Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist recounts Yahweh’s declaration to destroy the rebellious generation during the wilderness wanderings, positioned between the recollection of the Egyptian plagues and the subsequent rebellion at the border of the promised land. Moses intercedes as the chosen mediator during this crisis of covenant faithlessness.
The words — The term לוּלֵי (lu.Lei) translates literally as “if not,” framing the entire narrative turn. It introduces the conditional clause that highlights Moses’ intercession as the sole barrier to divine judgment.
The thread — This intercessory pattern echoes in Deuteronomy 9:25, where Moses recounts falling before the Lord for forty days to avert destruction, and anticipates Ezekiel 22:30, which calls for a man to stand in the gap on behalf of the land.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine mercy operates through appointed mediators who absorb wrath on behalf of the guilty. It requires a reader to identify who stands in the breach and to acknowledge that preservation depends entirely on intercession rather than merit.
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
Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 9:13 The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 22:30 I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
- James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Exodus 32:32 Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
- Numbers 16:5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses He will bring near to Himself.
- Psalms 105:6 O offspring of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.
- Ezekiel 13:5 You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.
- Ezekiel 20:8 But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
- Matthew 12:18 “Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.