Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 32:10
Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
10. and I will make, &c.] The promise given to Abraham (Gen 12:2) is now restricted to Moses (cf. Num 14:12).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. Now therefore let me alone] Moses had already begun to plead with God in the behalf of this rebellious and ungrateful people; and so powerful was his intercession that even the Omnipotent represents himself as incapable of doing any thing in the way of judgment, unless his creature desisted from praying for mercy! See an instance of the prevalence of fervent intercession in the case of Abraham, Ge 18:23-33, from the model of which the intercession of Moses seems to have been formed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Do not hinder me by thy prayers, which I see thou art now about to make on their behalf.
I will make of thee; to come out of thy loins.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. make of thee a great nationCaremust be taken not to suppose this language as betokening any changeor vacillation in the divine purpose. The covenant made with thepatriarchs had been ratified in the most solemn manner; it couldnot and never was intended that it should be broken. But themanner in which God spoke to Moses served two important purposesittended to develop the faith and intercessory patriotism of the Hebrewleader, and to excite the serious alarm of the people, that God wouldreject them and deprive them of the privileges they had fondlyfancied were so secure.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now, therefore, let me alone,…. And not solicit him with prayers and supplications in favour of these people, but leave him to take his own way with them, without troubling him with any suit on their behalf; and so the Targum of Jonathan,
“and now leave off thy prayer, and do not cry for them before me;”
as the Prophet Jeremiah was often bid not to pray for this people in his time, which was a token of God’s great displeasure with them, as well as shows the prevalence of prayer with him; that he knows not how, as it were, humanly speaking, to deny the requests of his children; and even though made not on their own account, but on the account of a sinful and disobedient people:
that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: which suggests that they were deserving of the wrath of God to the uttermost, and to be destroyed from off the face of the earth, and even to be punished with an everlasting destruction:
and I will make of thee a great nation; increase his family to such a degree, as to make them as great a nation or greater than the people of Israel were, see De 9:14 or the meaning is, he would set him over a great nation, make him king over a people as large or larger than they, which is a sense mentioned by Fagius and Vatablus; and, indeed, as Bishop Patrick observes, if this people had been destroyed, there would have been no danger of the promise not being made good, which was made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning the multiplication of their seed, urged by Moses, Ex 32:13 seeing that would have stood firm, if a large nation was made out of the family of Moses, who descended from them: this was a very great temptation to Moses, and had he been a selfish man, and sought the advancement of his own family, and careless of, and indifferent to the people of Israel, he would have accepted of it; it is a noble testimony in his favour, and proves him not to be the designing man he is represented by the deists.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(10) Let me alone.This was not a command to abstain from deprecation, but rather an intimation that deprecation might have power to change Gods purpose. Moses was tried by an offer which would have exalted him at the expense of the people. He was allowed to see that he might either sacrifice the people and obtain his own aggrandisement, or deny himself and save them. That he chose the better part redounds to his undying glory.
I will make of thee a great nationi.e., I will put thee in the place of Abraham, make thee the father of the faithful, destroy all existing Israelites but thee and thine, and proceed de novo to raise up a great nation out of thy loins.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Let me alone Do not interfere, and restrain the punitive outgoing of my wrath by the intercession which I see in thy heart . “Moses had not yet opened his mouth, but God foresaw the holy violence with which his importunity would besiege his throne . ” Bush .
That I may consume them Exo 32:28 shows that about three thousand of the people perished before the consuming judgment that followed hard upon the sin, but Moses’s plea availed to modify the extent of the fearful stroke . Exo 32:14. The blending of justice and mercy in God’s revelations of himself to Israel is worthy of devout attention . His wrath is a fearful power, and may wax hot against transgressors of his law, and certainly will consume the unrepentant sinner; but he also “keepeth mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,” (Exo 34:7. )
I will make of thee a great nation He intimates that he might destroy all the rest of the nation, and by means of Moses alone raise up the great nation of which the promise to the fathers had repeatedly spoken .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 32:10. Now therefore let me alone One would be apt to conclude from the manner of speaking here, that the Almighty meant this as a trial of the benevolence and piety of Moses; proposing to him the total destruction of this perverse generation, and the transferring to his single family all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, in order to prove, whether he would humanely and piously intercede for the people, or accept a proposal so flattering to himself; and it cannot be denied that the character of Moses appears, in this view, most amiable and disinterested.
REFLECTIONS.1. The Lord hastens Moses down to the people. Had he left them without God’s warrant, he had been chargeable for their rebellion. When ministers unnecessarily leave their flocks, or masters their families, and mischief ensues, they must answer for it to God. 2. The Lord seems to disclaim any farther relation to them; he calls them thy people. Sin makes fearful separations between God and the soul. 3. He charges them with corrupting themselves. Every sinner is self-corrupted, and therefore at the last day will appear self-condemned. 4. He upbraids their unfaithfulness, that they had so soon turned aside, after such distinguishing favours had been shewn them, and such solemn engagements made by them. To sin against our vows and our mercies is double guilt. 5. He tells him of their gross idolatry, the proof of their utterly abandoned temper; and such perverseness, as mercies would neither constrain nor terrors overawe. It is desperate indeed with the soul, when God declares all methods of dealing with it to be vain. 6. He threatens to destroy them in his wrath. What sinner need not tremble for himself, when he thinks how often he has provoked this wrath, which, if it were kindled, yea, but for a moment, who might abide it? Lastly, he seems to restrain Moses from interceding for them, and promises to raise up to him another nation in their stead. But one thing could save them from immediate ruin, and that was Moses’s prayer; and here was enough, if he was at all self-interested, to lead him to abandon them. But he, whose heart is filled with love, will shew, like Moses, that he can love his neighbour as himself, and can forego his own interest for the good of his fellow-creatures.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
Ver. 10. Let me alone. ] God is fain to bespeak his own freedom: as if Moses’s devotion were stronger than God’s indignation. Great is the power of prayer; able, after a sort, to transfuse a dead palsy into the hand of Omnipotency. For, Let me alone, the Chaldee hath, Leave off thy prayer: but Moses would not. If he get but his head above water, the Lord shall hear of David. Psa 69:1-3
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
let me alone
This whole scene affords a striking contrast between law and grace. (Cf) Moses’ intercession with Christ’s Joh 17:1-26 Israel was a nation, under probation Exo 19:5; Exo 19:6 believers under grace are a family, awaiting glory; Joh 20:17; Rom 5:1; Rom 5:2. For them there is “an advocate with the Father, whose propitiatory sacrifice never loses efficacy 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 2:2. Moses pleads a covenant Exo 32:13. Christ points to a sacrifice Joh 17:4.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
let me alone: Gen 18:32, Gen 18:33, Gen 32:26-28, Num 14:19, Num 14:20, Num 16:22, Num 16:45-48, Deu 9:14, Deu 9:19, Jer 14:11, Jer 15:1, Jam 5:16
my wrath: Exo 32:11, Exo 32:19, Exo 22:24
and I will: Num 14:12, Deu 9:14, Deu 9:19
Reciprocal: Gen 12:2 – General Gen 19:22 – for Exo 32:32 – blot me Exo 33:3 – for I Num 11:2 – prayed Num 12:13 – General Num 16:21 – that I may Deu 9:13 – I have Deu 9:18 – I fell down Jdg 2:20 – the anger Ezr 9:14 – wouldest not thou Psa 106:23 – he said Pro 29:8 – wise Son 6:5 – away Jer 7:16 – pray Jer 11:14 – pray Eze 20:13 – I said Eze 22:30 – make Hos 11:9 – not execute Hab 3:2 – in wrath Luk 13:7 – cut Joh 7:18 – seeketh his glory Act 13:46 – seeing Rom 10:1 – my heart’s 1Jo 5:16 – he shall ask
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 32:10. Let me alone What did Moses, or what could he do, to hinder God from consuming them? When God resolves to abandon a people, and the decree is gone forth, no intercession can prevent it. But God would thus express the greatness of his displeasure, after the manner of men, who would have none to intercede for those they resolve to be severe with.
Thus also he would put an honour upon prayer, intimating, that nothing but the intercession of Moses could save them from ruin.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
32:10 Now {f} therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
(f) God shows that the prayers of the godly hold back his punishment.