Texts in Conversation
Exodus and Numbers similarly describe Moses’ intercession, warning God that the nations would interpret Israel’s destruction as proof he was unable to keep his promise which would damage the divine reputation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 32:12
Hebrew Bible
10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’”
Numbers 14:13
Hebrew Bible
12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them—I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!” 13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear it—for you brought up this people by your power from among them— 14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said,
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Notes and References
“... These two characteristics of Exodus 32–34 (absence of repentance, depiction of forgiveness with punishment) can be discerned in the narrative description of Israel’s refusal to enter the land in Numbers 14. There Yhwh threatens again to destroy the nation and fulfil his promises through Moses (14:12). As in Exodus 32 Moses appeals to Yhwh’s international fame (Numbers 14:13–16) and patriarchal promises (14:16). Echoing Exodus 34 Moses recites elements from the character creed, before requesting forgiveness (compare Numbers 14:19, סלח, נשא with Exodus 32:32, נשא; 34:9, סלח). As in Exodus 32–34 Yhwh grants forgiveness (Numbers 14:20, סלח) based on Moses’s intercession (כדברך), but then announces capital punishment on that entire generation (Numbers 14:22–23). ...”
Boda, Mark. J.
"Penitential Innovations within the Twelve" in Davies, Graham I., et al (eds.) On Stone and Scroll: Essays in Honour of Graham Ivor Davies
(p. 398) De Gruyter, 2011
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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