Face to Face with God—or a Misunderstood Hebrew Idiom?

I find the Hebrew culture so interesting. The language seems so simple but yet complicated such as this "face". First thing I think of is a human face but in Hebrew it means so much more. I think this "face to face" has a meaning of being in the presents of, being before something. Being in the presents of YHWH
Much thanks to Jeff for opening my eyes to this culture, before I came across your site, I was not aware that not every one follows the American culture.

Face: https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/ahlb/pey.html#6440

Jeff, if this an idiom, could this be like us sitting in God's presence and speaking, i.e. praying to Him. We feel so close we could be face to face, like speaking to a close friend on the phone - distance doesn't matter. The relationship is so close it would feel as if they were together.

Thanks for the post. It has made me think deeper and really look at what I'm reading.

We are anxiously awaiting your explanation. As for me, not knowing Hebrew idioms, I always thought verse 20 meant a person still on earth in this physical world cannot see God because he is a spirit. We would have to be beyond the grave to see God face to face.

Another thought is that God showed himself in a human body many times in the Old Testament. We can tell that by the response of the person he revealed himself to by calling the "person" who appeared to him "Lord." (I have a whole list of such occasions in the OT.) I recall Samson's father saying, "I have seen God but did not die," (Judges 13: 17-23)

But now, don't keep us in suspense. What does the idiom "face to face" mean?

I'm also curious what this phrase means. Love the Hebrew language. It's so rich and I learn about their ways of thinking. Looking forward to read your insight. Shalom from the Netherlands.

Una noche de noviembre de 2016 cerca de las once horas de la noche paseaba a mi pinche chihuahua cerca del centro comercial de casa y había un señor sentado en una cafetería con una bolsa de basura enorme a su lado me acerqué por si necesitaba algo y me dijo NO ES EL TIEMPO, intenté buscar algún personal para proveerle pero no lo hallé me mostró entonces descubrió su muñeca y vi un reloj precioso parecía muy costoso entonces entendí que ya habían cerrado por el horario aun así con todo estuve un rato con él primero hablando en español luego en portugués y por último en inglés él siempre cambiaba pero yo me daba hasta el momento que le propuse de esperarme y de ir a casa a prepararle una comida para traérselo pero rehusó simplemente me preguntó mi nombre y cuando se iba marchando yo me dirigí de vuelta a casa y al poco rato comencé a llorar y entonces entendí que aquello no era un encuentro casual... Después de unos meses en la zona donde él se marchó pusieron veinte arcos de luz en las entradas y salidas del parking no hay casualidades en la vida pero si encuentro eternos que quedan grabados en nuestra memoria

Shabbat Shalom 🦦

Hello Jeff,

How do YOU interpret the idioms based upon your cultural knowledge?

According to Bullinger, face to face is an idiom meaning great intimacy. I accept that as pretty accurate given that Moses spent a great deal of time by himself with the Lord.

Even though I have been studying the bible for 15 years, some of which was spent studying the Bible as part of two Religious Studies Post Graduate Degrees, I just want to say that since I have started studying your lessons and blogs I have come to the realization that I don'tunderstand enough about ancient Hebrew Culture and Ancient Hebrew language to really understand what is written in the Torah. I have studied Neil Douglas Klotz Aramaic interpretations of the New Testament, which are beautiful interpretations. Knowing that I don't understand enough about Hebrew language and culture has left me in a space of wondering whether or not I should pursue any further study of the Bible. Eventually Source (the primordial light) will guide me forward and I will either continue studying the bible or I will let go and move on. For me my major interest is whether the Kabbalah and the Torah inform each other and are linked. If the roots of the Kabbalah are in ancient Assyria or ancient Egypt, that means I must move my focus of research. Thank you for helping me to come to this realization.

priesthood is to bless Israel saying that THE LORD will make HIS face to shine upon them. that means HIS PRESENCE i believe and blessings and in agreement.

Num 6:23  Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 

Num 6:24  The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 

Num 6:25  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 

Num 6:26  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 

My current understanding concerning "face to face" is "presence to presence." For me, when I spend time experiencing God in prayer with a meditative mindset, I'm intentionally posturing my attentive presence (spirit) to experience God's presence (Spirit) within my mind to hear and learn from Him according to His will for my life. This is how I personally experience God "face to face," which has been the most life-changing experiences of my life and transformed my prayer sessions with God from monologue to dialogue experiences with HIm.

Paleo Hebrew is totally different from the English language slang, Tks so much Jeff Shalom nakama friend!

Imagine the ancient people trying to figure out our modern idiom "it's raining cats and dogs out there". I had heard the idiom you mentioned about the good eye and bad eye. Gives better understanding.....the lightbulb comes on. Thank you

Yeah.. but Moshe did die.

So did Adam (eventually) after 930 cycles.

I don't think that He likes us being stuck in this Archon Prison dimension (in our corrupted avatars) for any amount of time.

I know it sounds insane, but I think that He WANTS us to die. So that we stop suffering already and finally wear His Perfection and Peace. Otherwise, what's the point of The Harpazo? Why not glorify us where we stand?

Seems to me that talking to someone face to face would be the Hebraic idiom "mouth to mouth", which is sometimes translated to "face to face", such as in CJB.

I believe God veils Himself, as William mentioned. Moses saw His unveiled back, and was changed. Isaiah saw His face, and was saved from death by a coal from the altar. In New Testament times, I'm not sure how it works. John saw him, and had a pretty dramatic response.

When Moses spoke with God face to face, this was not essence-to-essence contact, but relational revelation — panim el panim — structured participation in divine glory. Creation itself reflects eternal davarim — divine words structured into measurable harmonies. Moses knew all Egyptian sciences, yet he refused to absolutize them. He practiced bitul — self-emptying — recognizing all created lights as derivative. Angelic beings bearing “El” in their names exemplify participatory identity: glory directed toward God, not self-reference. Humanity, as microcosm of the macrocosm, is called to the same avodah — becoming a living merkabah, an inner temple. Through Christ, our face becomes rightly ordered. In Him we behold and are transformed, shining not by possession but by participation. Thus distinctions of being are not fragmentation but harmonized differentiation glorifying the Cause of causes, from whom, through whom, and to whom all things are held together.