ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף זכריה 14:5

And the Ramban questions here (Exodus 33:12) as to why Moses did not pray in this instance that they not be governed by an angel, as he did after they had made the golden calf, when the Blessed One said to him: "And I will send an angel before you," and Moses prayed before Him and said: "If Your presence does not go, do not take us up from here." And after he accepted this here, how did he think to profit through the incident of the golden calf and to nullify it? But this is not at all difficult to me. For the Blessed One did not tell Moses here that He would go up from them as He did in the incident of the golden calf, viz. (Ibid 33:3): "for I will not go up in your midst…" And though He told him "I will send an angel," it does not follow from this that the L-rd would not be there. For Scripture likewise states (Ibid 12:12): "And I will pass through the land of Egypt…," which our sages of blessed memory expounded (Mechilta, Bo 7): "I and not an angel…" And even so, angels destroyed along with Him, as they expounded (Ibid 11): "'And you, let no man go out from the door of his house until morning' (Exodus 12:22) — this indicates that when the angel has been authorized to destroy he does not discriminate [between the good and the wicked]…, as it is written (Isaiah 26:20): 'Go my people, come into your chambers…'" It is clear, then, that though the Holy One Blessed be He in Himself and in His majesty passed through Egypt, with all this, the angels destroyed along with Him, as it is written (Zechariah 14:5): "And the L-rd my G-d shall come, all the holy ones with You." Therefore, it does not follow from "And I will send an angel before you" that the Blessed One in Himself and in His majesty not also be there. Why should "And I will send an angel before you" present any more of a difficulty than (Exodus 23:28): "And I will send hornets before you"? But just as the hornets were to serve as the L-rd's mace, so would the angel serve as His instrument of destruction. And for this reason neither the Jews nor Moses were distressed by this at all. But later, when He told them explicitly "for I will not go up in your midst…," they were fully cognizant of what this imported, as it is written (Ibid 33:4): "And the people heard this evil thing, and they mourned, and no man put his ornaments upon him." That is, when the people heard this evil thing, the departure of G-d's providence form them, they mourned for what they had lost and did not put on their ornaments.

IN Hebrew, the verb bo signifies “to come” as applied to a living being, i.e., its arrival at a certain place, or approach to a certain person, as “Thy brother came (ba) with subtilty” (Gen. 27:35). It next denotes (with regard to a living being) “to enter” a certain place, e.g., “And when Joseph came (va-yabo) into the house” (Gen. 43:26); “When ye come (ta-boü) into the land” (Exod. 12:25). The term was also employed metaphorically in the sense of “to come” applied to a certain event, that is, to something incorporeal, as “When thy sayings come to pass (yabo)” (Judg. 13:17); “Of that which will come (yaboü) over thee” (Isa. 47:13). Nay, it is even applied to privatives, e.g., “Yet evil came (va-yabo)” (Job 3:26); “And darkness came (va-yabo)” Now, since the word has been applied to incorporeal things, it has also been used in reference to God-to the fulfilment of His word, or to the manifestation of His Presence (the Shechinah). In this figurative sense it is said, “Lo, I come (ba) unto thee in a thick cloud” (Exod. 19:9); “For the Lord the God of Israel cometh (ba) through it” (Ezek. 44:2). In these and all similar passages, the coming of the Shechinah is meant, but the words, “And the Lord my God shall come (u-ba)” (Zech. 14:5) are identical with “His word will come,” that is to say, the promises which He made through the Prophets will be fulfilled; therefore Scripture adds “all the holy ones that are with thee,” that is to say, “The word of the Lord my God will be performed, which has been spoken by all the holy ones who are with thee, who address the Israelites.”