Deuteronomy 9:20
in Deuteronomy 9The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I also prayed for Aaron.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
KJV
And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIt was not the people alone that sinned but also Aaron, the high priest. For Moses says, "And the wrath of the Lord was upon Aaron"; "and I prayed for him," he says, "and God forgave him." Now Moses made supplication on behalf of the high priest who sinned and prevailed upon the Lord by his importunity. If so, will not Jesus, his only-begotten Son, imploring God in our behalf, more so prevail?
This site's exposition
And the Lord was very angry with Aaron
on Deuteronomy 9:20-21
That the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him is told here and nowhere else in Scripture. Exodus 32 records Aaron making the calf and answering for it, and it says nothing of this sentence on him or of the prayer that turned it, so the man appointed to make atonement for Israel is kept alive by another man's intercession. Verse 21 burns the calf, grinds it as small as dust and casts it into the brook, where Exodus 32:20 adds that Moses made the children of Israel drink of the water. Both accounts stand as they are given.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the Lord was very angry with Aaron, to have destroyed him,....
Aaron, that should have made atonement for them if the iniquity could have been purged away by sacrifice and offering, did himself fall under the wrath of God: so little did they consider what they did when they drew him in. It was with great difficulty and very long attendance that Moses himself prevailed to turn away the wrath of God, and prevent their utter ruin.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Israel could not even boast that its heads and representatives continued, faithful. Aaron had been already designated for the high priestly functions; but he fell away with the rest of the people. It was due therefore solely to the grace of God and the intercession of Moses that Aaron himself and his promised priesthood with him were not cut off; just as at a later time, when Aaron had actually to die for a new sin Israel owed it still to the same causes that Eleazar was substituted and the High Priesthood perpetuated (compare Deu 10:6; Num 20:24-26).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him--By allowing himself to be overborne by the tide of popular clamor, Aaron became a partaker in the guilt of idolatry and would have suffered the penalty of his sinful compliance, had not the earnest intercession of Moses on his behalf prevailed.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּֽבְאַהֲרֹ֗ן | uveaharon | and with Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| הִתְאַנַּ֧ף | hitanaf | he was angry | H599 → | 14 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מְאֹ֖ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| לְהַשְׁמִיד֑וֹ | lehashmido | to destroy him | H8045 → | 90 times |
| וָֽאֶתְפַּלֵּ֛ל | vaetpalel | and I prayed | H6419 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּעַ֥ד | bead | for | H1157 → | |
| אַהֲרֹ֖ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| בָּעֵ֥ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִֽוא | hahiv' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
וּֽבְאַהֲרֹ֗ןand with Aaron
uveaharonH175 →347 times
הִתְאַנַּ֧ףhe was angry
hitanafH599 →14 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מְאֹ֖דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
לְהַשְׁמִיד֑וֹto destroy him
lehashmidoH8045 →90 times
וָֽאֶתְפַּלֵּ֛לand I prayed
vaetpalelH6419 →
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
בְּעַ֥דfor
beadH1157 →
אַהֲרֹ֖ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
בָּעֵ֥תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִֽוא<the> that
hahiv'H1931 →1879 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 32:21“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
it leads to
- Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things…
- Joshua 7:19–26
So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not…
- 2 Kings 21:9–11
But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
- 1 Samuel 26:19
Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it,…
- Genesis 26:10
“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
- Genesis 20:9
Through
Exodus 32:35And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 12:9–10
Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have…
- Exodus 32:25
Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.
- Acts 1:18
(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out.
- 2 Samuel 12:9–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 2.10; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.