Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”
- KJV Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
- NKJV Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
- NASB Leave Me alone, that I may destroy them and wipe out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
- NLT Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God offered to destroy Israel and make Moses into a greater nation. The threat reveals both the gravity of Israel's sin and a test of Moses' heart.
Overview
God proposes to blot out rebellious Israel and raise up a new nation from Moses. Rather than seize the offer, Moses interceded for the people, as following verses recount. His self-denying mediation foreshadows Christ, who not only pleads for sinners but bears their judgment to secure their salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Deut 29:20The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven
- Exod 32:10–13Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Ps 9:5You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.
- Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Luke 11:7–10And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’
- Rev 3:5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
- Luke 18:1–8Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
- Ps 109:13May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
- Isa 62:6–7On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,
- Jer 15:1Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.
- Num 14:11–12And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- Prov 10:7The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Jer 14:11Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
- Exod 32:32–33Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 9:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.