Exodus 33:3

Summary

The verse describes the land promised as zavat chalav u-devash ("flowing of milk and honey", H2100G/H2461/H1706), followed by a divine declaration of refusal to go up "in the midst" of the people, justified by their description as am qesheh-'oref ("a people stiff of neck", H5971A/H7186/H6203), with a stated purpose clause warning of potential destruction ba-derekh ("on the journey", H1870L).

Key words

• za.Vat ("flowing of", H2100G) — qal participle, feminine singular, construct form; syntactically bound to 'Eretz ("land"), describing the land as continuously producing/flowing, not a completed or one-time action.
• 'e.'e.Leh ("I will go up", H5927G) — qal imperfect, 1st person; negated by lo' ("not", H3808), expressing an ongoing or future refusal rather than a single past event.
• ke.sheh- ("stiff of", H7186) — adjective, masculine singular, construct; forms a bound phrase with 'oref ("neck", H6203), producing the idiom "stiff of neck" as a single descriptive unit applied to the people.
• 'a.khel. ("I should make an end of", H3615H) — piel imperfect, 1st person; the piel stem intensifies the action compared to a simple qal form, and it is governed by pen ("lest", H6435), marking a purpose/result clause of avoidance.
• kir.be. ("midst", H7130G) — masculine singular construct with pronominal suffix -kha ("your", H9021), forming "in your midst," specifying the spatial relation of the refusal to go up.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built from three linked clauses, each introduced by a subordinating particle: the first ki ("for/that", H3588A) explains why the land is being described (it flows with milk and honey); the second ki introduces the reason for the divine refusal to go up "in your midst" (be-qirbekha); the third clause, introduced by pen ("lest", H6435), states the potential consequence — that the people might be "made an end of" ('akhelkha, piel imperfect) ba-derekh ("on the journey", H1870L). The construct chain am-qesheh-'oref ("a people stiff of neck") stacks two construct relationships (qesheh bound to 'oref, and the resulting phrase functioning descriptively for 'am) into a compact idiomatic label for the people's characteristic.

The verb 'e'eleh ("I will go up", H5927G) is a qal imperfect, which in Biblical Hebrew can carry ongoing, future, or modal nuances; here it functions as a declared future refusal, negated by lo'. This contrasts with 'akhelkha ("I should make an end of", H3615H), a piel imperfect — the piel stem typically marks intensified or completive action compared to the simple qal, here expressing a decisive act of destruction rather than a general one, and it is governed by pen, marking it as an avoided potential outcome rather than a stated certainty.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew pen ("lest", H6435) clause with ἵνα μὴ ("so that not"), and translates 'akhelkha ("I should make an end of you") as ἐξαναλώσω ("I might utterly consume"), adding an intensifying prefix not reflected as a separate lexeme in the Hebrew piel form itself. The LXX also renders 'am-qesheh-'oref ("a people stiff of neck") as λαὸν σκληροτράχηλόν ("a stiff-necked people"), using a single compound adjective where the Hebrew uses a two-part construct chain. The Vulgate's duræ cervicis ("of hard neck") mirrors the Hebrew construct structure more closely than the LXX's compound adjective.