פְּנֵ֣י יְ֭הוָה בְּעֹ֣שֵׂי רָ֑ע לְהַכְרִ֖ית מֵאֶ֣רֶץ זִכְרָֽם׃
Wajah murka Yang Mahakekal tertuju kepada orang-orang yang berbuat jahat, untuk melenyapkan ingatan akan mereka dari bumi.
Sforno
רחום, merciful to those who are guilty, reducing the punishment they really deserve. David explains this in Psalms 34,18 צעקו וה' שמו, “they cry out and the Lord hears.” G’d sees and sympathises with the anguish of the downtrodden as we know from Exodus 3,9 וגם ראיתי את הלחץ, “I have also taken note of the oppression, etc.”
Rashi
My anger Heb. פָּנַי, mes iras, ires in Old French, my anger (as in Psalms 34:17).
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויחל משה את פני ה’ אלו-היו, “Moses pleaded before Hashem, his G’d.” Moses pleaded with the attribute of Justice; the word פני when used in connection with G’d always refers to the attribute of Justice. To mention just a few examples: (Leviticus 20,5) ושמתי אני את פני באיש ההוא, “I shall set My face against that man;” or (Psalms 34,17) פני ה’ בעושי רע, “the face of G’d is set against evildoers. I have already dealt with this word in my commentary on Exodus 20,1.
We are familiar with the meaning of the word ויחל from Malachi 1,9 חלו נא פני א-ל, “please implore the favor of G’d.” Alternately, the word may be derived from תחלה, “beginning, at first.” It would mean that Moses began something that would continue through to its end. He would implore the attribute בינה until he would reach the attribute דעה, which is above it. The description by Moses of G’d as אלו-היו is something that does not occur anywhere else in the whole Torah. It would normally indicate that Moses related to “his” G’d as no one else ever did or could and G’d acknowledged this during his life time. Nowhere else do we find that the Torah described G’d as specifically Moses’ G’d, such as we find frequently in connection with the patriarchs. G’d is often described as “the G’d of Avraham,” or as “the G’d of Yitzchak,” or as “the G’d of Yaakov.” Even in connection with David we find that Isaiah 38,5 quotes G’d telling Chizkiyah: “thus said the Lord, the G’d of your ‘father’ David, etc.” However, in Moses’ case this is the only time G’d associated His name with Moses and even then only by means of a pronoun, almost like an afterthought. I believe that the Torah’s intention was to give us a hint of G’d’s partial withdrawal from the Jewish people and even from Moses due to this grievous sin. This is confirmed by G’d describing the people to Moses as עמך, “your people.” He hinted that as of then they were not “His” people. How could they be, seeing they had been unfaithful to Him?
We are familiar with the meaning of the word ויחל from Malachi 1,9 חלו נא פני א-ל, “please implore the favor of G’d.” Alternately, the word may be derived from תחלה, “beginning, at first.” It would mean that Moses began something that would continue through to its end. He would implore the attribute בינה until he would reach the attribute דעה, which is above it. The description by Moses of G’d as אלו-היו is something that does not occur anywhere else in the whole Torah. It would normally indicate that Moses related to “his” G’d as no one else ever did or could and G’d acknowledged this during his life time. Nowhere else do we find that the Torah described G’d as specifically Moses’ G’d, such as we find frequently in connection with the patriarchs. G’d is often described as “the G’d of Avraham,” or as “the G’d of Yitzchak,” or as “the G’d of Yaakov.” Even in connection with David we find that Isaiah 38,5 quotes G’d telling Chizkiyah: “thus said the Lord, the G’d of your ‘father’ David, etc.” However, in Moses’ case this is the only time G’d associated His name with Moses and even then only by means of a pronoun, almost like an afterthought. I believe that the Torah’s intention was to give us a hint of G’d’s partial withdrawal from the Jewish people and even from Moses due to this grievous sin. This is confirmed by G’d describing the people to Moses as עמך, “your people.” He hinted that as of then they were not “His” people. How could they be, seeing they had been unfaithful to Him?