Exodus 33:18
ESV
Moses said, "Please show me your glory."
NIV
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
NASB
Then Moses said, 'Please, show me Your glory!'
CSB
Then Moses said, "Please, let me see your glory."
NLT
Moses responded, 'Then show me your glorious presence.'
KJV
And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
NKJV
And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
What does Exodus 33:18 mean?
Moses already has a close relationship with the Lord (Exodus 33:11). He has seen and spoken with God in ways no other person has (Exodus 3:1–4). But he wants an even deeper knowledge of God. Asking to see God's glory is a request to experience God as God really is. Moses wants to "see" God in all His power and majesty. Some Jewish translations of this verse have Moses saying, "show me You." Moses was afraid to look at the Lord at their first encounter (Exodus 3:6). Now his passion to know God seeks an ultimate revealing.It's a brave wish. It was assumed that looking on God, as He really is, would result in death (Genesis 32:30). The Lord will give Moses an extremely limited revelation, since exposing a mortal man to God's unfiltered divinity would indeed be fatal (Exodus 33:19–23). Moses and God have spoken "face to face" (Exodus 33:11), but Moses has not viewed the Lord's full glorious nature.
