the same pericope that outlines the hardening and knowing motifs for the exodus narrative). God’s response is therefore somewhat gnomic, as the couplet in 33:19b emphasizes God’s discretion in choosing how to respond to Israel’s idolatry. Here, God’s response is as yet hidden, so that 33:18–19 represent the climax of the dramatic tension in the narrative, and therefore the hinge upon which it turns. As with Pharaoh in Exodus 3–14, in dealing with Israel in chapters 32–34 God is dealing with idolaters.