Exodus 32:11–14
Moses pleads with God for the people who had just failed him
Study it word by word11But Moses pleaded before YHWH his Elohim and said, “Why, YHWH, does your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the ground’? Turn from the heat of your anger and relent concerning the evil planned against your people.
13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
14And YHWH relented concerning the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
In its context
9And YHWH said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and look, it is a stubborn people.
10Now let me alone, so that my anger may burn against them and I may consume them; and I will make you into a great nation.”
…
15And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets written on both their sides; on one side and on the other they were written.
16And the tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim, engraved on the tablets.
Its words in the original
- יְחַלyechal· be sick; entreat
Be sick or weak. With "face", entreat: soften someone's face.
- מֹשֶׁהmoshe· Moses
Moses, the man God called to bring Israel out of Egypt and through whom he gave the Law. His name sounds like "draw out" (Exodus 2:10).
- פְּנֵיpene· face, presence
Face. From there "surface" (the face of something) and "presence" (being before someone's face); with a preposition it means "before" or "in front of".
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- אֱלֹהָיelohay· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- יֶחֱרֶהyechere· burn with anger
Burn, be kindled; said of a person, become very angry.
- אַפְּap· anger, nose
Nose, nostrils. Since breathing grows hard in anger, the same word also means "anger"; sometimes "face".
- עַמֶּame· people
People: a human group joined by kinship, history and destiny. "My people", said by God, is Israel. Also the people as a crowd, or troops.
- הוֹצֵאתָhotseta· go out, bring out
Go out, come out. In the causative form, "make go out", "bring out", "lead out", "produce".
- אֶרֶץerets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- מִצְרַיִםmitsrayim· Egypt, Mizraim
Mizraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt; also the Egyptians. As a person, a son of Ham, ancestor of the Egyptians.
- כֹחַchoach· strength
Strength, power, vigor; also what the ground can produce. A word with the same letters names a large lizard.
- גָּדוֹלgadol· great
Great in size, number, age or importance; also "the elder" of two; "high priest" is "great priest".
- יָדyad· hand, power
Hand. Figuratively, power or control ("into the hand of" = into the power of); also side, part, or share. Also a projecting piece, such as a tenon.
- חֲזָקָהchazaka· strong, hard
Strong, mighty ("a strong hand"); also hard, stubborn ("hard of heart").
- מִצְרַיִםmitsrayim· Egyptian
Egyptian.
- רָעָהraa· evil, bad, harm
Bad; evil. It includes what is morally wrong and also what does harm: misfortune, disaster, distress.
- הֲרֹגharog· kill
Kill, slay.
- הָרִיםharim· mountain, hill country
Mountain, hill; hill country.
- כַלֹּתָchalota· finish, consume
Finish, complete something; come to an end. Also put an end to something, consume it, destroy it.
- אֲדָמָהadama· ground, land
The ground, the soil that is tilled; also the territory where people live. In Hebrew "adamah" sounds like "adam", the human being formed from it.
- שׁוּבshuv· return, turn back
Turn back, return. Also turn away; in the causative form, bring back, give back, answer. Figuratively, turn back to God (change course). Often adverbial: "again".
- חֲרוֹןcharon· burning anger
Burning of anger.
- הִנָּחֵםhinachem· relent, be sorry, comfort
A verb of deep feeling, with two uses: "comfort" someone, and "be sorry" for something or "relent". Said of God, it expresses his grief at evil or that he does not carry out a punishment he had announced; not that he had made a mistake (compare Numbers 23:19).
- זְכֹרzechor· remember
Remember, call to mind; also mention. When God "remembers" someone, it is not that he had forgotten: it means he acts in his favor.
- אַבְרָהָםavraham· Abraham
Abraham, the name God gave to Abram; it sounds like "father of a multitude" (Genesis 17:5). The father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised the land and blessing for all the families of the earth.
- יִצְחָקyitschak· Isaac
Isaac, the son promised to Abraham and Sarah, father of Esau and Jacob. His name means "he laughs" (Genesis 17:17, 19; 21:6).
- יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
- עֲבָדֶיavade· slave, servant
Slave, servant: someone who belongs to another or is in his service. It can be a slave, a worker or a high official of the king; before God, one who serves him. "Your servant" is a polite way to say "I".
- נִשְׁבַּעְתָּnishbata· swear
Swear: bind oneself solemnly, calling on God as witness; in the causative form, make someone swear. In Hebrew the verb looks like the word "seven".
- תְּדַבֵּרtedaber· speak
Speak, talk, say; also promise or command.
- אַרְבֶּהarbe· multiply, increase
Become many, increase in number or amount; multiply. In the causative form, make many, do much.
- זַרְעֲzara· offspring, seed
Seed. From there "offspring": the children and generations that come from someone. Also sowing and semen.
- כוֹכְבֵיchochve· star
Star.
- שָּׁמָיִםshamayim· heavens, sky
The heavens: what is above, where the clouds, the sun and the stars are seen; also the dwelling of God. In Hebrew it is always plural. With birds, "the sky".
- אֶתֵּןeten· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- נָחֲלוּnachalu· inherit, possess
Receive as an inheritance; take possession of a land. In the causative, give as an inheritance.
- עֹלָםolam· forever, eternal
A very long time whose end cannot be seen: looking forward, "forever"; looking back, "of old", "ancient".
- עֲשׂוֹתasot· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.