Or HaChaim on Exodus 32:14/אור החיים על שמות ל״ב:י״ד

1 וינחם ה׳ על הרעה, "G'd reconsidered the evil He had said He would do, etc." The meaning of the verse is that there were two reasons why G'd reconsidered. 1) The decree was evil objectively speaking. 2) It would have resulted in evil for His people.

2We may understand this statement also as emphasising the דבר aspect, i.e. what G'd had merely said He would do. If He had sworn to do this, He would not have been able to reconsider an oath.

3A further dimension of this statement is that G'd only reconsidered the evil He had said to do, i.e. to wipe out the Jewish people; there were other evil parts which He had not reconsidered, parts involving the sin of the golden calf.

4Furthermore, G'd may only have reconsidered the evil he had said He would do to the people not directly involved in worshiping the calf, those who still were considered His people; those who had worshiped the calf be it with or without witnesses but who believed in it in their hearts would be subject to G'd's original decision and G'd punished them by death. Moses examined some of the people by making them drink of the waters containing the gold dust of the calf, others were executed by the Levites.