Êxodo 33:21 Comentário: Rashi, Chizkuni, Da'at Zekenim & Ramban

הנה מקום אתי BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME — On the mountain where I am continually speaking with you there is a place prepared by Me for your sake where I will hide you that you may not be hurt by the vision. From there you will see what you will be permitted to see. A Midrashic explanation is that by the word מקום Scripture is speaking of the place where the Shechinah is and that He therefore said, “The place is by Me” and He did not say, “I am in the place”, because the Holy One, blessed be He, is the “place” of the Universe (comprises the Universe) but His Universe is not His place (does not encompass Him) (Genesis Rabbah 68:9).

ונצבת, “you shall stand;” the meaning of the word is to remain stationary, not advancing or planning to advance.

הנה מקום אתי ונצבת על הצור, “Behold there is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon the rock;” the author refers to an explanation he has found in a Midrash known as Socher tov (chapter 90) in which a Rabbi Chanina queries why, i.e. to what purpose, one of the Lord’s names is מקום, “place,” (Genesis 19,27). He answers that essentially far from G–d being in any place, G–d and place are identical , i.e. anything we call “place,“ is in reality occupying part of G–d’s place as He created space. Our author feels that one could still have been in doubt whether this means that any מקום on earth or in the universe is always to be understood as secondary to Him, or if on occasion it is used as primary to anything surrounding the subject under discussion. By referring to מקום אתי, “a place next to Me,” G–d reminded Moses that any “place” is always secondary to Him.