Deuteronomy 9:25

25 And I lay before the Lord forty days and forty nights, in which I besought him meekly, that he should not do away you, as he menaced. (And so for forty days and forty nights I lay before the Lord, in which time I meekly besought him not to destroy you, as he had threatened.)

Deuteronomy 9:25 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:25

Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights,
as I fell down at the first
Which Jarchi says are the selfsame said above, ( Deuteronomy 9:18 ) , but doubled or repeated, because of the order of his prayer. The words "at the first" are not in the text; and, as before observed, we do not read that Moses fell down at the first forty days he was in the mount, unless it can be thought he did, ( Exodus 32:11 ) , wherefore this falling down seems to be as he fell down at the second forty days; and so this was a third forty days, according to the Jewish writers, and of which opinion were Dr. Lightfoot and others; (See Gill on Exodus 34:28),

because the Lord had said he would destroy you;
threatened them with destruction, and seemed as if it was his intention to destroy them; nay, even after Moses's first prayer, though he bid him go and lead the people on, yet he declared that he would visit their sin upon them, ( Exodus 32:34 ) .

Deuteronomy 9:25 In-Context

23 and when I sent you from Kadeshbarnea, and said, Go ye up, and wield ye the land which I have given to you, and ye despised the commandment of your Lord God, and ye believed not to him, neither ye would hear his voice; (and again when the Lord sent you out from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go ye up, and take ye the land which I have given you, and ye disobeyed the command of the Lord your God, and ye did not trust him, nor would ye listen to his voice;)

24 but ever[more] ye were rebel, from the day in which I began to know you. (but ye were always rebellious against the Lord, yea, from the day in which I first began to know you.)

25 And I lay before the Lord forty days and forty nights, in which I besought him meekly, that he should not do away you, as he menaced. (And so for forty days and forty nights I lay before the Lord, in which time I meekly besought him not to destroy you, as he had threatened.)

26 And I prayed him, and said, Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thine heritage, which thou again-boughtest in thy greatness, which thou leddest out of Egypt in (a) strong hand. (And I prayed to him, and said, Lord God, do not destroy thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast bought back, or hast redeemed, or ransomed, by thy great power, and whom thou hast led out of Egypt with thy strong hand.)

27 Have thou mind of thy servants, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; behold thou not the hardness of this people, and the wickedness, and the sin thereof, (Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not thou look upon the stubbornness of this people, and their wickedness, and their sin,)