Exodus 33:4 (ASV)

Passage

And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

Nearby Context

Exodus 33:2 and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

Exodus 33:3 unto 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.

Exodus 33:4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

Exodus 33:5 And Jehovah 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.

Exodus 33:6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "heard", "evil", "tidings", "mourned", and "ornaments". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "heard", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "unto a land flowing with milk and..." into verse 5's "And Jehovah said unto Moses Say unto...", so "people" and "heard" belong inside that flow. In Exodus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "people" and "heard" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.