32:19. Moses’ anger flared. God had said, “My anger will flare at them,” but Moses dissuaded God, saying, “Why should your anger flare at your people?” But when Moses himself returns to the people and sees the bull, the text reports that “his anger flared,” the very words for what he persuaded God not to do! He smashes the tablets that he was bringing back to the people, and he calls for a bloody purge of thousands among the people. Quintessentially among prophets, Moses comes to God as a human, pleading the human case; and he comes to the people as a confidant of God, feeling the divine
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