Numbers 14:2

14:2 And all the Israelites murmured ¹  against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died ²  in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished ³  in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:13-20

14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear ⁴  it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them – 14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ⁵  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ⁶  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 14:15 If you kill ⁷  this entire people at once, ⁸  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 14:17 So now, let the power of my Lord ⁹  be great, just as you have said, 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, ¹⁰  forgiving iniquity and transgression, ¹¹  but by no means clearing ¹²  the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ ¹³  14:19 Please forgive ¹⁴  the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, ¹⁵  just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

14:20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked. ¹⁶ 

Numbers 16:41

16:41 But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” ¹⁷ 

Numbers 16:46-50

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!” 16:47 So Aaron did ¹⁸  as Moses commanded ¹⁹  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. 16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 16:49 Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah. 16:50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.

Exodus 32:10-14

32:10 So now, leave me alone ²⁰  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 ²¹  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? 32:12 Why ²²  should the Egyptians say, ²³  ‘For evil ²⁴  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ²⁵  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ²⁶  of this evil against your people. 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ²⁷  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ²⁸  I will give to your descendants, ²⁹  and they will inherit it forever.’” 32:14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

Exodus 32:1

The Sin of the Golden Calf

32:1 ³⁰ When the people saw that Moses delayed ³¹  in coming down ³²  from the mountain, they ³³  gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, ³⁴  make us gods ³⁵  that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, ³⁶  the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what ³⁷  has become of him!”

Exodus 12:23

12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ³⁸  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ³⁹  to enter your houses to strike you. ⁴⁰ 

Exodus 15:11

15:11 Who is like you, ⁴¹  O Lord, among the gods? ⁴² 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ⁴³  working wonders?

Matthew 5:44-45

5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ⁴⁴  pray for those who persecute you, 5:45 so that you may be like ⁴⁵  your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Luke 6:28

6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat ⁴⁶  you.

Luke 23:34

23:34 [But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”] ⁴⁷  Then ⁴⁸  they threw dice ⁴⁹  to divide his clothes. ⁵⁰ 

Acts 7:60

7:60 Then he fell ⁵¹  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ⁵²  When ⁵³  he had said this, he died. ⁵⁴ 

Romans 12:21

12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

James 5:15

5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ⁵⁵ 

[14:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.

[14:2]  ² tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu) – “O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.

[14:2]  ³ tn Heb “died.”

[14:13]  ⁴ tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

[14:14]  ⁵ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ⁶ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[14:15]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

[14:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “as one man.”

[14:17]  ⁹ tc The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.

[14:18]  ¹⁰ tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.

[14:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “rebellion.”

[14:18]  ¹² tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.

[14:18]  ¹³ sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.

[14:19]  ¹⁴ tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

[14:19]  ¹⁵ tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.

[14:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.

[16:41]  ¹⁷ sn The whole congregation here is trying to project its guilt on Moses and Aaron. It was they and their rebellion that brought about the deaths, not Moses and Aaron. The Lord had punished the sinners. The fact that the leaders had organized a rebellion against the Lord was forgotten by these people. The point here is that the Israelites had learned nothing of spiritual value from the event.

[16:47]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ¹⁹ tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[32:10]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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.

[32:12]  ²² tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ²³ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ²⁴ tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ²⁵ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ²⁶ tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[32:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your seed.”

[32:13]  ²⁸ tn “about” has been supplied.

[32:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “seed.”

[32:1]  ³⁰ sn This narrative is an unhappy interlude in the flow of the argument of the book. After the giving of the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle, the people get into idolatry. So this section tells what the people were doing when Moses was on the mountain. Here is an instant violation of the covenant that they had just agreed to uphold. But through it all Moses shines as the great intercessor for the people. So the subject matter is the sin of idolatry, its effects and its remedy. Because of the similarities to Jeroboam’s setting up the calves in Dan and Bethel, modern critics have often said this passage was written at that time. U. Cassuto shows how the language of this chapter would not fit an Iron Age setting in Dan. Rather, he argues, this story was well enough known for Jeroboam to imitate the practice (Exodus, 407-10). This chapter can be divided into four parts for an easier exposition: idolatry (32:1-6), intercession (32:7-14), judgment (32:15-29), intercession again (32:30-33:6). Of course, these sections are far more complex than this, but this gives an overview. Four summary statements for expository points might be: I. Impatience often leads to foolish violations of the faith, II. Violations of the covenant require intercession to escape condemnation, III. Those spared of divine wrath must purge evil from their midst, and IV. Those who purge evil from their midst will find reinstatement through intercession. Several important studies are available for this. See, among others, D. R. Davis, “Rebellion, Presence, and Covenant: A Study in Exodus 32-34,” WTJ 44 (1982): 71-87; M. Greenberg, “Moses’ Intercessory Prayer,” Ecumenical Institute for Advanced Theological Studies (1978): 21-35; R. A. Hamer, “The New Covenant of Moses,” Judaism 27 (1978): 345-50; R. L. Honeycutt, Jr., “Aaron, the Priesthood, and the Golden Calf,” RevExp 74 (1977): 523-35; J. N. Oswalt, “The Golden Calves and the Egyptian Concept of Deity,” EvQ 45 (1973): 13-20.

[32:1]  ³¹ tn The meaning of this verb is properly “caused shame,” meaning cause disappointment because he was not coming back (see also Judg 5:28 for the delay of Sisera’s chariots [S. R. Driver, Exodus, 349]).

[32:1]  ³² tn The infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition is used here epexegetically, explaining the delay of Moses.

[32:1]  ³³ tn Heb “the people.”

[32:1]  ³⁴ tn The imperative means “arise.” It could be serving here as an interjection, getting Aaron’s attention. But it might also have the force of prompting him to get busy.

[32:1]  ³⁵ tn The plural translation is required here (although the form itself could be singular in meaning) because the verb that follows in the relative clause is a plural verb – that they go before us).

[32:1]  ³⁶ tn The text has “this Moses.” But this instance may find the demonstrative used in an earlier deictic sense, especially since there is no article with it.

[32:1]  ³⁷ tn The interrogative is used in an indirect question (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).

[12:23]  ³⁸ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ³⁹ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ⁴⁰ tn “you” has been supplied.

[15:11]  ⁴¹ tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

[15:11]  ⁴² sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

[15:11]  ⁴³ tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).

[5:44]  ⁴⁴ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

[5:45]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “be sons of your Father in heaven.” Here, however, the focus is not on attaining a relationship (becoming a child of God) but rather on being the kind of person who shares the characteristics of God himself (a frequent meaning of the Semitic idiom “son of”). See L&N 58.26.

[6:28]  ⁴⁶ tn The substantival participle ἐπηρεαζόντων (ephreazontwn), sometimes translated “those who abuse” (NRSV), is better rendered “those who mistreat,” a more general term (see L&N 88.129).

[23:34]  ⁴⁷ tc Many important mss (Ì⁷⁵ א¹ B D* W Θ 070 579 1241 pc sy^s sa) lack v. 34a. It is included in א*^,2 (A) C D² L Ψ 0250 Ë^1,(13) 33 Ï lat sy^c,p,h. It also fits a major Lukan theme of forgiving the enemies (6:27-36), and it has a parallel in Stephen’s response in Acts 7:60. The lack of parallels in the other Gospels argues also for inclusion here. On the other hand, the fact of the parallel in Acts 7:60 may well have prompted early scribes to insert the saying in Luke’s Gospel alone. Further, there is the great difficulty of explaining why early and diverse witnesses lack the saying. A decision is difficult, but even those who regard the verse as inauthentic literarily often consider it to be authentic historically. For this reason it has been placed in single brackets in the translation.

[23:34]  ⁴⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:34]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “cast lots” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent “threw dice” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[23:34]  ⁵⁰ sn An allusion to Ps 22:18, which identifies Jesus as the suffering innocent one.

[7:60]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “Then falling to his knees he cried out.” The participle θείς (qeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[7:60]  ⁵² sn The remarks Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them recall statements Jesus made on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).

[7:60]  ⁵³ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:60]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[5:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”