וְֽאֶת־חַטַּאתְכֶ֞ם אֲשֶׁר־עֲשִׂיתֶ֣ם אֶת־הָעֵ֗גֶל לָקַחְתִּי֮ וָאֶשְׂרֹ֣ף אֹת֣וֹ ׀ בָּאֵשׁ֒ וָאֶכֹּ֨ת אֹת֤וֹ טָחוֹן֙ הֵיטֵ֔ב עַ֥ד אֲשֶׁר־דַּ֖ק לְעָפָ֑ר וָֽאַשְׁלִךְ֙ אֶת־עֲפָר֔וֹ אֶל־הַנַּ֖חַל הַיֹּרֵ֥ד מִן־הָהָֽר׃
Et votre ouvrage impie, ce veau que vous aviez fabriqué, je m’en saisis, le jetai au feu, le mis entièrement en pièces et le réduisis en menue poussière; puis je répandis cette poussière dans le torrent qui descend de la montagne.
Kedushat Levi
Deuteronomy 9,21. “and (the object of) your sin that you fashioned, the golden calf, and in Taveyrah, and at Massah, and when Hashem sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, etc, .you have repeatedly been defiant toward the Lord. When I lay prostrate before the Lord, etc.; etc,”
It appears difficult to understand why Moses who had begun in verse 18 to describe his prostrating himself before the Lord after the sin of the golden calf, after reciting numerous other sins of the Jewish people, once more continues with recounting his pleas for his people while prostrate before G’d in verse 25.
I believe that in order to understand Moses better, we must revert to the text of the Torah in Exodus 32,7 where G’d tells Moses to descend from the Mountain because the people had made themselves a golden calf as a symbol of G’d. At that time G’d had told Moses not to intervene by pleading for the people in order that He could proceed with annihilating them. (Exodus 32,10) At that time Moses had ignored G’d’s “suggestion,” and had immediately begun pleading for the survival of the Jewish people, the Torah’s report commencing with the words: ויחל משה וגו', “Moses implored, etc.”
Nachmanides on this verse points out that seeing that Moses had pleaded immediately when G’d had told him to leave Him alone “at that moment,” i.e. ועתה הניחה לי, G’d responded by “forgiving” the people, i.e. (32,14). Seeing that G’d had “forgiven,” why did Moses spend 40 days on the Mountain after having destroyed the evidence of the sin in order to obtain G’d’s forgiveness, as he tells us in this paragraph when he refers to a second stay on Mount Sinai during which time he neither ate bread nor drank water for 40 consecutive days? (9,18) Moses attributes that stay to his fear that G’d was still angry at the people!
Nachmanides on this verse points out that seeing that Moses had pleaded immediately when G’d had told him to leave Him alone “at that moment,” i.e. ועתה הניחה לי, G’d responded by “forgiving” the people, i.e. (32,14). Seeing that G’d had “forgiven,” why did Moses spend 40 days on the Mountain after having destroyed the evidence of the sin in order to obtain G’d’s forgiveness, as he tells us in this paragraph when he refers to a second stay on Mount Sinai during which time he neither ate bread nor drank water for 40 consecutive days? (9,18) Moses attributes that stay to his fear that G’d was still angry at the people!
It appears difficult to understand why Moses who had begun in verse 18 to describe his prostrating himself before the Lord after the sin of the golden calf, after reciting numerous other sins of the Jewish people, once more continues with recounting his pleas for his people while prostrate before G’d in verse 25.
I believe that in order to understand Moses better, we must revert to the text of the Torah in Exodus 32,7 where G’d tells Moses to descend from the Mountain because the people had made themselves a golden calf as a symbol of G’d. At that time G’d had told Moses not to intervene by pleading for the people in order that He could proceed with annihilating them. (Exodus 32,10) At that time Moses had ignored G’d’s “suggestion,” and had immediately begun pleading for the survival of the Jewish people, the Torah’s report commencing with the words: ויחל משה וגו', “Moses implored, etc.”
Nachmanides on this verse points out that seeing that Moses had pleaded immediately when G’d had told him to leave Him alone “at that moment,” i.e. ועתה הניחה לי, G’d responded by “forgiving” the people, i.e. (32,14). Seeing that G’d had “forgiven,” why did Moses spend 40 days on the Mountain after having destroyed the evidence of the sin in order to obtain G’d’s forgiveness, as he tells us in this paragraph when he refers to a second stay on Mount Sinai during which time he neither ate bread nor drank water for 40 consecutive days? (9,18) Moses attributes that stay to his fear that G’d was still angry at the people!
Nachmanides on this verse points out that seeing that Moses had pleaded immediately when G’d had told him to leave Him alone “at that moment,” i.e. ועתה הניחה לי, G’d responded by “forgiving” the people, i.e. (32,14). Seeing that G’d had “forgiven,” why did Moses spend 40 days on the Mountain after having destroyed the evidence of the sin in order to obtain G’d’s forgiveness, as he tells us in this paragraph when he refers to a second stay on Mount Sinai during which time he neither ate bread nor drank water for 40 consecutive days? (9,18) Moses attributes that stay to his fear that G’d was still angry at the people!