Small Lexemes, Large Semantics 97 with Moses before asking God to go with (µ[) them (again, a first-person plural suffix identifying Moses and Israel). The last element in this portion of the prayer ties Israel’s unique identity to Yahweh’s presence with Israel. Moses is praying that the full experience of Yahweh’s presence that he knows, and the rest that he will experience, would be granted to Israel. Yahweh’s response in 33,17 to the petition of 33,15-16 is the clearest and most significant step in the restoration of his relationship with Israel since the breach occasioned by the golden calf. By affirming to Moses that he will grant “this thing you have mentioned,” Yahweh commits to going with Israel. But not all has been resolved, as attention to the prepositions describing the proximity of divine presence will show. No less significantly, “there is still no explicit word about forgiveness” (19). d) The Culminating Theophany and Covenant Renewal (33,18–34,8) Yahweh’s definition of the forthcoming theophany describes how he will grant Moses’ request to see his glory (33,18). Notably, “the revelation of God is in terms of his attributes rather than his appearance” (20). This is important for understanding how God’s two self-descriptions (33,19; 34,6-7) relate to their context. First, the order and selection of divine attributes in Exod 34 exhibit differences with respect to the descriptions of Yahweh earlier in Exodus. Widmer has contrasted the two self-disclosures of Exod 20,5-6 and 34,6-7, and shows that the latter differs significantly from the former. In Exodus 34:6, YHWH commences with a fundamental statement about his nature. YHWH declares that He is basically merciful and gracious. Whereas [sic] in the Decalogue the “negative portion,” i.e. the warning of divine visitation, precedes YHWH’s merciful and gracious attributes. Moreover, in the first divine disclosure divine jealousy is given as the reason for judgment (20:5), while after the golden calf incident YHWH’s jealousy is no longer directly related to judgment, but comes only later to expression as a general warning regarding the worship of other gods (cf. 34:14) (21). Second, the ordering and selection of the divine attributes point toward their role in resolving the crisis in Israel’s relation to Yahweh. The burden of 33,19 is God’s sovereignty in exercising his mercy toward whomever he will. This makes possible its application to Israel, despite their having demerited any divine indulgence. In 34,6-7 the predominance of Yahweh’s compassionate and forgiving character “provides the basis for Moses to request a divine pardon for Israel in Exod 34:9” (22). (19) D.R. DAVIS, “Rebellion, Presence, and Covenant: A Study in Exodus 32–34”, WTJ 44 (1982) 77. (20) B. CHILDS, The Book of Exodus. A Critical, Theological Commentary (OTL; Philadelphia 1974) 596. (21) M. WIDMER, Moses, God, and the Dynamics of Intercessory Prayer. A Study of Exodus 32–34 and Numbers 13–14 (FAT II/8; Tübingen 2004) 184-185. (22) T.B. DOZEMAN, “Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Yahweh’s Gracious and Compassionate Character”, JBL 108 (1989) 220-221.