Yehezkiel 22:30

22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ¹ 

Keluaran 17:9-13

17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our ²  men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

17:10 So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him; ³ and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 17:11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, ⁴  then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest ⁵  his hands, then Amalek prevailed. 17:12 When ⁶  the hands of Moses became heavy, ⁷  they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, ⁸  and so his hands were steady ⁹  until the sun went down. 17:13 So Joshua destroyed ¹⁰  Amalek and his army ¹¹  with the sword. ¹² 

Keluaran 32:11-12

32:11 But Moses sought the favor ¹³  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? 32:12 Why ¹⁴  should the Egyptians say, ¹⁵  ‘For evil ¹⁶  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ¹⁷  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ¹⁸  of this evil against your people.

Bilangan 16:21-22

16:21 “Separate yourselves ¹⁹  from among this community, ²⁰  that I may consume them in an instant.” 16:22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ²¹  and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, ²²  will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?” ²³ 

Bilangan 16:47-48

16:47 So Aaron did ²⁴  as Moses commanded ²⁵  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. 16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

Bilangan 16:1

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 ²⁶ Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, ²⁷  took men ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 12:23

12:23 As far as I am concerned, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the way that is good and upright.

Mazmur 106:23

106:23 He threatened ²⁹  to destroy them,

but ³⁰  Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him ³¹ 

and turned back his destructive anger. ³² 

Yeremia 15:1

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ³³  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ³⁴  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ³⁵ 

Yeremia 23:22

23:22 But if they had stood in my inner circle, ³⁶ 

they would have proclaimed my message to my people.

They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways

and stop doing the evil things they are doing.

Yeremia 27:18

27:18 I also told them, ³⁷  “If they are really prophets and the Lord is speaking to them, ³⁸  let them pray earnestly to the Lord who rules over all. ³⁹  Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away ⁴⁰  to Babylon.

Maleakhi 1:9

1:9 But now plead for God’s favor ⁴¹  that he might be gracious to us. ⁴²  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

[22:30]  ¹ tn Heb “I did not find.”

[17:9]  ² tn This could be rendered literally “choose men for us.” But the lamed (ל) preposition probably indicates possession, “our men,” and the fact that Joshua was to choose from Israel, as well as the fact that there is no article on “men,” indicates he was to select some to fight.

[17:10]  ³ tn The line in Hebrew reads literally: And Joshua did as Moses had said to him, to fight with Amalek. The infinitive construct is epexegetical, explaining what Joshua did that was in compliance with Moses’ words.

[17:11]  ⁴ tn The two verbs in the temporal clauses are by וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר (vÿhaya ka’asher, “as long as” or, “and it was that whenever”). This indicates that the two imperfect tenses should be given a frequentative translation, probably a customary imperfect.

[17:11]  ⁵ tn Or “lower.”

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Literally “now the hands of Moses,” the disjunctive vav (ו) introduces a circumstantial clause here – of time.

[17:12]  ⁷ tn The term used here is the adjective כְּבֵדִים (kÿvedim). It means “heavy,” but in this context the idea is more that of being tired. This is the important word that was used in the plague stories: when the heart of Pharaoh was hard, then the Israelites did not gain their freedom or victory. Likewise here, when the staff was lowered because Moses’ hands were “heavy,” Israel started to lose.

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “from this, one, and from this, one.”

[17:12]  ⁹ tn The word “steady” is אֱמוּנָה (’emuna) from the root אָמַן (’aman). The word usually means “faithfulness.” Here is a good illustration of the basic idea of the word – firm, steady, reliable, dependable. There may be a double entendre here; on the one hand it simply says that his hands were stayed so that Israel might win, but on the other hand it is portraying Moses as steady, firm, reliable, faithful. The point is that whatever God commissioned as the means or agency of power – to Moses a staff, to the Christians the Spirit – the people of God had to know that the victory came from God alone.

[17:13]  ¹⁰ tn The verb means “disabled, weakened, prostrated.” It is used a couple of times in the Bible to describe how man dies and is powerless (see Job 14:10; Isa 14:12).

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “people.”

[17:13]  ¹² tn Heb “mouth of the sword.” It means as the sword devours – without quarter (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 159).

[32:11]  ¹³ tn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 351) draws on Arabic to show that the meaning of this verb (חָלָה, khalah) was properly “make sweet the face” or “stroke the face”; so here “to entreat, seek to conciliate.” In this prayer, Driver adds, Moses urges four motives for mercy: 1) Israel is Yahweh’s people, 2) Israel’s deliverance has demanded great power, 3) the Egyptians would mock if the people now perished, and 4) the oath God made to the fathers.

[32:12]  ¹⁴ tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ¹⁶ tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ¹⁷ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ¹⁸ tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[16:21]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is הִבָּדְלוּ (hibbadÿlu), the Niphal imperative of בָּדַל (badal). This is the same word that was just used when Moses reminded the Levites that they had been separated from the community to serve the Lord.

[16:21]  ²⁰ sn The group of people siding with Korah is meant, and not the entire community of the people of Israel. They are an assembly of rebels, their “community” consisting in their common plot.

[16:22]  ²¹ sn It is Moses and Aaron who prostrate themselves; they have the good of the people at heart.

[16:22]  ²² tn The expression “the God of the spirits of all humanity [flesh]” is somewhat difficult. The Hebrew text says אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר (’elohey harukhot lÿkhol-basar). This expression occurs in Num 27:16 again. It also occurs in some postbiblical texts, a fact which has prompted some scholars to conclude that it is a late addition. The words clearly show that Moses is interceding for the congregation. The appeal in the verse is that it is better for one man to die for the whole nation than the whole nation for one man (see also John 11:50).

[16:22]  ²³ tn The verb is the Qal imperfect יֶחֱטָא (yekheta’); it refers to the sinful rebellion of Korah, but Moses is stating something of a principle: “One man sins, and will you be angry….” A past tense translation would assume that this is a preterite use of the imperfect (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[16:47]  ²⁴ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ²⁵ tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[16:1]  ²⁶ sn There are three main movements in the story of ch. 16. The first is the rebellion itself (vv. 1-19). The second is the judgment (vv. 20-35). Third is the atonement for the rebels (vv. 36-50). The whole chapter is a marvelous account of a massive rebellion against the leaders that concludes with reconciliation. For further study see G. Hort, “The Death of Qorah,” ABR 7 (1959): 2-26; and J. Liver, “Korah, Dathan and Abiram,” Studies in the Bible (ScrHier 8), 189-217.

[16:1]  ²⁷ tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).

[16:1]  ²⁸ tn In the Hebrew text there is no object for the verb “took.” The translation presented above supplies the word “men.” However, it is possible that the MT has suffered damage here. The LXX has “and he spoke.” The Syriac and Targum have “and he was divided.” The editor of BHS suggests that perhaps the MT should be emended to “and he arose.”

[106:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he said.”

[106:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”

[106:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”

[106:23]  ³² tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”

[106:23]  sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.

[15:1]  ³³ tn The words “pleading for” have been supplied in the translation to explain the idiom (a metonymy). For parallel usage see BDB 763 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.a and compare usage in Gen 19:27, Deut 4:10.

[15:1]  sn Moses and Samuel were well-known for their successful intercession on behalf of Israel. See Ps 99:6-8 and see, e.g., Exod 32:11-14, 30-34; 1 Sam 7:5-9. The Lord is here rejecting Jeremiah’s intercession on behalf of the people (14:19-22).

[15:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19, 21.

[15:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Send them away from my presence and let them go away.”

[23:22]  ³⁶ tn Or “had been my confidant.” See the note on v. 18.

[27:18]  ³⁷ tn The words “I also told them” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the fact that the Lord is spoken about in the third person in vv. 18, 19, 21 that he is not the speaker. This is part of Jeremiah’s own speech to the priests and the people (v. 16). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is with them.”

[27:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[27:18]  sn For the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[27:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “…speaking to them, let them entreat the Lord…so that the valuable articles…will not go to Babylon.” The long original sentence has been broken up for the sake of English style.

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “seek the face of God.”

[1:9]  ⁴² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).