Êxodo 32

Êxodo 32

Morgan writes "“Undoubtedly Moses was filled with compassion for the people, but his chief concern was for the honor of the name of God.” NET Note - The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request. 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. (On destroy) 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. John Currid makes an excellent point - the Egyptians would surely mock both God and Israel, saying that Yahweh had merely been toying with Israel and that his plan all along had not been to deliver them, but to destroy them. One of the principal purposes of the exodus and, in particular, the series of plagues, was so that the Egyptians might know who Yahweh was, his power, and his redeeming hand (see Ex 7:5; Ex 8:10; Ex 9:14). If God were now to destroy Israel, Egypt would be convinced of nothing! (Epsc Exodus Volume 2 ) Bush - Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, &c. The prayer of Moses on this occasion contains a threefold plea; (1.) That God would not reflect upon his own wisdom by so soon destroying what he had employed so much power to preserve. (2.) That he would not give advantage to the Egyptians to glory over the ruin of a race whom they so much hated. (3.) That he would remember his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The second of these arguments he prosecutes in the passage before us, and in doing so shows that he had the glory of God quite as much at heart as the welfare of Israel. Aware that the eyes and the tongues of Egypt and the surrounding nations were intent on finding matter of malicious triumph over a people so signally delivered from bondage, so miraculously sustained, so wondrously conducted, he would at all hazards preclude every ground and occasion upon which the divine glory could be blemished in the estimate of his enemies. Should the chosen people now after such illustrious displays of divine power in their behalf perish under the stroke of deserved wrath, what would be more natural than that fickleness or impotence should be imputed to their covenant God, and thus his holy name be blasphemed on every side? All that had been thus far done would go for nothing, and to human appearance the Most High would ‘disgrace the throne of his glory.’ But this was a consequence which the pious heart of Moses could not endure to contemplate, and therefore is he so emphatic in urging the question, ‘What will the Egyptians say?’ Whatever petitions we offer to God, the glorifying his great name should ever be the grand prompting motive and the ultimate scope. (Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Exodus Volume 2 different source - Volume 2) Here is an interesting question -- What would have happened to Israel if Moses had not interceded? The answer is in Psalm 106:23 "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach ( "stood in the gap before him.") before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them." Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people - Moses calls for God to stop (turn in Septuagint = pauomai in aorist imperative) from His "wrathful anger" (Lxx - tes orges tou thumou) Moses is not saying ignore their sins, but have mercy of them and ultimately he pleads for mercy on the basis of God's character (Mercy). Hamilton points out that "Never in the Bible does God “repent” of sin, but he does “repent” of evil (that is, “evil” understood as judgment, calamity, or disaster)..... Hebrews 4:16 urges us “to come boldly unto the throne of grace” (KJV), but is Ex 32:12b–c taking that truth a bit too far? I think not, if the pray-er is somebody like Moses. Only those who have stood for forty days and nights alone with a holy God, only those who are God’s confidants, will pray at this depth and with this audacity. The rest, those closer to the margins of faith, will offer up more polite and orthodox prayers....Whenever God repents/changes his mind about an intended, announced course of future action, it is because (1) some person or persons have changed their behavior, either from bad to good (Jer. 18:8) or from good to bad (18:10). In. Jer. 18:8 God moves from announced judgment to announced clemency. In Jer. 18:10 God moves from announced clemency to announced judgment. In at least two cases human repentance is expressed by a “turning from” (šûb min) evil, the same expression that Moses uses with God in Exod. 32:12. See Jer. 18:8; 26:3. (2) Or God may change his mind about something because party A has interceded before God for guilty party B (Exod. 32:12, 14; Amos 7:2–3, 5–6). I am aware of only one verse of the thirty-four listed earlier (see Grammatical and Lexical Notes) where God changes his mind without either human repentance or prophetic intercession, and that is 2 Sam. 24:16 (= 1 Chron. 21:15), for which NIV uses “was grieved.” (Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary) NET Note on change Your mind (relent) - The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It (naham/nacham) 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. Stuart - This sort of appeal to God appears again, though not in exactly the same form or wording, in Num 14:13–19 (in connection with the rebellion in the wilderness) and in Deut 9:26–29 (a reminder of the present context). Abraham himself had appealed to God’s character and past faithfulness in Gen 18:22–32 on behalf of the city of Sodom. Bush - Repent of this evil against thy people. Heb. על הרעה לעמך al haraah le-ammeka, over the evil to thy people. Gr. επι τῃ κακιᾳ του λαου σου, upon the evil of the people. The original doubtless implies both the evil of crime committed by the people, and the evil of punishment suffered, or about to be suffered, by them. The latter idea of the two was so prominent in the mind of the Chaldean translator that he has rendered it, ‘Repent of the evil which thou purposedst to do unto thy people.’ This of course is spoken after the manner of men on the principles explained in the Note on Gen. 6:6. The simple meaning is, ‘Relent from inflicting this threatened evil.’ (Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Exodus Volume 2 different source - Volume 2) Change mind (05162)(naham/nacham) is a verb which means to be sorry, to pity, to console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted. According to the TWOT nacham reflects the idea of "breathing deeply" and hence refers to the physical display of one's feelings, such as sorrow, or in this case compassion or comfort. The Septuagint (Lxx) uses the adjective hileos (with verb "be" = "be merciful) which means to be favorably disposed to someone "with the implication of overcoming obstacles that are unfavorable to a relationship" (BDAG). The writer of Hebrews quotes the Septuagint translation of Jeremiah 31:34+ which uses hileos in the context of the nation of Israel quoting God Himself Who declares "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL (hileos) TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." (Hebrews 8:12+) Exodus 32:13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" NET Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.'" NLT Exodus 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.' " ESV Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'" NIV Exodus 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' " KJV Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. LXE Exodus 32:13 remembering Abraam and Isaac and Jacob thy servants, to whom thou hast sworn by thyself, and hast spoken to them, saying, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven for multitude, and all this land which thou spokest of to give to them, so that they shall possess it for ever. ASV Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. CSB Exodus 32:13 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel-- You swore to them by Your very self and declared, 'I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.'" NKJ Exodus 32:13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them,`I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" NRS Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" YLT Exodus 32:13 'Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou speakest: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited to the age;' Remember: Lev 26:42 De 7:8 Dt 9:27 Lu 1:54,55 to whom: Ge 22:16 26:3,4 Heb 6:13 I will multiply: Ge 12:2,7 13:15,16 15:5,7,18 26:4 28:13,14 35:11,12 48:16 Exodus 32 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MOSES APPEALS TO THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself (cf Ge 22:16), and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever - Moses repeats the essence of the Abrahamic Covenant in his appeal to God, especially God's unconditional promises of many descendants and the promised land forever. Saints frequently call on God to remember - see Deut. 9:27; Neh. 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 29; Ps. 137:7. Moses reiterates this appeal to the Abrahamic Covenant in Dt 9:27 ‘Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin." THOUGHT - Moses gives all of us a good pattern of prayer. How often do we pray the actual Word of God to God? This is another reason we do well to memorize Scripture, so that when we pray, the Holy Spirit can bring the Holy Words to our mind. Old John