1MAS viendo el pueblo que Moises tardaba de descender del monte, juntóse entonces el pueblo contra Aharón, y le dijeron: Levántate, haznos eLohim que vayan delante a nosotros, porque a este Moisés, el varón que nos sacó de tierra de Mizraim, no sabemos que le sucedió. 2Y Aharón les dijo: Quitad los zarcillos de oro que están en las orejas de vuestras mujeres, y de vuestros hijos, y de vuestras hijas, y traedlos a mí. 3Entonces todo el pueblo se quitó los zarcillos de oro que tenían en sus orejas, y los trajeron a Aharón. 4El cual los tomó de las manos de ellos, y lo formó con cincel, e hizo de ello un becerro de fundición, y dijeron: IsraeL, estos son tus eLohei que te sacaron de tierra de Mizraim. 5Y viéndolo Aharón, edificó un altar delante de él, y pregonó Aharón, y dijo: Mañana será fiesta a Jehovah (el Eterno). 6Y el día siguiente madrugaron, y ofrecieron holocaustos, y presentaron pacíficos: y el pueblo se asentó a comer y a beber, y se levantaron a jugar. 7Entonces Jehovah (el Eterno) dijo a Moisés: Anda, desciende; porque tu pueblo, que sacaste de tierra de Mizraim, se ha corrompido. 8Presto se han apartado del camino que yo les mandé; y se han hecho un becerro de fundición, y lo han adorado, y han sacrificado a él, y han dicho: IsraeL, estos son tus eLohei , que te sacaron de tierra de Mizraim. 9Dijo más Jehovah (el Eterno) a Moisés: Yo he visto a este pueblo, que cierto es pueblo de dura cerviz. 10Y ahora déjame, que se encienda mi furor en ellos, y los consuma, y te haré por gran nación. 11Entonces Moisés oró a delante de Jehovah (el Eterno), Poderosos de él, y dijo: Jehovah (el Eterno), ¿por qué se encenderá tu furor en tu pueblo, que tú sacaste de la tierra de Mizraim con gran fortaleza, y con mano fuerte? 12¿Por qué han de decir los de Mizraim, al decir: Con mal los sacó, para matarlos en los montes, y para raerlos de sobre la faz de la tierra? Vuélvete de la ira de tu furor, y compadécete acerca del mal para tu pueblo. 13Acuérdate de Abraham, de Izhac, y de IsraeL tus siervos, a los cuales has jurado por ti mismo, y dícholes: Yo multiplicaré vuestra simiente como las estrellas del cielo: y daré a vuestra simiente toda esta tierra que he dicho, y la tomarán por heredad para siempre. 14Entonces Jehovah (el Eterno) estuvo compadecido con aquel mal, que dijo, para hacer a su pueblo. 15Y se volvió Moisés, y descendió del monte trayendo en su mano las dos tablas del testimonio, las tablas escritas por sus ambas partes: de una parte y de otra estaban escritas. 16Y las tablas eran obra de ELohim (Poderosos), y la escritura era escritura de ELohim (Poderosos) grabada sobre las tablas. 17Y oyendo Jehosúa la voz del pueblo con su ruido, dijo a Moisés: Voz de batalla hay en el campamento. 18Y él respondió: No es voz para exclamar victoria, ni voz para exclamar derrota; voz para exclamar <solamente> oigo yo. 19Y aconteció, cuando llegó al campamento, y vio el becerro, y las danzas, el furor se le encendió a Moisés, y arrojó las tablas de sus manos, y las quebró al pie del monte. 20Y tomó el becerro que habían hecho, y quemólo en el fuego, y moliólo hasta volverlo en polvos, y esparció los polvos sobre las aguas, y lo dio a beber a los hijos de IsraeL. 21Y dijo Moisés a Aharón: ¿Qué te ha hecho este pueblo, que has traído sobre él tan gran pecado? 22Y respondió Aharón: No se enoje mi señor, tú conoces el pueblo, que es inclinado a mal: 23Porque me dijeron: Haznos eLohim que vayan delante a nosotros, porque a este Moisés, el varón que nos sacó de tierra de Mizraim, no sabemos que le sucedió. 24Y yo les respondí: ¿Quién tiene oro? apartadlo. Y me lo dieron, y lo eché en el fuego, y salió este becerro. 25Y viendo Moisés el pueblo, que estaba corrompido, (porque el mismo Aharón le había corrompido para vergüenza entre sus enemigos), 26Se puso Moisés a la puerta del campamento, y dijo: ¿Quién es de Jehovah (el Eterno)? Venga conmigo. Y se juntaron con él todos los hijos de Leví. 27Y él les dijo: Así dijo Jehovah (el Eterno), ELohei (Potentes) de IsraeL: Poned cada uno su espada sobre su muslo: pasad y volved de puerta a puerta por el campo, y matad cada uno a su hermano, y cada uno a su amigo, y cada uno al su pariente cercano. 28Y los hijos de Leví lo hicieron conforme al dicho de Moisés, y cayeron del pueblo en aquel día como tres mil hombres. 29Entonces Moisés dijo: Hoy os habéis consagrado a Jehovah (el Eterno), porque cada uno se ha consagrado en su hijo, y en su hermano, para que él dé hoy sobre vosotros bendición. 30Entonces ocurrió de mañana, y Moisés, dijo al pueblo: Vosotros habéis pecado un gran pecado: mas yo subiré ahora a Jehovah (el Eterno), quizá haga expiación por vuestro pecado. 31Y volvió Moisés a Jehovah (el Eterno), y dijo: Sea, oh ahora; este pueblo pecó un gran pecado, y para sí hicieron eLohei de oro, 32Que perdones ahora su pecado, y si no, ráeme ahora de tu libro, que has escrito. 33Y Jehovah (el Eterno) respondió a Moisés: Al que pecare contra mí, a este raeré yo de mi libro. 34Y ahora anda, lleva a este pueblo donde te he dicho: he aquí, mi mensajero irá delante de ti, que en el día de mi visitación yo visitaré su pecado en ellos. 35E hirió Jehovah (el Eterno) al pueblo, porque habían hecho el becerro que hizo Aharón.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE GOLDEN CALF. (Exo. 32:1-35)
when the people saw that Moses delayed--They supposed that he had lost his way in the darkness or perished in the fire.
the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron--rather, "against" Aaron in a tumultuous manner, to compel him to do what they wished. The incidents related in this chapter disclose a state of popular sentiment and feeling among the Israelites that stands in singular contrast to the tone of profound and humble reverence they displayed at the giving of the law. Within a space of little more than thirty days, their impressions were dissipated. Although they were still encamped upon ground which they had every reason to regard as holy; although the cloud of glory that capped the summit of Sinai was still before their eyes, affording a visible demonstration of their being in close contact, or rather in the immediate presence, of God, they acted as if they had entirely forgotten the impressive scenes of which they had been so recently the witnesses.
said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us--The Hebrew word rendered "gods" is simply the name of God in its plural form. The image made was single, and therefore it would be imputing to the Israelites a greater sin than they were guilty of, to charge them with renouncing the worship of the true God for idols. The fact is, that they required, like children, to have something to strike their senses, and as the Shekinah, "the glory of God," of which they had hitherto enjoyed the sight, was now veiled, they wished for some visible material object as the symbol of the divine presence, which should go before them as the pillar of fire had done.
2 Aaron said, . . . Break off . . . earrings--It was not an Egyptian custom for young men to wear earrings, and the circumstance, therefore, seems to point out "the mixed rabble," who were chiefly foreign slaves, as the ringleaders in this insurrection. In giving direction to break their earrings, Aaron probably calculated on gaining time; or, perhaps, on their covetousness and love of finery proving stronger than their idolatrous propensity. If such were his expectations, they were doomed to signal disappointment. Better to have calmly and earnestly remonstrated with them, or to have preferred duty to expediency, leaving the issue in the hands of Providence.
3 all the people brake off the golden earrings--The Egyptian rings, as seen on the monuments, were round massy plates of metal; and as they were rings of this sort the Israelites wore, their size and number must, in the general collection, have produced a large store of the precious metal.
4 fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf--The words are transposed, and the rendering should be, "he framed with a graving tool the image to be made, and having poured the liquid gold into the mould, he made it a molten calf." It is not said whether it was of life size, whether it was of solid gold or merely a wooden frame covered with plates of gold. This idol seems to have been the god Apis, the chief deity of the Egyptians, worshipped at Memphis under the form of a live ox, three years old. It was distinguished by a triangular white spot on its forehead and other peculiar marks. Images of it in the form of a whole ox, or of a calf's head on the end of a pole, were very common; and it makes a great figure on the monuments where it is represented in the van of all processions, as borne aloft on men's shoulders.
they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt--It is inconceivable that they, who but a few weeks before had witnessed such amazing demonstrations of the true God, could have suddenly sunk to such a pitch of infatuation and brutish stupidity, as to imagine that human art or hands could make a god that should go before them. But it must be borne in mind, that though by election and in name they were the people of God, they were as yet, in feelings and associations, in habits and tastes, little, if at all different, from Egyptians. They meant the calf to be an image, a visible sign or symbol of Jehovah, so that their sin consisted not in a breach of the FIRST [
Exod 20:3], but of the SECOND commandment [
Exod 20:4-
Exod 20:6].
5 Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord--a remarkable circumstance, strongly confirmatory of the view that they had not renounced the worship of Jehovah, but in accordance with Egyptian notions, had formed an image with which they had been familiar, to be the visible symbol of the divine presence. But there seems to have been much of the revelry that marked the feasts of the heathen.
7 the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down--Intelligence of the idolatrous scene enacted at the foot of the mount was communicated to Moses in language borrowed from human passions and feelings, and the judgment of a justly offended God was pronounced in terms of just indignation against the gross violation of the so recently promulgated laws.
10 make of thee a great nation--Care must be taken not to suppose this language as betokening any change or vacillation in the divine purpose. The covenant made with the patriarchs had been ratified in the most solemn manner; it could not and never was intended that it should be broken. But the manner in which God spoke to Moses served two important purposes--it tended to develop the faith and intercessory patriotism of the Hebrew leader, and to excite the serious alarm of the people, that God would reject them and deprive them of the privileges they had fondly fancied were so secure.
15 Moses turned, and went down from the mount--The plain, Er-Raheh, is not visible from the top of Jebel Musa, nor can the mount be descended on the side towards that valley; hence Moses and his companion, who on duty had patiently waited his return in the hollow of the mountain's brow, heard the shouting some time before they actually saw the camp.
19 Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands--The arrival of the leader, like the appearance of a specter, arrested the revellers in the midst of their carnival, and his act of righteous indignation when he dashed on the ground the tables of the law, in token that as they had so soon departed from their covenant relation, so God could withdraw the peculiar privileges that He had promised them--that act, together with the rigorous measures that followed, forms one of the most striking scenes recorded in sacred history.
20 he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, &c.--It has been supposed that the gold was dissolved by natron or some chemical substance. But there is no mention of solubility here, or in
Deut 9:21; it was "burned in the fire," to cast it into ingots of suitable size for the operations which follow--"grounded to powder"; the powder of malleable metals can be ground so fine as to resemble dust from the wings of a moth or butterfly; and these dust particles will float in water for hours, and in a running stream for days. These operations of grinding were intended to show contempt for such worthless gods, and the Israelites would be made to remember the humiliating lesson by the state of the water they had drunk for a time [NAPIER]. Others think that as the idolatrous festivals were usually ended with great use of sweet wine, the nauseous draught of the gold dust would be a severe punishment (compare
2Kgs 23:6,
2Kgs 23:15;
2Chr 15:16;
2Chr 34:7).
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot--Aaron cuts a poor figure, making a shuffling excuse and betraying more dread of the anger of Moses than of the Lord (compare
Deut 9:20).
25 naked--either unarmed and defenseless, or ashamed from a sense of guilt. Some think they were literally naked, as the Egyptians performed some of their rites in that indecent manner.
26 Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said--The camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart after the attack of the Amalekites.
Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me--The zeal and courage of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed an intoxicated mob. The people were separated into two divisions, and those who were the boldest and most obstinate in vindicating their idolatry were put to death, while the rest, who withdrew in shame or sorrow, were spared.
29 Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord--or, "Ye have consecrated yourselves to-day." The Levites, notwithstanding the dejection of Aaron, distinguished themselves by their zeal for the honor of God and their conduct in doing the office of executioners on this occasion; and this was one reason that they were appointed to a high and honorable office in the service of the sanctuary.
30 Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin--Moses labored to show the people the heinous nature of their sin, and to bring them to repentance. But not content with that, he hastened more earnestly to intercede for them.
32 blot me . . . out of thy book--an allusion to the registering of the living, and erasing the names of those who die. What warmth of affection did he evince for his brethren! How fully was he animated with the true spirit of a patriot, when he professed his willingness to die for them. But Christ actually died for His people (
Rom 5:8).
35 the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf--No immediate judgments were inflicted, but this early lapse into idolatry was always mentioned as an aggravation of their subsequent apostasies.