Exodus 33:2 (YLT)

Passage

(and I have sent before thee a messenger, and have cast out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,)

Nearby Context

Exodus 33:1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, `Go, ascend from this <FI>place<Fi> , thou and the people, whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed I give it,'

Exodus 33:2 (and I have sent before thee a messenger, and have cast 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 do not go up in thy midst, for thou <FI>art<Fi> a stiff-necked people--lest I consume thee in the way.'

Exodus 33:4 And the people hear this sad thing, and mourn; and none put his ornaments on him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sent", "before", "thee", "messenger", "cast", "canaanite", "amorite", and "hittite". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sent" and "before", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses Go ascend..." into verse 3's "unto a land flowing with milk and...", so "sent" and "before" 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 "sent" and "before" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.