Bible Strands
Exodus 32:11
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses speaks to Yahweh immediately after God declares His intent to consume the Israelites and establish a new nation through Moses. This intercession occurs during the golden calf crisis, directly responding to the command in Exodus 32:10 to step aside.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יְחַ֣ל (va/y.chal) literally means “he entreated” or “he pleaded,” describing Moses’ direct appeal to the face of Yahweh. The question word לָ/מָ֤ה (la./mah) translates as “why?” framing Moses’ challenge to the reason for divine anger.
The thread — This intercession reappears in Deuteronomy 9:18 and 9:26, where Moses again falls before the Lord to halt destruction. Psalm 106:23 later references the event as Moses standing in the breach to divert God’s wrath.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe that intercession confronts judgment by appealing to God’s own prior actions and covenant reputation. It asks the reader to treat prayer as a concrete appeal to divine faithfulness rather than a request to override divine justice.
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
King James Version
And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?
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 9:26 And I prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
- Psalms 106:23 So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Numbers 11:11 So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?
- Numbers 16:22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Psalms 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
- Isaiah 63:17 Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?