Exodus 32:10-11

32:10 So now, leave me alone ¹  so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”

32:11 But Moses sought the favor ²  of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

Exodus 32:32

32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin…, ³  but if not, wipe me out ⁴  from your book that you have written.” ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 9:13-14

9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn ⁶  lot! 9:14 Stand aside ⁷  and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, ⁸  and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”

Deuteronomy 9:19

9:19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger ⁹  that threatened to destroy you. But he ¹⁰  listened to me this time as well.

Deuteronomy 9:25

Moses’ Plea on Behalf of the Lord’s Reputation

9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, ¹¹  for he ¹²  had said he would destroy you.

Deuteronomy 10:10

10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you.

Ezekiel 20:13-14

20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations (the one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out ¹³  my rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them. ¹⁴  20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

[32:10]  ¹ tn The imperative, from the word “to rest” (נוּחַ, nuakh), has the sense of “leave me alone, let me be.” It is a directive for Moses not to intercede for the people. B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 567) reflects the Jewish interpretation that there is a profound paradox in God’s words. He vows the severest punishment but then suddenly conditions it on Moses’ agreement. “Let me alone that I may consume them” is the statement, but the effect is that he has left the door open for intercession. He allows himself to be persuaded – that is what a mediator is for. God could have slammed the door (as when Moses wanted to go into the promised land). Moreover, by alluding to the promise to Abraham God gave Moses the strongest reason to intercede.

[32:11]  ² tn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 351) draws on Arabic to show that the meaning of this verb (חָלָה, khalah) was properly “make sweet the face” or “stroke the face”; so here “to entreat, seek to conciliate.” In this prayer, Driver adds, Moses urges four motives for mercy: 1) Israel is Yahweh’s people, 2) Israel’s deliverance has demanded great power, 3) the Egyptians would mock if the people now perished, and 4) the oath God made to the fathers.

[32:32]  ³ tn The apodosis is not expressed; it would be understood as “good.” It is not stated because of the intensity of the expression (the figure is aposiopesis, a sudden silence). It is also possible to take this first clause as a desire and not a conditional clause, rendering it “Oh that you would forgive!”

[32:32]  ⁴ tn The word “wipe” is a figure of speech indicating “remove me” (meaning he wants to die). The translation “blot” is traditional, but not very satisfactory, since it does not convey complete removal.

[32:32]  ⁵ sn The book that is referred to here should not be interpreted as the NT “book of life” which is portrayed (figuratively) as a register of all the names of the saints who are redeemed and will inherit eternal life. Here it refers to the names of those who are living and serving in this life, whose names, it was imagined, were on the roster in the heavenly courts as belonging to the chosen. Moses would rather die than live if these people are not forgiven (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 356).

[9:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “stiff-necked.” See note on the word “stubborn” in 9:6.

[9:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “leave me alone.”

[9:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “from under heaven.”

[9:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” Although many English versions translate as two terms, this construction is a hendiadys which serves to intensify the emotion (cf. NAB, TEV “fierce anger”).

[9:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:25]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.

[9:25]  ¹² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[20:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”

[20:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to bring them to an end.”