11 The Lord said to Moses , "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst ? 12 "I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they." 13 But Moses said to the Lord , "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst , 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land . They have heard that You, O Lord , are in the midst of this people , for You, O Lord , are seen eye to eye , while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night . 15 "Now if You slay this people as one man , then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say , 16 'Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath , therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness .' 17 "But now , I pray , let the power of the Lord be great , just as You have declared e , 18 ' The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness , forgiving iniquity and transgression ; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.' 19 " Pardon , I pray , the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness , just as You also have forgiven this people , from Egypt even until now ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 14:11-19
Commentary on Numbers 14:11-19
(Read Numbers 14:11-19)
Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character, in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.