וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לְֽהַשְׁמִ֫ידָ֥ם לוּלֵ֡י מֹ֘שֶׁ֤ה בְחִיר֗וֹ עָמַ֣ד בַּפֶּ֣רֶץ לְפָנָ֑יו לְהָשִׁ֥יב חֲ֝מָת֗וֹ מֵֽהַשְׁחִֽית׃
Lalu Ia berfirman hendak membinasakan mereka, seandainya Musa, orang pilihan-Nya, tidak berdiri di celah yang terbuka di hadapan-Nya untuk menyurutkan murka-Nya supaya Ia tidak memusnahkan mereka.
Zohar
For as long as there is a righteous man in the world chastisement cannot befall it, as we learn from Moses, of whom it is written: “Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in tbe breach, etc.” (Ps. 106, 23). God thus first removes the righteous from the world, and only then collects His account, as it were. We thus translate the conclusion of the verse: “the righteous is taken away before (mitne’) the evil to come”, that is, before the evil is due to befall. (According to another interpretation, “from the evil to come” is an allusion to the evil prompter.)