Sforno on Exodus 33:12/ספורנו על שמות ל״ג:י״ב

1ראה, do not turn your face away but take my comment seriously.

2אתה אומר אלי העל את העם הזה, when You said to me in verse 1 “lead up this people, etc.,”

3ואתה לא הודעתני את אשר תשלח עמי, the promise that You would send an angel with me (verse 2) was to take effect only once the people would enter the land of Canaan, at which time the promise that with the help of the angel we would dispossess the Canaanites would be fulfilled. But, in the meantime, who is going to be our protective force? How can we be without either an angel or Your personal presence? Moreover,

4ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם, when You paid me such a compliment, surely this did not mean that You will leave me to my own devices on this journey? Surely, such feelings as expressed in Zeacharyah 11,9 where You are quoted as saying: “I am not going to tend you, let the one that is to die die, and the one that is to get lost get lost, and let the rest devour each other’s flesh.” “Surely, You had intended for me to be the angel who leads the people of Israel.”