Exodus 33:21 (DBY)

Passage

And Jehovah said, Behold, [there is] a place by me: there shalt thou stand on the rock.

Nearby Context

Exodus 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thy face, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for Man shall not see me, and live.

Exodus 33:21 And Jehovah said, Behold, [there is] a place by me: there shalt thou stand on the rock.

Exodus 33:22 And it shall come to pass, when my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand, until I have passed by.

Exodus 33:23 And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see me from behind; but my face shall not be seen.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "said", "behold", "place", "shalt", "thou", "stand", and "rock". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And he said Thou canst not see..." into verse 22's "And it shall come to pass when...", so "jehovah" and "said" 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 "jehovah" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.