Exodus 32:11

32:11 But Moses sought the favor ¹  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 32:30

32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, ²  “You have committed a very serious sin, ³  but now I will go up to the Lord – perhaps I can make atonement ⁴  on behalf of your sin.”

[32:11]  ¹ 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.

[32:30]  ² tn Heb “and it was on the morrow and Moses said to the people.”

[32:30]  ³ tn The text uses a cognate accusative: “you have sinned a great sin.”

[32:30]  ⁴ tn The form אֲכַפְּרָה (’akhappÿrah) is a Piel cohortative/imperfect. Here with only a possibility of being successful, a potential imperfect nuance works best.