Deuteronomy 10:10

I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel from the plains of Moab after his intercession, following the placement of the tablets in the ark and preceding the command to resume the journey (Deuteronomy 10:9-11).

The words — עָמַ֣דְתִּי ('a.Mad.ti) translates literally as "I remained," and בָ/הָ֗ר (va./Har) means "on the mountain," anchoring the duration of the intercession to a specific location.

The thread — The forty-day mountain stay echoes Moses' prior intercession (Deuteronomy 9:18, 9:25) and the initial tablet inscription period (Exodus 34:28).

Why it lands — The text records God's concrete decision to withhold judgment after a set period of intercession, requiring the reader to recognize that prolonged, specific prayer can alter a declared course of action.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאָנֹכִ֞יve./'a.no.Khiand/ I עָמַ֣דְתִּי'a.Mad.tiI remained בָהָ֗רva./Haron the/ mountain כַּיָּמִים֙ka/i.ya.Mimlike the/ days הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔יםha./Ri.sho.Nim<the>/ former אַרְבָּעִ֣ים'ar.ba.'Imforty י֔וֹםYomday[s]וְאַרְבָּעִ֖יםve./'ar.ba.'Imand/ forty לָ֑יְלָהLa.ye.lahnight[s]וַיִּשְׁמַ֨עva/i.yish.Ma'and/ he listened יְהוָ֜הYah.wehYahweh אֵלַ֗י'e.La/ito/ me גַּ֚םgamalso בַּפַּ֣עַםba./Pa.'amat the/ time הַהִ֔ואha./Hiv'<the>/ that לֹא־lo'-not אָבָ֥ה'a.Vahhe was willing יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh הַשְׁחִיתֶֽךָ׃hash.chi.Te./khato destroy/ you

King James Version

And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 9:18 Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
Deuteronomy 9:25 So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
Exodus 34:28 So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 32:33 The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.
Exodus 33:17 So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”
Exodus 24:18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 32:14 So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
Deuteronomy 3:23 At that time I also pleaded with the LORD:
Matthew 27:42 “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.