lifes desire, the way of redeeming love is open. Man is ready; and God knows what to do, and He is able to make him His child once more.
8. Let us, then, rejoice at this season for putting away the mere ornaments of life, and in it open our ear anxiously, constantly, eagerly, to hear the word of His gracious intention. Gods treasury is full of the true ornaments of life. He readily offers them to us. Receive them as readily, and the worlds ornaments will lose their false glitter; our hearts will cease to desire them with that eager covetousness which conceals all the better impulses of the soul, and God will be able to do for us all the deep purposes of His wisdom and His love. (Arthur Brooks.)
Repentance of the Israelites
I. God is not able to exercise mercy towards an impenitent transgressor. He cannot do this, because it would--
1. Be inconsistent with His own perfections.
2. Be ineffectual for the happiness of the persons themselves.
3. Introduce disorder into the whole universe.
II. Where humiliation is manifested, mercy may be expected. This appears from--
1. The very mode in which repentance is here enjoined.
2. The experience of penitents in all ages.
Application:
1. Consider what obstructions you have laid in the way of your own happiness.
2. Endeavour instantly to remove them. (C. Simon, M. A.)
A fashionable sin
The house of prayer is a poor place to exhibit beads, ribbons, ruffles, gewgaws, and trinkets. The evils of such extravagance are many. It keeps people from worship, when they have not apparel as gorgeous as their neighbours. It loads the poor with burdens too heavy to be borne to procure fashionable clothing. It leads many into temptations, debt, dishonesty, and sin. It causes many a poor shop girl to work nearly all Saturday night, that some customers fine clothes may be ready for the Sunday show. It keeps people at home in cloudy or stormy weather, when, if they wore plain clothing, they could defy clouds and storms. It consumes the hours in dressing, crimping, and fussing, keeping people from church, and wasting time, hindering the reading of the Scripture, and making Sunday a day of folly. It makes the poor emulous, malicious, and envious, and plants many a bitter thought in the minds of children and others, when they see their neighbours decked in finery--often unpaid for--and feel that people are respected, not for their integrity of character, but for the fashion of their clothes. It is forbidden in Gods Word. And yet we seldom find a minister that dare open his mouth against this fashionable sin. Christian people should dress plainly before the Lord, for examples sake at home and abroad, for decencys sake, and for the sake of Christ. (Christian Age.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 beautiful clothing as well as chains and rings with…
jewelry
beautiful clothing as well as chains and rings with jewels in them
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a stubborn people
"people who refuse to change." See how you translated this in Exodus 33:3.
translationWords
people group
trouble
word
mourn
Yahweh
Moses
Israel
stiff-necked
Horeb
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 33:4-6 The jewelry and fine clothes might have been…
33:4-6 The jewelry and fine clothes might have been worn while worshiping the gold calf. Here their removal signifies mourning (33:4) and repentance.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.