God uses interrogative form to confront Moses with the severity of Israel’s apostasy while simultaneously distancing Himself from the rebellious nation through the deliberate pronoun shift from ‘My people’ to ‘your people.’ The question format intensifies the rebuke by forcing Moses to acknowledge both the corruption and his role as mediator.

Moses immediately interceded, pleading with the Lord to relent from disaster and reminding Him of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. God relented from the threatened destruction, though Moses later executed judgment on the unrepentant when he descended the mountain (Exodus 32:11-14, 25-29).

God’s question carries biting irony through the pronoun shift from ‘My people’ (Exodus 3:7) to ‘your people.’ This rhetorical distancing underscores Israel’s covenant violation—they have forfeited their relationship status. The Hebrew construction uses the interrogative force to make Moses acknowledge the corruption rather than simply hearing a report. God employs a question rather than declaration to engage Moses as covenant mediator, creating space for intercession. The verb ‘corrupted’ (shachat) anticipates the same language used of pre-flood humanity, suggesting total moral ruin deserving judgment. This divine rebuke through interrogative form demonstrates how God’s questions can simultaneously condemn sin and invite mediatorial response, revealing both holiness and the mechanics of intercession.