“Thus YHWH spoke to Moses face-to-face” : a synchronic and text-critical analysis of Exodus 33

(eng) This thesis aims at analyzing chapter 33 of Exodus. In this chapter, it is told how God speaks to Moses “face-to-face” (v. 11). This bold statement surprises the reader, especially in the light of the later verses 20 and 23, where it is said that God’s face cannot be seen. Besides this apparent contradiction within Exod. 33, the text presents many more textual tensions. I address these textual problems by searching a solution from two different angles. On the one hand, a synchronic approach proposes solutions for the textual tensions from a narrative point of view. Here, the text is analysed on three levels: the literary structure, the fabula and the discourse. On the other hand, a text-critical approach addresses these tensions as well, examining whether the textual variants present in their turn solutions to the textual tensions of Exod. 33. The texts used for this analysis are the Septuagint, the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch and 4Q22, a scroll of the Dead Sea. The text-critical analysis comprises three fases in the analysis of the textual variants: I first present a synopsis, then a description and finally an evaluation of the variants. Proposing solutions from a synchronic angle, many of the textual tensions appear as causing "thymic functions" (suspense, curiosity and surprise). The apparent contradictions of Exodus 33 then figure as a strategy to find the difficult balance to strike of an immanent yet transcendent God, a sinful yet mournful people and a desperate yet faithful Moses. In the Septuagint, presenting some remarkable textual variants, the textual tensions are both smoothened and intensified. Even though the Greek text runs more smoothly, the equilibrium remains difficult to find and the "anthropomorphistic language" is against all odds not avoided in the Septuagint. Through the solutions proposed from the two angles, this thesis intends to shed a new light on the many textual problems of Exodus 33.