Exodus 33:5 HCSB For the LORD said to Moses: "Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you."

For. The verse simply begins “And Yahweh said.” However, it is clearly meant to be explanatory for the preceding action of the people.

A single moment. The construction is formed with a simple imperfect in the first half and a perfect tense with vav (ו) in the second half. Heb “[in] one moment I will go up in your midst and I will destroy you.” The verse is certainly not intended to say that God was about to destroy them. That, plus the fact that He has announced He will not go in their midst, should demonstrate to the reader that he should consider this a conditional clause: “If I were to do such and such, then….” Cp Numbers 16:45-46.

I would destroy you. Some may object, “But God had promised that He would not destroy them in verse 3.” However, that was said to Moses, not necessarily to the people. Remember, it was their sin and not Moses’ that had prompted the Lord’s anger. Besides, there is an implied condition as evidenced by the very next clause. Having said that, there are many instances demonstrating that God would not hesitate to kill some of His people. Remember – this is the same God who was willing to sacrifice His own Son for our sakes! Cp Exodus 32:34-35; Numbers 16:49; Isaiah 63:10; 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.

Now take off your jewelry. The Hebrew text also has “from on you.” Since they had already taken it off, it clearly means that they should continue in their unadorned manner.

I will decide. The form is the cohortative with a vav (ו) following the imperative; it, therefore, expresses the purpose or result: “strip off…that I may know.” The call to remove the ornaments must have been perceived as a call to show true repentance for what had happened. God judges the intent of our heart by the quality of our works (Cp. James James 2:18; 3:13; Matthew 12:34 (cp Psalm 19:14; 49:3; Proverbs 16:23; Matthew 15:18; Luke 6:35; Romans 10:9)). If they repented, then God would know how to deal with them. Cp. Deuteronomy 8:2; Psalm 139:23. As we see, Moses’ prayer, backed by the people’s actions, resulted in forgiveness and restoration.

What to do with you. This last clause begins with the interrogative “what,” but it is used here as an indirect interrogative. It introduces a noun clause, the object of the verb “know.”