(ז) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה לֶךְ־רֵ֕ד כִּ֚י שִׁחֵ֣ת עַמְּךָ֔ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱלֵ֖יתָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (ח) סָ֣רוּ מַהֵ֗ר מִן־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתִ֔ם עָשׂ֣וּ לָהֶ֔ם עֵ֖גֶל מַסֵּכָ֑ה וַיִּשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ־לוֹ֙ וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־ל֔וֹ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵ֤לֶּה אֱלֹקֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶֽעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה רָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֥ה עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֖רֶף הֽוּא׃ (י) וְעַתָּה֙ הַנִּ֣יחָה לִּ֔י וְיִֽחַר־אַפִּ֥י בָהֶ֖ם וַאֲכַלֵּ֑ם וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה אוֹתְךָ֖ לְג֥וֹי גָּדֽוֹל׃
(7) The LORD spoke to Moses, “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. (8) They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” (9) The LORD further said to Moses, “I see that this is a stiffnecked people. (10) Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.”
Rabbi Avital Hochstein, Mechon Hadar: "From the Burning Bush to Sinai" (2017)
In their first encounter, Moshe assumes that [the Israelites] will not believe in him and God reassures him that they will. At Mt. Sinai, the dynamic is reversed. God knows that the people are not believing, … and Moshe finds himself in the position of arguing in the defense of Israel, arguing that God should not abandon [God’s] people.
(ב) לאברהם ליצחק ולישראל. ... וְאִם אֵינָן נִצּוֹלִין בִּזְכוּתָן, מָה אַתָּה אוֹמֵר לִי וְאֶעֱשֶה אוֹתְךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל? וְאִם כִּסֵּא שֶׁל ג' רַגְלַיִם אֵינוֹ עוֹמֵד לְפָנֶיךָ בִשְׁעַת כַּעַסְךָ, קַל וָחוֹמֶר לְכִסֵּא שֶׁל רֶגֶל אַחַת (ברבות ל"ב):
(2) REMEMBER FOR ABRAHAM, FOR ISAAC, AND FOR ISRAEL — ... If, however, they cannot be saved by their ancestors merit what is the good of You saying to me, “and I will make of you a great nation”? If a chair with three legs cannot stand before You in the moment of Your wrath, how much the less a chair with only one leg? (Berakhot 32a)
(יד) וַיִּנָּ֖חֶם ה' עַל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֶּ֖ר לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת לְעַמּֽוֹ׃ (פ) (טו) וַיִּ֜פֶן וַיֵּ֤רֶד מֹשֶׁה֙ מִן־הָהָ֔ר וּשְׁנֵ֛י לֻחֹ֥ת הָעֵדֻ֖ת בְּיָד֑וֹ לֻחֹ֗ת כְּתֻבִים֙ מִשְּׁנֵ֣י עֶבְרֵיהֶ֔ם מִזֶּ֥ה וּמִזֶּ֖ה הֵ֥ם כְּתֻבִֽים׃ (טז) וְהַ֨לֻּחֹ֔ת מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה אֱלֹקִ֖ים הֵ֑מָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּ֗ב מִכְתַּ֤ב אֱלֹקִים֙ ה֔וּא חָר֖וּת עַל־הַלֻּחֹֽת׃
(14) And the LORD renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people. (15) Thereupon Moses turned and went down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other. (16) The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, incised upon the tablets.
(א) ושני לוחות העדות בידו כי חשב שבשובו אליהם ישובו בתשובה, ואם אין ישברם לעיניהם לכלות עיניהם כדי שיחזרו בתשובה:
(1) ושני לוחות העדות בידו. He thought that as soon as he would return to the people they would become penitents; in the event that they would not, he planned to smash the Tablets in front of their eyes so that they would return in penitence after this shock.
Chizkuni on Exodus 32:15 (13th century) ושני לוחות העדות בידו
Even though Moses already planned to smash these Tablets, he carried them all the way down from the Mountain so that God should not have to look at His handiwork having been smashed by Moses seeing that its inscription commenced with "I am the Lord your God Who has taken you out of Egypt," followed by the commandment not to have alien deities, etc. This would have been too upsetting a reminder of the people’s disloyalty.
(יט) וַֽיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרַב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מידו [מִיָּדָיו֙] אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃
(19) As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.
J. H. Hertz on Exodus 32:19 (1930s) - Impulsive anger versus righteous indignation
Anger is selfish and blind, and a purely emotional reaction against an injury received. … Altogether different is the moral feeling of indignation that sweeps over us whenever we see a great wrong committed; not because it injures us, as is always the case in anger, but because the wrong is an outrage against justice and right. … A mob guilty of such base and senseless ingratitude to God was, [Moses] felt, unworthy of the Divine Tables of the Law.
(יב) וַיִּ֤פֶן כֹּה֙ וָכֹ֔ה וַיַּ֖רְא כִּ֣י אֵ֣ין אִ֑ישׁ וַיַּךְ֙ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִ֔י וַֽיִּטְמְנֵ֖הוּ בַּחֽוֹל׃
(12) He turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Deot 2:3
The ancient sages said, “One who yields to anger is as if he had worshipped idols.” They also said, “Whoever yields to anger, if he is wise, his wisdom deserts him, and if he is a prophet, his prophecy leaves him.” And “The life of an irascible person is not a life.” Therefore they have instructed us to keep far from anger, training ourselves to stay calm even in the face of provocation. ...
If one wants to instill reverence in his children and family, or in public if he is the head of the community, and his desire is to show them his anger so as to bring them back to the good, he should appear to be angry with them so as to reprove them, but he must inwardly remain calm as if he were acting the part of an angry man, but in reality he is not angry at all.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Ki Tissa, "Anger: Its Uses and Abuses" (2018)
When someone in authority displays anger, the person or group it is directed against is in danger, and knows it. It is almost like administering an electric shock, and it is often effective in bringing a person or group to order. It is, though, a very high-risk strategy. There is a danger it will provoke an angry response, making the situation worse not better. It is a weapon to be used only rarely, but sometimes it is the only way.
Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee: Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence (2002)
[The] strong tactics worked because he attacked the old culture – not the people. In fact, he made it clear that he valued their talents and abilities; it was their way of doing things that he felt needed to change dramatically.
(לב) וְעַתָּ֖ה אִם־תִּשָּׂ֣א חַטָּאתָ֑ם וְאִם־אַ֕יִן מְחֵ֣נִי נָ֔א מִֽסִּפְרְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּתָֽבְתָּ׃
(32) Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!”
(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה פְּסָל־לְךָ֛ שְׁנֵֽי־לֻחֹ֥ת אֲבָנִ֖ים כָּרִאשֹׁנִ֑ים וְכָתַבְתִּי֙ עַל־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָי֛וּ עַל־הַלֻּחֹ֥ת הָרִאשֹׁנִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃
(1) The LORD said to Moses: "Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered."