Moses intercedes on behalf of the Israelites and tells God to repent in Exodus 32:12.
5162 nacham
nacham: to be sorry, console oneself
Original Word: נָחַם
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: nacham
Phonetic Spelling: (naw-kham’)
Definition: to be sorry, console oneself
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent (1562) of this evil against thy people – Exodus 32:12
Let’s look at the scriptures in context.
7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people – Exodus 32:7-14
God had wrath toward His people, whom Moses had delivered from the Egyptians as they were worshipping a molten calf, and were sacrificing to it, so Moses intercedes on behalf of these people asking the LORD to turn from his fierce wrath and repent (be sorry) of the evil that he planned to do against His chosen people. Again, in this instance, the meaning of this word repent is nacham (5162), which means to be sorry or console one self. Through the intercession of Moses, the LORD experienced sorrow (repented) and did not go through with the evil which He planned to do to His people.
