Exod 32:11 – TIPs

Translation commentary on Exod 32:11

This verse begins Moses’ intercessory prayer for the Israelites. But Moses besought the LORD his God is literally “And Moses made sweet the face of Yahweh his God.” Fox has “Moshe soothed the face of YHWH his God.” This means that he “tried to pacify Yahweh his God” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “attempted to calm Yahweh his God” (Durham). Others have “implored” (New Revised Standard Version) or “pleaded with the LORD his God” (Today’s English Version). In some languages his God will be translated more naturally as “the God whom he served [or, worshiped].” And said, literally “and he said,” simply introduces Moses’ prayer to Yahweh. An alternative model for this sentence is “Moses tried to get the LORD his God to change his mind.”

O LORD, why is literally “Why, Yahweh,” using the personal name of God. Why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people is literally “why does your [singular] nose become hot against your people?” This is the same expression used in verse 10. It means “why should you be so angry with your people” (Today’s English Version). Note that Moses emphasizes that they are Yahweh’s people, in contrast with verse 7. Whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt is similar to verse 7, but a different word for brought forth is used, meaning “to cause to go out.”

With great power and with a mighty hand is literally “by great strength and by a strong hand.” This refers, of course, to the hand of Yahweh, which is another figure of speech that means “with great might and power” (Today’s English Version). (The same expression is used at 3.19; 13.3, 9, 16.) Contemporary English Version rearranges the clauses of the verse in a way that will be helpful for many translators: “you used your mighty power to bring these people out of Egypt. Now don’t become angry and destroy them.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

God's anger, wrath of God

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated into English as “the wrath of God” or “God’s anger” has to be referred to in Bengali as judgment, punishment or whatever fits the context. In Bengali culture, anger is by definition bad and can never be predicated of God. (Source: David Clark)

Translations in other languages:

Quetzaltepec Mixe: “translated with a term that not only expresses anger, but also punishment” (source: Robert Bascom)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “the coming punishment of God on mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “God’s fearful/terrible future punishing of people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “the coming anger/hatred of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “the punishment which will come” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Bariai: “God’s action of anger comes forth in the open” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Mairasi: “His anger keeps increasing (until it will definitely arrive)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御) is used as in mi-ikari (御怒り) or “wrath (of God)” in the referenced verses. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

power / strength

The Hebrew that is typically translated in English as “power” or “might” or “force” is translated in the English translation by Goldingay (2018) as energy or energetic.

The Idolatry of the Israelites

Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.

For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here .

For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.

The following artwork “The Golden Calf” is part of a series of 56 paintings on biblical themes by Kazakh artist Nelly Bube (born 1949):

For other images of Nelly Bube in TIPs, see here.

addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.

Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”

In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.

Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking.” (Source Philip Noss)

In the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”

In Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

complete verse (Exodus 32:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 32:11:

Kupsabiny: “But Moses pleaded with God saying that, ‘Why have you become annoyed to your people whom you yourself rescued in Egypt with your power in a miraculous way?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Moses pleaded with the Lord his God saying, ‘Hey Lord, why is your anger coming out like a burning fire towards your people whom you have brought out of Egypt by means of your great power and your mighty hand?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But Moises pleaded/begged the LORD his God, ‘Oh LORD, why do- you (sing.) -cause- your (sing.) people -to-experience your (sing.) anger to that you (sing.) brought-out of Egipto by your (sing.) great power?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “But Moses wanted to cause his Chief God’s anger to settle down, and so he prayed strongly to him like this, ‘O Chief, please don’t be angry with your people. For in your great power, you brought them so that they left Isip.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “But, Moses begged The Lord who be his God, say to him «Oh Yahweh, what is it that heart your heat for it with people your thus? They be they who you take [this direction] out from Egypt with power your which be big very.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “But Moses/I pleaded with his/my God, Yahweh, and said, ‘Yahweh, you should not be very angry with your people!/why are you so angry with your people ? These are the people whom you rescued from Egypt with very great power !” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("lead out")

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One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, michibikidas-are-ru (導き出される) or “lead out” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("burn")