Exodus 33:20

King James Version (1611 Edition)

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see mee, and liue.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He said, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live."

King James Version
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Lexham English Bible
But he said, "You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live."

New Century Version
But you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live.

New English Translation
But he added, "You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live."

Amplified Bible
But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live!"

New American Standard Bible
He further said, "You cannot see My face, for mankind shall not see Me and live!"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Furthermore he sayde, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me, and liue.

Legacy Standard Bible
But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"

Contemporary English Version
but I won't let you see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die.

Complete Jewish Bible
But my face," he continued, "you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive.

Darby Translation
And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for Man shall not see me, and live.

Easy-to-Read Version
But you cannot see my face. No one can see me and continue to live."

English Standard Version
But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live."

George Lamsa Translation
And he said, You cannot see my face; for no man can see me and live.

Good News Translation
I will not let you see my face, because no one can see me and stay alive,

Christian Standard Bible®
But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.”

Literal Translation
And He said, You are not able to see My face; for no man can see Me and live.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he sayde morouer: Thou mayest not se my face, for there shall no ma lyue, yt seyth me.

American Standard Version
And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live.

Bible in Basic English
But it is not possible for you to see my face, for no man may see me and still go on living.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he said furthermore, Thou mayest not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and lyue.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And He said: 'Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.'

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And God said, Thou shalt not be able to see my face; for no man shall see my face, and live.

English Revised Version
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me and live.

Berean Standard Bible
And He added, "You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And eft God seide, Thou maist not se my face, for a man schal not se me, and schal lyue.

Young's Literal Translation
He saith also, `Thou art unable to see My face, for man doth not see Me, and live;'

Update Bible Version
And he said, You can not see my face; for man shall not see me and live.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

World English Bible
He said, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live."

New King James Version
But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."

New Living Translation
But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live."

New Life Bible
But He said, "You cannot see My face. For no man can see Me and live!"

New Revised Standard
But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But be said - Thou canst not see my face, For no son of earth can see me, and life

Douay-Rheims Bible
And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me, and live.

Revised Standard Version
But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live."

THE MESSAGE
God continued, "But you may not see my face. No one can see me and live."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"

Contextual Overview

¹² And Moses saide vnto the Lord, See, thou sayest vnto mee, Bring vp this people, and thou hast not let mee know whome thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I knowe thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. ¹³ Now therefore, I pray thee, If I haue found grace in thy sight, shewe mee now thy way that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. ¹⁴ And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will giue thee rest. ¹⁵ And he said vnto him, If thy presence goe not with mee, carie vs not vp hence. ¹⁶ For wherein shall it bee knowen here, that I and thy people haue found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with vs? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are vpon the face of the earth. ¹⁷ And the Lord said vnto Moses, I will doe this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. ¹⁸ And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. ¹⁹ And he said, I will make all my goodnesse passe before thee, and I will proclaime the name of the Lord before thee: and will bee gracious to whom I wil be gracious, and wil shew mercie on whom I will shew mercie. ²⁰ And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see mee, and liue. ²¹ And the Lord said, Beholde, there is a place by mee, and thou shalt stand vpon a rocke.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thou canst not: This is well explained by Rabbi Jehudah, in Sepher Cosri - P. iv. 3: "Of that divine glory mentioned in the Scripture, there is one degree which the eyes of the prophets were able to explore; another which all the Israelites saw, as the cloud and consuming fire; the third is so bright, and so dazzling, that no mortal is able to comprehend it; but should anyone venture to look on it, his whole frame would be dissolved." In such inconceivable splendour is the Divine Majesty revealed to the inhabitants of the celestial world, where he is said to "dwell in the light which no man can approach unto" - 1 Timothy 6:16. By the "face of God," therefore, we are to understand that light inaccessible before which angels may stand, but which would be so insufferable to mortal eyes, that no man could see it and live. Exodus 24:10, Genesis 32:30, Deuteronomy 5:24, Judges 6:22, Judges 13:22, Isaiah 6:5, John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16, Hebrews 1:13, Revelation 1:16, Revelation 1:17

Reciprocal: Exodus 19:21 - break Exodus 20:19 - let not Exodus 24:11 - laid not Exodus 33:18 - General Exodus 33:23 - thou shalt Exodus 34:6 - passed Deuteronomy 4:33 - General Job 26:9 - General Daniel 10:17 - talk Acts 7:32 - Then 1 John 4:12 - seen

Cross-References

Genesis 8:20
And Noah builded an Altar vnto the LORD, and tooke of euery cleane beast, and of euery cleane fowle, and offred burnt offrings on the Altar.

Genesis 13:18
Then Abram remoued his tent, and came and dwelt in the plaine of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar vnto the LORD.

Genesis 21:33
And Abraham planted a groue in Beer-sheba, and called there on the Name of the LORD, the euerlasting God.

Genesis 32:28
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Iacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast preuailed.

Genesis 33:7
And Leah also with her children came neere, and bowed themselues: and after came Ioseph neere and Rachel, and they bowed themselues.

Genesis 33:8
And he said, What meanest thou by all this droue, which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.

Genesis 35:7
And hee built there an Altar, and called the place El-Bethel, because there God appeared vnto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said, thou canst not see my face,.... Meaning not his form, his essence, his very nature, and the glory of it, that Moses must know he could never see; but the brightest displays of his grace and goodness in Christ, the fullest discoveries of it, which are too much for man, in the present state of things, to have, who sees in part, and but through a glass darkly, not face to face, or in the most complete and perfect manner; it is but a small part and portion of God, and of his ways and works, as of creation and providence, so more especially of grace, salvation, and redemption by Jesus Christ, that is known of him; the things of the Gospel in their full perfection are what eye has not seen; and particularly were more hidden and unseen under the legal dispensation; this face was covered with types and shadows, and dark representations of things; though, in comparison of that state, we now, with open face, behold the glory of the Lord, yet still it is through a glass darkly, and we have not the clear and full view of things as will be hereafter:

for there shall no man see me and live: if there was to be such a revelation made of the grace and goodness, and glory of God in Christ, as it really is in itself, it would be too much for mortals in the present state to bear; it would break their earthen vessels in pieces; the full discovery therefore is reserved to a future state, when these things will be seen as they are, and men will be in a condition to receive them; otherwise we find that men have, in a sense, seen the face of God in this life, and have lived; though many, and even good men, have been possessed with such a notion, that if a man saw God he must die, see Genesis 32:30.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But his request could not be granted in accordance with the conditions of human existence. The glory of the Almighty in its fulness is not to be revealed to the eye of man. Compare Judges 6:22; Isaiah 6:5. A further revelation of the divine goodness was however possible (see Exodus 33:6-7).

It was vouchsafed to Paul, as it had been to Moses, to have special “visions and revelations of the Lord” 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. But he had, also like Moses, to find the narrow reach of the intellect of man in the region of Godhead 1 Timothy 6:16. However intimate may be our communion with the Holy One, we are still, as long as we are in the flesh, “to see through a glass darkly,” waiting for the time when we shall see, with no figure of speech, “face to face” 1 Corinthians 13:12. Then we know “that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” 1 John 3:2.

Exodus 33:19

Will be gracious ... - Yahweh declares His own will to be the ground of the grace which He is going to show the nation. Paul applies these words to the election of Jacob in order to overthrow the self-righteous boasting of the Jews Romans 9:15.

Exodus 33:20

Such passages as this, being clearly in accordance with what we know of the relation of spiritual existence to the human senses, show how we are to interpret the expressions “face to face” Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10, “mouth to mouth” Numbers 12:8, and others of the like kind. See Exodus 24:10; Isaiah 6:1; and compare John 14:9.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 33:20. No man see me, and live. — The splendour would be insufferable to man; he only, whose mortality is swallowed up of life, can see God as he is. See 1 John 3:2. From some disguised relation of the circumstances mentioned here, the fable of Jupiter and Semele was formed; she is reported to have entreated Jupiter to show her his glory, who was at first very reluctant, knowing that it would be fatal to her; but at last, yielding to her importunity, he discovered his divine majesty, and she was consumed by his presence. This story is told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, book iii., table iii., 5.