Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Exodus 32:30 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ex 32:30	Strong Concordance	And it came to pass on the morrow [04283], that Moses [04872] said [0559] unto the people [05971], Ye have sinned [02398] a great [01419] sin [02401]: and now I will go up [05927] unto the LORD [03068]; peradventure [0194] I shall make an atonement [03722] for [01157] your sin [02403].
	King James	And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin--Moses labored to show the people the heinous nature of their sin, and to bring them to repentance. But not content with that, he hastened more earnestly to intercede for them.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin--Moses labored to show the people the heinous nature of their sin, and to bring them to repentance. But not content with that, he hastened more earnestly to intercede for them.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
atonement (See Scofield) - (Exo 29:33).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
After Moses had thus avenged the honour of the Lord upon the sinful nation, he returned the next day to Jehovah as a mediator, who is not a mediator of one (Gal 3:20), that by the force of his intercession he might turn the divine wrath, which threatened destruction, into sparing grace and compassion, and that he might expiate the sin of the nation. He had received no assurance of mercy in reply to his first entreaty (Exo 32:11-13). He therefore announced his intention to the people in these words: "Peradventure I can make an atonement for your sin." But to the Lord he said (Exo 32:31, Exo 32:32), "The sin of this people is a great sin; they have made themselves a god of gold," in opposition to the clear commandment in Exo 20:23 : "and now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me out of the book that Thou hast written." The book which Jehovah has written is the book of life, or of the living (Psa 69:29; Dan 12:1). This expression is founded upon the custom of writing the names of the burgesses of a town or country in a burgess-list, whereby they are recognised as natives of the country, or citizens of the city, and all the privileges of citizenship are secured to them. The book of life contains the list of the righteous (Psa 69:29), and ensures to those whose names are written there, life before God, first in the earthly kingdom of God, and then eternal life also, according to the knowledge of salvation, which keeps pace with the progress of divine revelation, e.g., in the New Testament, where the heirs of eternal life are found written in the book of life (Phi 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8, etc.), - an advance for which the way was already prepared by Isa 4:3 and Dan 12:1. To blot out of Jehovah's book, therefore, is to cut off from fellowship with the living God, or from the kingdom of those who live before God, and to deliver over to death. As a true mediator of his people, Moses was ready to stake his own life for the deliverance of the nation, and not to live before God himself, if Jehovah did not forgive the people their sin. These words of Moses were the strongest expression of devoted, self-sacrificing love. And they were just as deep and true as the wish expressed by the Apostle Paul in Rom 9:3, that he might be accursed from Christ for the sake of his brethren according to the flesh. Bengel compares this wish of the apostle to the prayer of Moses, and says with regard to this unbounded fulness of love, "It is not easy to estimate the measure of love in a Moses and a Paul; for the narrow boundary of our reasoning powers does not comprehend it, as the little child is unable to comprehend the courage of warlike heroes" (Eng. Tr.). The infinite love of God is unable to withstand the importunity of such love. God, who is holy love, cannot sacrifice the righteous and good for the unrighteous and guilty, nor can He refuse the mediatorial intercession of His faithful servant, so long as the sinful nation has not filled up the measure of its guilt, in which case even the intercession of a Moses and a Samuel would not be able to avert the judgment (Jer 15:1, cf. Eze 14:16). Hence, although Jehovah puts back the wish and prayer of Moses with the words, "Whoever (אשׁר מי, both here and in Sa2 20:11, is more emphatic than either one or the other alone) has sinned, him will I blot out of My book," He yields to the entreaty that He will ensure to Moses the continuance of the nation under His guidance, and under the protection of His angel, which shall go before it (see at Exo 33:2-3), and defer the punishment of their sin until the day of His visitation.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

After Moses had thus avenged the honour of the Lord upon the sinful nation, he returned the next day to Jehovah as a mediator, who is not a mediator of one (Gal 3:20), that by the force of his intercession he might turn the divine wrath, which threatened destruction, into sparing grace and compassion, and that he might expiate the sin of the nation. He had received no assurance of mercy in reply to his first entreaty (Exo 32:11-13). He therefore announced his intention to the people in these words: "Peradventure I can make an atonement for your sin." But to the Lord he said (Exo 32:31, Exo 32:32), "The sin of this people is a great sin; they have made themselves a god of gold," in opposition to the clear commandment in Exo 20:23 : "and now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me out of the book that Thou hast written." The book which Jehovah has written is the book of life, or of the living (Psa 69:29; Dan 12:1). This expression is founded upon the custom of writing the names of the burgesses of a town or country in a burgess-list, whereby they are recognised as natives of the country, or citizens of the city, and all the privileges of citizenship are secured to them. The book of life contains the list of the righteous (Psa 69:29), and ensures to those whose names are written there, life before God, first in the earthly kingdom of God, and then eternal life also, according to the knowledge of salvation, which keeps pace with the progress of divine revelation, e.g., in the New Testament, where the heirs of eternal life are found written in the book of life (Phi 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8, etc.), - an advance for which the way was already prepared by Isa 4:3 and Dan 12:1. To blot out of Jehovah's book, therefore, is to cut off from fellowship with the living God, or from the kingdom of those who live before God, and to deliver over to death. As a true mediator of his people, Moses was ready to stake his own life for the deliverance of the nation, and not to live before God himself, if Jehovah did not forgive the people their sin. These words of Moses were the strongest expression of devoted, self-sacrificing love. And they were just as deep and true as the wish expressed by the Apostle Paul in Rom 9:3, that he might be accursed from Christ for the sake of his brethren according to the flesh. Bengel compares this wish of the apostle to the prayer of Moses, and says with regard to this unbounded fulness of love, "It is not easy to estimate the measure of love in a Moses and a Paul; for the narrow boundary of our reasoning powers does not comprehend it, as the little child is unable to comprehend the courage of warlike heroes" (Eng. Tr.). The infinite love of God is unable to withstand the importunity of such love. God, who is holy love, cannot sacrifice the righteous and good for the unrighteous and guilty, nor can He refuse the mediatorial intercession of His faithful servant, so long as the sinful nation has not filled up the measure of its guilt, in which case even the intercession of a Moses and a Samuel would not be able to avert the judgment (Jer 15:1, cf. Eze 14:16). Hence, although Jehovah puts back the wish and prayer of Moses with the words, "Whoever (אשׁר מי, both here and in Sa2 20:11, is more emphatic than either one or the other alone) has sinned, him will I blot out of My book," He yields to the entreaty that He will ensure to Moses the continuance of the nation under His guidance, and under the protection of His angel, which shall go before it (see at Exo 33:2-3), and defer the punishment of their sin until the day of His visitation.

Top

³³ And they shall eat [0398] those things wherewith the atonement was made [03722], to consecrate [04390] [03027] and to sanctify [06942] them: but a stranger [02114] shall not eat [0398] thereof, because they are holy [06944].

² And I will send [07971] an angel [04397] before [06440] thee; and I will drive out [01644] the Canaanite [03669], the Amorite [0567], and the Hittite [02850], and the Perizzite [06522], the Hivite [02340], and the Jebusite [02983]:
³ Unto a land [0776] flowing [02100] with milk [02461] and honey [01706]: for I will not go up [05927] in the midst [07130] of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked [07186] [06203] people [05971]: lest I consume [03615] thee in the way [01870].

¹¹ And one [0376] of Joab's [03097] men [05288] stood [05975] by him, and said [0559], He [04310] that favoureth [02654] Joab [03097], and he that is for David [01732], let him go after [0310] Joab [03097].

¹⁶ Though these three [07969] men [0582] were in it [08432], as I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], they shall deliver [05337] neither sons [01121] nor daughters [01323]; they only shall be delivered [05337], but the land [0776] shall be desolate [08077].

¹ Then said [0559] the LORD [03068] unto me, Though Moses [04872] and Samuel [08050] stood [05975] before [06440] me, yet my mind [05315] could not be toward this people [05971]: cast them out [07971] of my sight [06440], and let them go forth [03318].

³ For [1063] I [1473] could wish [2172] that myself [846] were [1511] accursed [331] from [575] Christ [5547] for [5228] my [3450] brethren [80], my [3450] kinsmen [4773] according [2596] to the flesh [4561]:

¹ And at that time [06256] shall Michael [04317] stand up [05975], the great [01419] prince [08269] which standeth [05975] for the children [01121] of thy people [05971]: and there shall be [01961] a time [06256] of trouble [06869], such as never was since there was a nation [01471] even to that same time [06256]: and at that time [06256] thy people [05971] shall be delivered [04422], every one that shall be found [04672] written [03789] in the book [05612].

³ And it shall come to pass, that he that is left [07604] in Zion [06726], and he that remaineth [03498] in Jerusalem [03389], shall be called [0559] holy [06918], even every one that is written [03789] among the living [02416] in Jerusalem [03389]:

⁸ And [2532] all [3956] that dwell [2730] upon [1909] the earth [1093] shall worship [4352] him [846], whose [3739] names [3686] are [1125] not [3756] written [1125] in [1722] the book [976] of life [2222] of the Lamb [721] slain [4969] from [575] the foundation [2602] of the world [2889].

⁵ He that overcometh [3528], the same [3778] shall be clothed [4016] in [1722] white [3022] raiment [2440]; and [2532] I will [1813] not [3364] blot out [1813] his [846] name [3686] out of [1537] the book [976] of life [2222], but [2532] I will confess [1843] his [846] name [3686] before [1799] my [3450] Father [3962], and [2532] before [1799] his [846] angels [32].

³ And [2532] I intreat [2065] thee [4571] also [2532], true [1103] yokefellow [4805], help [4815] those women [846] which [3748] laboured [4866] with me [3427] in [1722] the gospel [2098], with [3326] Clement [2815] also [2532], and [2532] with other [3062] my [3450] fellowlabourers [4904], whose [3739] names [3686] are in [1722] the book [976] of life [2222].

²⁹ But I am poor [06041] and sorrowful [03510]: let thy salvation [03444], O God [0430], set me up on high [07682].

²³ Ye shall not make [06213] with me gods [0430] of silver [03701], neither shall ye make [06213] unto you gods [0430] of gold [02091].

³² Yet now, if thou wilt forgive [05375] their sin [02403]--; and if not, blot [04229] me, I pray thee, out of thy book [05612] which thou hast written [03789].

³¹ And Moses [04872] returned [07725] unto the LORD [03068], and said [0559], Oh [0577], this people [05971] have sinned [02398] a great [01419] sin [02401], and have made [06213] them gods [0430] of gold [02091].

¹¹ And Moses [04872] besought [02470] [06440] the LORD [03068] his God [0430], and said [0559], LORD [03068], why doth thy wrath [0639] wax hot [02734] against thy people [05971], which thou hast brought forth [03318] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714] with great [01419] power [03581], and with a mighty [02389] hand [03027]?
¹² Wherefore should the Egyptians [04714] speak [0559], and say [0559], For mischief [07451] did he bring [03318] them out, to slay [02026] them in the mountains [02022], and to consume [03615] them from the face [06440] of the earth [0127]? Turn [07725] from thy fierce [02740] wrath [0639], and repent [05162] of this evil [07451] against thy people [05971].
¹³ Remember [02142] Abraham [085], Isaac [03327], and Israel [03478], thy servants [05650], to whom thou swarest [07650] by thine own self, and saidst [01696] unto them, I will multiply [07235] your seed [02233] as the stars [03556] of heaven [08064], and all this land [0776] that I have spoken [0559] of will I give [05414] unto your seed [02233], and they shall inherit [05157] it for ever [05769].

²⁰ Now [1161] a mediator [3316] is [2076] not [3756] a mediator of one [1520], but [1161] God [2316] is [2076] one [1520].