The interpretation timeline

Exod 32:12

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Exod 32:12 · Douay-Rheims

“Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people.”

Patristic before A.D. 750

583

A.D.

Cassiodorus Patristic

c. A.D. 487–583

“By his very love and charm he begs the Lord to temper his justice with a little gentleness, so that he can be prevailed upon by those sinners with whom he was known to be justly angry. But we must notice that he did not say, "Change your ways wholly" but "Change your ways a little," for this is more profitable to us when some lash of tribulation afflicts us. Often when admonished we can gain pardon for our sins by a most wholesome conversion.”

Source

Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.