Bible Strands
Exodus 32:14
So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh relents from the calamity He threatened against His people after Moses appeals to the patriarchal covenant in Exodus 32:13. This occurs immediately before Moses descends the mountain with the inscribed tablets.
The words — וַ/יִּנָּ֖חֶם (va/yi.Na.chem) literally means “and He relented,” and הָרָעָה (ha.ra'ah) denotes “the harm” or disaster previously spoken of to execute.
The thread — This pattern of divine relenting from threatened disaster appears in Jonah 3:10 when people turn from evil, in Psalms 106:45 when God remembers His covenant, and in Jeremiah 26:13 when people correct their ways.
Why it lands — The text establishes that threatened judgments operate within the framework of covenant and intercession rather than as immutable decrees. It requires readers to take intercessory prayer and covenant fidelity seriously as factors in divine 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
King James Version
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Cross-references
- Jonah 3:10 When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
- Psalms 106:45 And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
- Jeremiah 26:13 So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Jeremiah 18:8 But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.
- 2 Samuel 24:16 But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- Jonah 4:2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
- Jeremiah 26:19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did Hezekiah not fear the LORD and seek His favor, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster He had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great harm on ourselves!”
- Joel 2:13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,