9. Exodus 33 and Gregory the Theologian: Face and Back

 

Exodus 33:11, 20–23 (LXX)

Greek (key parts):
11 καὶ ἐλάλει Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν κατὰ πρόσωπον, ὡς εἴ τις λαλεῖ πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον.

20 καὶ εἶπεν· οὐ δυνήσει ἰδεῖν τὸ πρόσωπόν μου· οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἴδῃ ἄνθρωπος τὸ πρόσωπόν μου καὶ ζήσεται.

23 καὶ ἀφελῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου, καὶ τότε ὄψῃ τὰ ὀπίσθιά μου, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ὀφθήσεταί σοι.

English:
11 “And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
20 “And he said, You are not able to see my face; for no man shall see my face and live.”
23 “Then I will remove my hand, and you shall see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen by you.”

• St Gregory the Theologian interprets the “face” as the unknowable divine essence and the “back parts” as God’s majestic manifestations among creatures—what David calls “glory” (δόξα). These manifestations are uncreated, like the rays of the sun that reach us, not the sun’s essence itself.
  
  

This is a patristic biblical locus for the essence–energies distinction: we never see what God is in Himself, but we truly “see” and participate in His uncreated energies.