| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Exodus Chapter
Thirty-two
New King James Version
(NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO
EXODUS 32
This chapter gives an
account of the idolatry of the Israelites making and worshipping a golden calf,
Exodus 32:1 the
information of it God gave to Moses, bidding him at the same time not to make
any suit in their favour, that he might consume them, and make a large nation
out Moses's family, Exodus 32:7 the
intercession of Moses for them, in which he succeeded, Exodus 32:11 his
descent from the mount with the two tables in his hands, accompanied by Joshua,
when he was an eyewitness of their idolatry, which raised his indignation, that
he cast the two tables out of his hands and broke them, took the calf and burnt
it, and ground it to powder, and made the children of Israel drink of it, Exodus 32:15 the
examination of Aaron about the fact, who excused himself, Exodus 32:21 the
orders given to the Levites, who joined themselves to Moses, to slay every man
his brother, which they did to the number of 3000 men, Exodus 32:25
another intercession for them by Moses, which gained a respite of them for a
time, for they are threatened to be visited still for their sin, and they were
plagued for it, Exodus 32:30.
Exodus 32:1 Now when the
people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people
gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go
before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
YLT 1And the people see that Moses is delaying to
come down from the mount, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say unto
him, `Rise, make for us gods who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who
brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened
to him.'
And when the
people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,.... The time,
according to the Targum of Jonathan, being elapsed, which he had fixed for his
descent, and through a misreckoning, as Jarchi suggests; they taking the day of
his going up to be one of the forty days, at the end of which he was to return,
whereas he meant forty complete days; but it is not probable that Moses knew
himself how long he should stay, and much less that he acquainted them before
hand of it; but he staying longer than they supposed he would, they grew uneasy
and impatient, and wanted to set out in their journey to Canaan, and to have
some symbol and representation of deity to go before them:
the people
gathered themselves together unto Aaron; who with Hur was left to
judge them in the absence of Moses: it was very likely that they had had
conferences with him before upon this head, but now they got together in a
tumultuous manner, and determined to carry their point against all that he
should say to the contrary:
and said unto
him, up; put us off no longer, make no more delay, but arise at once, and
set about what has been once and again advised to and importuned:
make us gods
which shall go before us; not that they were so very stupid to think, that anything that
could be made with hands was really God, or even could have life and breath,
and the power of self-motion, or of walking before them; but that something
should be made as a symbol and representation of the divine Being, carried
before them; for as for the cloud which had hitherto gone before them, from
their coming out of Egypt, that had not moved from its place for forty days or
more, and seemed to them to be fixed on the mount, and would not depart from
it; and therefore they wanted something in the room of it as a token of the
divine Presence with them:
for as for
this Moses; of whom they speak with great contempt, though he had been the
deliverer of them, and had wrought so many miracles in their favour, and had
been the instrument of so much good unto them:
the man that
brought us up out of the land of Egypt; this they own, but do
not seem to be very thankful for it:
we wot not what
is become of him; they could scarcely believe that he was alive, that it was
possible to live so long a time without eating and drinking; or they supposed
he was burnt on the mount of flaming fire from before the Lord, as the Targum
of Jonathan expresses it.
Exodus 32:2 2 And Aaron said to them,
“Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your
sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
YLT 2And Aaron saith unto them, `Break off the
rings of gold which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your
daughters, and bring in unto me;'
And Aaron said
unto them,.... Perceiving that they were not to be dissuaded from their
evil counsel, and diverted from their purpose, but were determined at all
events to have an image made to represent God unto them in a visible manner:
break off the
golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your
daughters; these were some of the jewels in gold they had borrowed of the
Egyptians; and it seems that, in those times and countries, men, as well as
women, used to wear earrings, and so PlinyF23Nat. Hist. l. 11. c.
37. says, in the eastern countries men used to wear gold in their ears; and
this may be confirmed from the instance of the Ishmaelites and Midianites, Judges 8:24. Aaron
did not ask the men for theirs, but for those of their wives and children; it
may be, because he might suppose they were more fond of them, and would not so
easily part with them, hoping by this means to have put them off of their
design:
and bring them
unto me; to make a god of, as they desired, that is, the representation
of one.
Exodus 32:3 3 So all the people broke
off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them
to Aaron.
YLT 3and all the people themselves break off the
rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,
And all the
people brake off the golden earrings, which were in their ears,.... The men
took off their earrings, and persuaded their wives and children, or obliged
them to part with theirs; though the Targum of Jonathan says the women refused
to give their ornaments to their husbands, therefore all the people immediately
broke off all the golden ornaments which were in their earsF24So
Pirke Eliezer, c. 45. , so intent were they upon idolatry. This is to be
understood not of every individual, but of the greatest part of the people; so
apostle explains it of some of them, 1 Corinthians 10:7.
Idolaters spare no cost nor pains to support their worship, and will strip
themselves, their wives, and children, of their ornaments, to deck their idols;
which may shame the worshippers of the true God, who are oftentimes too
backward to contribute towards the maintenance of his worship and service:
and brought them
unto Aaron: presently, the selfsame day; they soon forgot the commands
enjoined them to have no other gods, save one, and to make no graven image to
bow down to it, and their own words, Exodus 24:7.
Exodus 32:4 4 And he received the
gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made
a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought
you out of the land of Egypt!”
YLT 4and he receiveth from their hand, and doth
fashion it with a graving tool, and doth make it a molten calf, and they say,
`These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
And he received
them at their hand,.... For the use they delivered them to him:
and fashioned
it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf; that is,
after he had melted the gold, and cast it into a mould, which gave it the
figure of a calf, and with his tool wrought it into a more agreeable form, he
took off the roughness of it, and polished it; or if it was in imitation of the
Egyptian Apis or Osiris, he might with his graving tool engrave such marks and
figures as were upon that; to cause the greater resemblance, so SeldenF25De
Diis Syris Syntagm. 1. c. 4. p. 138. thinks; see Gill on Jeremiah 46:20 or
else the sense may be, that he drew the figure of a calf with his tool, or made
it in "a mould"F26ויצר אתו בחרט "formavit illud
modulo", Piscator; so some in Ben Melech, and in Vatablus; and so the
Vulgate Latin, "formant opere fusorio"; see Fagius in loc. , into
which he poured in the melted gold:
and made it a
molten calf; the Targum of Jonathan gives another sense of the former clause,
"he bound it up in a napkin"; in a linen cloth or bag, i.e. the gold
of the ear rings, and then put it into the melting pot, and so cast it into a
mould, and made a calf of it. Jarchi takes notice of this sense, and it is
espoused by BochartF1Hierozoic. p. 1. l. 2. c. 39. col. 334, 335. ,
who produces two passages of Scripture for the confirmation of it, Judges 8:24 and
illustrates it by Isaiah 46:6. What
inclined Aaron to make it in the form of a calf, is not easy to say; whether in
imitation of the cherubim, one of the faces of which was that of an ox, as
Moncaeus thought; or whether in imitation of the Osiris of the Egyptians, who
was worshipped in a living ox, and sometimes in the image of one, even a golden
one. Plutarch is express for it, and saysF2De Isid. & Osir. ,
that the ox was an image of Osiris, and that it was a golden one; and so says
Philo the JewF3De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 677. , the Israelites,
emulous of Egyptian figments, made a golden ox; or whether he did this to make
them ashamed of their idolatry, thinking they would never be guilty of
worshipping the form of an ox eating grass, or because an ox was an emblem of
power and majesty:
and they said,
these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt; they own they were, brought up out of that land by the divine
Being; and they could not be so stupid as to believe, that this calf, which was
only a mass of gold, figured and decorated, was inanimate, had no life nor
breath, and was just made, after their coming out of Egypt, was what brought
them from hence; but that this was a representation of God, who had done this
for them; yet some Jewish writers are so foolish as to suppose, that through
art it had the breath of life in it, and came out of the mould a living calf,
Satan, or Samael, entering into it, and lowed in itF4Pirke Eliezer,
c. 45. .
Exodus 32:5 5 So when Aaron saw it,
he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is
a feast to the Lord.”
YLT 5And Aaron seeth, and buildeth an altar before
it, and Aaron calleth, and saith, `A festival to Jehovah -- to-morrow;'
And when Aaron
saw it,.... In what form it was, and what a figure it made, and how
acceptable it was to the Israelites. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem
paraphrase it,"and Aaron saw Hur slain before him;'for reproving them for
their idolatry, as the MidrashF5So Pirke Eliezer, c. 45. , quoted by
Jarchi, says: and Aaron fearing they would take away his life if he opposed
them:
he built an
altar before it; that sacrifice might be offered on it to it:
and Aaron made
proclamation, and said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord; that is, he
gave orders to have it published throughout the camp, there would be solemn
sacrifices offered up to the Lord, as represented by this calf, and a feast
thereon, which was a public invitation of them to the solemnity: though some
think this was a protracting time, and putting the people off till the morrow,
who would have been for offering sacrifice immediately, hoping that Moses would
come down from the mount before that time, and prevent their idolatry.
Exodus 32:6 6 Then they rose early on
the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the
people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
YLT 6and they rise early on the morrow, and cause
burnt-offerings to ascend, and bring nigh peace-offerings; and the people sit
down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play.
And they rose
up early in the morning,.... Being eager of, and intent upon their idol worship:
and offered
burnt offerings; upon the altar Aaron had made, where they were wholly consumed:
and brought
peace offerings: which were to make a feast to the Lord, and of which they
partook:
and the people
sat down to eat and to drink; as at a feast:
and rose up to
play; to dance and sing, as was wont to be done by the Egyptians in
the worship of their Apis or Ox; and Philo the Jew saysF6Ut supra,
(De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 677.) & de Temulentia, p. 254. , of the
Israelites, that having made a golden ox, in imitation of the Egyptian Typho,
he should have said Osiris, for Typho was hated by the Egyptians, being the
enemy of Osiris; they sung and danced: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem
interpret it of idolatry; some understand this of their lewdness and
uncleanness, committing fornication as in the worship of Peor, taking the word
in the same sense as used by Potiphar's wife, Genesis 39:14.
Exodus 32:7 7 And the Lord said to Moses,
“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have
corrupted themselves.
YLT 7And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go, descend,
for thy people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt hath done
corruptly,
And the Lord
said unto Moses, go, get thee down,.... In Deuteronomy 9:12 it
is added, "quickly", and so the Septuagint version here: this was
said after the Lord had finished his discourse with him, and had given him the
two tables of stone, and he was about to depart, but the above affair happening
he hastens his departure; indeed the idolatry began the day before, and he
could have acquainted him with it, if it had been his pleasure, but he suffered
the people to go the greatest length before a stop was put to their impiety:
for thy people
which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves; their works,
as the Targum of Jonathan supplies it, their ways and their manners; their
minds, the imaginations of their hearts, were first corrupted, and this led on
to a corruption of actions, by which they corrupted and defiled themselves yet
more and more, and made themselves abominable in the sight of God, as corrupt
persons and things must needs be; and what can be a greater corruption and
abomination than idolatry? the Lord calls these people not his people, being
displeased with them, though they had been, and were, and still continued; for,
notwithstanding this idolatry, he did not cast them off from being his people,
or write a "Loammi" on them; but he calls them Moses's people, as
having broken the law delivered to them by him, they had promised to obey, and
so were liable to the condemnation and curse of it; and because they had been
committed to his care and charge, and he had been the instrument of their
deliverance, and therefore it was great ingratitude to him to act the part they
had done, as well as impiety to God; wherefore, though it was the Lord that
brought them out of Egypt, it is ascribed to Moses as the instrument, to make
the evil appear the greater. Jarchi very wrongly makes these people to be the
mixed multitude he supposes Moses had proselyted, and therefore called his people.
Exodus 32:8 8 They have turned aside
quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a
molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is
your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”
YLT 8they have turned aside hastily from the way
that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and
bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel,
who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
They have
turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them,.... The
Targum of Jonathan adds, by way of explanation,"on Sinai, saying, ye shall
not make to yourselves an image, or figure, or any similitude.'This was the
command God had given to them; this the way he had directed them to walk in;
from this they turned aside, by making the golden calf as an image or
representation of God; and this they had done very quickly, since it was but
about six weeks ago that this command was given; wherefore if Moses had delayed
coming down from the mount, they had made haste to commit iniquity; and,
perhaps, this observation is made of their quick defection, in opposition to
their complaint of Moses's long absence:
they have made
them a molten calf; for though it was made by Aaron, or by his direction to the
founder or goldsmith, yet it was at their request and earnest solicitation;
they would not be easy without it:
and have
worshipped it; by bowing the knee to it, kissing it or their hands at the
approach of it, see Hosea 13:2.
and have
sacrificed thereunto burnt offerings and peace offerings:
and said, these
be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt; the very
words they used, Exodus 32:4 and
which were taken particular notice of by the Lord with resentment.
Exodus 32:9 9 And the Lord said to Moses,
“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!
YLT 9And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `I have seen
this people, and lo, it [is] a stiff-necked people;
And the Lord
said unto Moses, I have seen this people,.... He had observed
their ways and works, their carriage and behaviour; he had seen them before this
time; he knew from all eternity what they would be, that their neck would be as
an iron sinew, and their brow brass; but now he saw that in fact which he
before saw as future, and they proved to be the people he knew they would be;
besides, this is said to give Moses the true character of them, which might be
depended upon, since it was founded upon divine knowledge and observation:
and, behold, it
is a stiffnecked people; obstinate and self-willed, resolute in their own ways, and will
not be reclaimed, inflexible and not subjected to the yoke of the divine law; a
metaphor taken from such creatures as will not submit their necks or suffer the
yoke or bridle to be put upon them, but draw back and slip away; or, as Aben
Ezra thinks, to a man that goes on his way upon a run, and will not turn his
neck to him that calls him, so disobedient and irreclaimable were these people.
Exodus 32:10 10 Now therefore, let Me alone,
that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make
of you a great nation.”
YLT 10and now, let Me alone, and My anger doth burn
against them, and I consume them, and I make thee become a great nation.'
Now, therefore,
let me alone,.... And not solicit him with prayers and supplications in favour
of these people, but leave him to take his own way with them, without troubling
him with any suit on their behalf; and so the Targum of Jonathan,"and now
leave off thy prayer, and do not cry for them before me;'as the Prophet
Jeremiah was often bid not to pray for this people in his time, which was a
token of God's great displeasure with them, as well as shows the prevalence of
prayer with him; that he knows not how, as it were, humanly speaking, to deny
the requests of his children; and even though made not on their own account,
but on the account of a sinful and disobedient people:
that my wrath
may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: which
suggests that they were deserving of the wrath of God to the uttermost, and to
be destroyed from off the face of the earth, and even to be punished with an
everlasting destruction:
and I will make
of thee a great nation; increase his family to such a degree, as to make them as great a
nation or greater than the people of Israel were, see Deuteronomy 9:14 or
the meaning is, he would set him over a great nation, make him king over a people
as large or larger than they, which is a sense mentioned by Fagius and
Vatablus; and, indeed, as Bishop Patrick observes, if this people had been
destroyed, there would have been no danger of the promise not being made good,
which was made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning the multiplication of
their seed, urged by Moses, Exodus 32:13 seeing
that would have stood firm, if a large nation was made out of the family of
Moses, who descended from them: this was a very great temptation to Moses, and
had he been a selfish man, and sought the advancement of his own family, and
careless of, and indifferent to the people of Israel, he would have accepted of
it; it is a noble testimony in his favour, and proves him not to be the
designing man he is represented by the deists.
Exodus 32:11 11 Then
Moses pleaded with the Lord
his God, and said: “Lord,
why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of
the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
YLT 11And Moses appeaseth the face of Jehovah his
God, and saith, `Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom
Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a
strong hand?
And Moses
besought the Lord his God,.... As the Lord was the God of Moses, his
covenant God, and he had an interest in him, he made use of it in favour of the
people of Israel:
and said, why
doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people? so as to think or speak
of consuming them utterly; otherwise he knew there was reason for his being
angry and wroth with them; but though they were deserving of his hot wrath and
displeasure, and even to be dealt with in the manner proposed, yet he entreats
he would consider they were his people; his special people, whom he had chose
above all people, and had redeemed them from the house of bondage, had given
them laws, and made a covenant with them, and many promises unto them, and
therefore hoped he would not consume them in his hot displeasure; God had
called them the people of Moses, and Moses retorts it, and calls them the
people of God, and makes use of their relation to him as an argument with him
in their favour; and which also shows that Moses did not understand that the
Lord by calling them his people disowned them as his:
which thou hast
brought out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? this the Lord
had ascribed to Moses, and observes it is an aggravation of their ingratitude
to Moses, and here Moses retorts, and ascribes it to God, and to his mighty
power; as for himself he was only a weak feeble instrument, the Lord was the
efficient cause of their deliverance, in which he had shown the exceeding
greatness of his power; and he argues from hence, that seeing he had exerted
his mighty arm in bringing them from thence, that he would not now lift it up
against them and destroy them.
Exodus 32:12 12 Why should the Egyptians
speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the
mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your
fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.
YLT 12why do the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil
He brought them out to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off
the face of the ground? turn back from the heat of Thine anger, and repent of
the evil against Thy people.
Wherefore
should the Egyptians speak and say,.... Those that remained,
as the Targum of Jonathan, who were not drowned in the Red sea: a good man will
be concerned for the honour and glory of God among the enemies of his people,
that their mouths may not be opened to blaspheme the Lord and speak ill of his
ways, see Joshua 7:9 and this
is sometimes an argument with God himself, not to do that to his people they
deserve, lest it should give occasion to the enemy to speak reproachfully,
insult, and triumph, Deuteronomy 32:26.
for mischief
did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from
the face of the earth; that he brought them out of Egypt, not with a good but ill
design; not to bring them into the land of Canaan, as they promised themselves,
but to destroy them in the mountains; not to erect them into a great kingdom
and nation, which should make a considerable figure in the world, but to cut
them off from being a people at all: the mountains where they now were, were
Sinai and Horeb, and there might be others thereabout, among which they were
encamped: the Targum of Jonathan is,"among the mountains of Tabor, and
Hermon, and Sirion, and Sinai:"
turn from thy
fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people; not that
there is any turning or shadow of turning with God, or any change of his mind,
or any such passions and affections in him as here expressed; but this is said
after the manner of men concerning him, when he alters the course of his dealings
with men according to his unalterable will, and does not do the evil threatened
by him, and which the sins of men deserve.
Exodus 32:13 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac,
and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to
them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this
land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it
forever.’”[a]
YLT 13`Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou
speakest: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I
have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited to the age;'
Remember
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants,.... The covenant he made
with them, the promise he had made unto them, with an oath annexed to it:
to whom thou
swarest by thine own self; which he did, because he could swear by no
greater; and for the confirmation of his covenant and promise, see Genesis 22:16.
and saidst unto
them; for what was said to Abraham was repeated and confirmed to Isaac
and Jacob:
I will multiply
your seed as the stars of heaven; multitudes of which are
out of sight, and cannot be seen with the naked eye, nor numbered:
and all this
land that I have spoken of; the land of Canaan, then inhabited by
several nations:
will I give
unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever; as long as
they are a people, a body politic, and especially while obedient to the divine
will; but should they be now cut off, this promise would become of no effect:
this is the great argument Moses makes use of, and the most forcible one.
Exodus 32:14 14 So the Lord relented from
the harm which He said He would do to His people.
YLT 14and Jehovah repenteth of the evil which He
hath spoken of doing to His people.
And the Lord
repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. He did not do
what he threatened to do, and seemed to have in his thoughts and designs, but
did what Moses desired he would, Exodus 32:12 not
that any of God's thoughts or the determinations of his mind are alterable; for
the thoughts of his heart are to all generations; but he changes the outward
dispensations of his providence, or his methods of acting with men, which he
has been taking or threatened to take; and this being similar to what they do
when they repent of anything, who alter their course, hence repentance is
ascribed to God, though, properly speaking, it does not belong to him, see Jeremiah 18:8. Aben
Ezra thinks that the above prayer of Moses, which was so prevalent with God,
does not stand in its proper place, but should come after Exodus 32:31 for,
to what purpose, says he, should Moses say to the Israelites, Exodus 32:30
"peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin": if he was
appeased by his prayer before?
Exodus 32:15 15 And Moses turned and went
down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his
hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and
on the other they were written.
YLT 15And Moses turneth, and goeth down from the
mount, and the two tables of the testimony [are] in his hand, tables written on
both their sides, on this and on that [are] they written;
And Moses
turned, and went down from the mount,.... He turned himself
from God, with whom he had been conversing forty days; his back was to the
ascent of the mount, and he turned himself in order to go down; or "he
looked"F7ויפן "et aspexit",
Pagninus. , as a man considers what is to be done, as Aben Ezra observes, and
he saw that he was obliged to go down in haste:
and the two
tables of the testimony were in his hand; or hands, as in Exodus 32:19 for
they were, perhaps, as much as he could carry in both hands, being of stone, as
in Exodus 31:18 on
which was written the law, the "testimony" of the will of God with
respect to what was to be done or not done:
the letters
were written on both their sides, on the one side and on the other were they
written; some think that the engraving of the letters was such, that it
went through the stones, and in a miraculous manner the letters and lines were
in a regular order, and might be read on the other sides; to which Jarchi seems
to incline, saying, the letters might be read, and it was a work of wonders;
others think that the letters were written both within and without, like
Ezekiel's book of woes; that the same that was within side was written without,
that so, when held up, they might be read by those that stood before and those
that stood behind; but rather so it was that the whole was written within, some
of the commands on the right, and some on the left, and so the tables might be
clapped together as a book is folded.
Exodus 32:16 16 Now the tablets were
the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the
tablets.
YLT 16and the tables are the work of God, and the
writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.
And the tables
were the work of God,.... And not of angels or men; the stones were made and formed by
God into the shape they were:
and the writing
was the writing of God, graven upon the tables; the letters in which the
law was written were of his framing, devising, and engraving; and this was to
show that this law was his own, and contained his mind and will; and to give
the greater dignity and authority to it, and to deter men from breaking it.
Exodus 32:17 17 And when Joshua heard the
noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise
of war in the camp.”
YLT 17And Joshua heareth the voice of the people in
their shouting, and saith unto Moses, `A noise of battle in the camp!'
And when Joshua
heard the noise of the people, as they shouted,.... Dancing about the
calf: when Moses went up into the mount, Joshua went with him, and tarried in a
lower part of the mount all the forty days until he returned, see Exodus 24:13 though
not so low as the bottom of the mount where the people were, nor so near it as
to know what they did there, for of their affairs he seems to be entirely
ignorant; nor so high as where Moses was, or, however, not in the cloud where
he conversed with God, for of what passed between them he had no knowledge,
until declared by Moses:
he said unto
Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp; such a noise
as soldiers make in an onset for battle; he supposed that some enemy was come
upon and had attacked the people, and that this noise was the noise of the
enemy, or of the Israelites, or both, just beginning the battle; or on the
finishing of it on the account of victory on one side or the other; and as he
was the general of the army, it must give him a concern that he should be
absent at such a time.
Exodus 32:18 18 But he said: “It is
not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But
the sound of singing I hear.”
YLT 18and he saith, `It is not the voice of the
crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness -- a voice of
singing I am hearing.'
And he said,.... Not
Joshua, as Saadiah Gaon thinks, but Moses, in answer to what Joshua had said:
it is not the voice of them that shout for mastery; that have got
the better of it, and have obtained the victory, and shout on that account; or,
"not the voice of a cry of strength", or "of a strong cry"F8קול ענות גבורה
"vox eorum qui respondeant fortiter", Tigurine version; "vox
clamoris fortis", Drusius. ; that is, of men who have got the victory, and
are in high spirits, and shout with a strong voice; and so the Targums of
Onkelos and Jonathan,"not the voice of strong men that overcome in
battle:"
neither is
it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; which is not
a voice of shouting, but of howling; or, "not the voice of the cry of
weakness", or "of a weak cry"F9קול
ענות הלושה "vox eorum
qui respondeant infirmiter", Tigurine version; "vox clamoris
debilis", Drusius. ; who being unable to stand their ground are conquered,
and make a bitter outcry on falling into the enemy's hands, or being wounded
shriek terribly, and so the above Targums,"not the voice of the weak who
are overcome by the enemy in battle:"
but the noise of them that sing do I hear; as at a merry
entertainment, either on a civil or religious account: Moses, who knew what the
children of Israel had done, and what they were about, could better judge of
the nature of the sound he heard than Joshua could, who knew nothing of what
was transacting,
Exodus 32:19 19 So it was, as soon as he
came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’
anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at
the foot of the mountain.
YLT 19And it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn
near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of
Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them
under the mount;
And it came to
pass, as soon, as he came nigh unto the camp,.... To the bottom of the
mountain, and pretty near where the people were encamped:
that he saw the
calf, and the dancing; the golden image of the calf, and the people dancing about it,
in honour of it, and as glad they had got a symbol and representation of God to
go before them; and so the Egyptians did before the golden ox; as Philo says,
before observed:
and Moses's
anger waxed hot: he fell into a passion of indignation at the sight of such
execrable idolatry, though he was so meek a man, and though he had himself
expostulated with the Lord why his wrath should wax hot against this people;
but, when he saw it with his own eyes he could not contain himself, but his
spirit was raised to a very great pitch of anger, and could not forbear showing
it in some way or another, and particularly in the following manner:
and he cast the
tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount; of Sinai; at
the foot of it: he brought the tables, though he knew what they had done, and
no doubt showed them to them, told them what they were, and enlarged on the
wonderful condescension and goodness of God in giving them such laws, and
writing them with his own hand, engraving them himself on such tables of stone;
and then broke them to pieces, to denote that they had broken these laws, and
deserved to be broke in pieces and destroyed themselves; and this he did before
their eyes, that they might be the more affected with it, and be the more
sensible of their loss; and this was not the mere effect of passion, at least a
sinful one, but was under the influence and direction of God himself; since we
never read he was blamed for this action, though afterwards ordered to make two
tables like them: the Jews sayF11Misn. Taanith, c. 4. sect. 7. ,
this was done on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, which answers to part of June
and part of July, and is observed by them as a fast on account of it.
Exodus 32:20 20 Then he took the calf
which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to
powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel
drink it.
YLT 20and he taketh the calf which they have made,
and burneth [it] with fire, and grindeth until [it is] small, and scattereth on
the face of the waters, and causeth the sons of Israel to drink.
And he took the
calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire,.... Melted it
down into a mass of gold, whereby it lost its form, and had no more the
appearance of a calf:
and ground it
to powder; but how this was done is not easy to say, whether by beating the
mass of gold into thin plates, and then filing them small; for this art has
remained unknown; the chemists have boasted of it as only possessed of it; but
it seems Moses, learned in all the learning of the Egyptians, had it: however,
it is now certain by various experiments, that gold, though a very thick and
heavy body, consists of parts which are separable from one another, and to be
divided into infinite subtler parts: the famous Dr. Halley has shown that one
grain of gold may be divided into 10,000 parts, and yet visible; and Dr. Keil
has demonstrated that a cubic thumb's breadth of gold is divisible into
47,619,047 parts, which do not escape the sight: according to the computation
of the said Dr. Halley, leaf gold, with which silver threads are gilded, is not
thicker than the 124,500 part of a thumb's breadth; so that a cube of the
hundredth part of a thumb's breadth of the said subtle parts may contain
243,000,000F12Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 247. :
and strawed it
upon the water; of the brook that descended out of the mount, Deuteronomy 9:21
now called the fountain of St. Catharine; which Dr. ShawF13Travels,
p. 242. Ed. 2. says, after it has supplied the demands of the convent (now
built on this mount) is received without into a large basin, which running
over, forms a little rill: and another travellerF14Baumgarten.
peregrinatio, l. 1. c. 24. p. 61, 62. speaks of a fountain about the middle of
Mount Sinai, which, though small, was found in it running water very wholesome
and refreshing: but if this was a brook of running water, it seems more likely
that water was taken out of it and put into a proper vessel or vessels, on
which the powder of the golden calf was strewed; or otherwise it would have
been carried away with the stream, and could not have been taken up and given
to the people to drink, as is next said; and this shows that it must be reduced
to a very small light powder indeed, to float upon the top of the water and not
sink to the bottom, as mere filings of gold would necessarily do:
and made the
children of Israel drink of it; not the whole body of them, or every individual,
but the more principal persons, and such who had been the most active in
encouraging the making of the calf, and the worshipping of it: this was done
not only that they might entirely lose their gold and have no manner of profit
by it, but that the idol, which is nothing in the world, might be brought to
nothing indeed, and that there might be no remains of it to be abused to
superstitious uses, as well as to show them their folly in worshipping that
which could not save itself; and by drinking it, whereby it passed through them
and became an excrement, to express the utmost abhorrence and detestation of
it; as also to show that they deserved the curse of God to enter into them, as
oil into their bowels, as that water did, and be utterly destroyed: the Jewish
writers, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, suppose this water, with the powder of the
golden calf in it, had the same effect and was for the same use as the water of
jealousy, that it made the bellies of those that drank it to swell: and the
Targum of Jonathan observes, that whoever gave any golden vessel towards the
making of the calf, there was a sign appeared in his countenance: and Aben Ezra
suggests the same, but neither of them say what it was: but an ancient Latin
poet, quoted by SeldenF15De Diis Syris Syntagma, 1. c. 4. p. 156. ,
reports from the Hebrew writers, that whoever were guilty of this idolatry, as
soon as they drank of the water their beards became yellow as gold, whereby the
Levites knew who were guilty, and slew them; but as this is quite fabulous, so
I have not met with it in any Jewish writer, only an author of theirs, of great
antiquity and credit with them, saysF16Pirke Eliezer, c. 45. , that
whoever kissed the calf with his whole heart, his lips became golden.
Exodus 32:21 21 And
Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so
great a sin upon them?”
YLT 21And Moses saith unto Aaron, `What hath this
people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?'
And Moses said
unto Aaron,.... Having destroyed the calf, and thereby expressed his
abhorrence of their idolatry, he examines the principal persons concerned, and
inquires into the cause and reason of it, how it came about; and begins with
Aaron, though his own brother, with whom along with Hur he had committed the
government of the people during his absence; and therefore was justly
accountable for such a transaction, which could not have been without his
knowledge and consent: no mention is made of Hur, whether he was dead or no is
not certain; the Jewish writers say he was, and that he was killed for
reproving the Israelites for their wickedness; and it looks as if he was dead,
since he was not in the examination, and we hear of him no more afterwards:
what did this
people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? as idolatry
is, than which no sin can be greater, it being not only a breach of the first
table of the law, but directly against God, against the very being of God, and
his honour and glory; it is a denial of him, and setting up an idol in his
room, and giving to that the glory that is only due to his name; and Aaron
being the chief magistrate, whose business it was to see that the laws of God
were observed, and to restrain the people from sin, and to have been a terror
to evil doers; yet falling in with them, and conniving at them, he is charged
with bringing sin upon them, or them into that; and is asked what the people had
done to him, that he should do this to them, what offence they had given him,
what injury they had done him, that he bore them a grudge for it, and took this
method to be revenged? for it is suggested, had they used him ever so ill, he
could not have requited it in a stronger manner than by leading them into such
a sin, the consequence of which must be ruin and destruction, see Genesis 20:9 or
else Moses inquires of Aaron what methods the people had made use of to prevail
upon him to suffer them to do such a piece of wickedness; whether it was by
persuasion and artful insinuations, or by threatening to take away his life if
he did not comply, or in what manner they had wrought upon his weak side, to
induce him to take such a step.
Exodus 32:22 22 So Aaron said, “Do not let
the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set
on evil.
YLT 22and Aaron saith, `Let not the anger of my
lord burn; thou -- thou hast known the people that it [is] in evil;
And Aaron said,
let not the anger of my lord wax hot,.... He addresses him in
a very respectful manner, though his younger brother, being in a superior
office, the chief ruler of the people, king in Jeshurun; and he perceived a
violent emotion rising in him, great indignation in his countenance, and an
high resentment of what was done, and therefore he entreats his patience to
hear him, in a few words, what he had to say, and he begins with the well known
character of the people:
thou knowest
the people, that they are set on mischief; or are "in
wickedness"F17ברע "in
malo", Montanus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; wholly in
it, and under the power and influence of it, given up to it, and bent upon it;
and there was no restraining them from it; and he appeals to the knowledge of
Moses himself for the truth of this, of which their several murmurings against
him, since they came out of Egypt, were a proof; see 1 John 5:19.
Exodus 32:23 23 For they said to me, ‘Make
us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought
us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
YLT 23and they say to me, Make for us gods, who go
before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt
-- we have not known what hath happened to him;
For they said
unto me, make us gods, which shall go before us,.... Which was true, Exodus 32:1 but
then he should have told them, that gods were not to be made; that what were
made with hands were no gods, and could not go before them; that the making of
any image, similitude, or representation of God, was forbidden by him, as they
had lately heard from his own mouth; he should have dissuaded from such
idolatry, by showing them the evil nature of the sin, and the ruin they exposed
themselves to by it:
for as for
this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not
what is become of him; their words he truly recites, and perhaps might choose the
rather to mention them, because they carried in them some reflection on Moses
for staying so long in the mount; and as if that contributed much to this
affair, and which put the people on forming such a scheme, they concluding he
must be dead through famine; or, as the Targum of Jonathan, be burnt with
flaming fire from the Lord.
Exodus 32:24 24 And I said to them,
‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to
me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
YLT 24and I say to them, Whoso hath gold, let them
break [it] off, and they give to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf
cometh out.'
And I said unto
them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off,.... That is,
any ear rings of gold, let them loose or take them off their ears:
so they gave it
me; of their own accord, as if unasked by him, though he had bid
them bring it to him, Exodus 32:2,
then I cast it
into the fire; to melt it, but says nothing of the mould the melted gold was
poured into:
and there came
out this calf; he speaks of it as if the gold became in the form of a calf
without any design, or without using any methods to put it in this form; but
that it was a matter of chance, or rather something preternatural and
miraculous; he speaks of it as if it was alive, and came out of itself: and
indeed the Jews represent it as done by magic art, and by the operation of
Satan, and speak of it as coming out alive, bellowing and dancing; and the
Targum of Jonathan is,"and I cast it into the fire, and Satan entered into
the midst of it, and out of it came the likeness of this calf.'Aaron says not a
word of his fashioning it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten
calf; but Moses learned this elsewhere, and has recorded it. What Moses thought
of this apology is not said; it could not be satisfactory to him: and it is
certain the conduct of Aaron in this affair was displeasing to God; and it seemed
as if he would have destroyed him, had not Moses prayed for him, Deuteronomy 9:20.
Exodus 32:25 25 Now when Moses saw that
the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their
shame among their enemies),
YLT 25And Moses seeth the people that it [is]
unbridled, for Aaron hath made it unbridled for contempt among its
withstanders,
And when Moses
saw that the people were naked,.... Not in their bodies,
being stripped of their ear rings; for parting with them was not sufficient to
denominate them naked in a corporeal sense; nor as being without their armour,
which was laid aside while they were eating, and drinking, and dancing about
the calf, and so might be thought a proper opportunity for the Levites to fall
upon them, by the order of Moses, and slay them: but it can hardly be thought
that all the people bore arms, and that Moses took the advantage of their being
without them: but rather they were naked in their souls, through their sin, and
the shame of their nakedness appeared; their sin was made manifest, and they
were discovered to be what they were; and they were now deprived of the divine
protection; the cloud was departing from them, the symbol of the divine
Presence, God being provoked by their sins; unless it is to be understood of
their ceasing from work, and keeping holy day in honour of the calf, and so
were loitering about, and not attending to the business of their callings, in
which sense the word sometimes seems to be used, see Exodus 5:4.
for Aaron had
made them naked unto their shame amongst their enemies; to part with
their ear rings, or lay aside their armour while feasting, could not be so much
to their shame among their enemies; but to sin against God, in the manner they
did, was to their shame, which Aaron was a means of by not doing all he could
to hinder it, and by doing what he did to encourage it; and now he made them
naked to their shame by exposing it, saying they were a people set on mischief,
and given up to sin and wickedness; and what they had now done served to expose
them to shame even among their enemies, both now and hereafter; when they
should hear of their shameful revolt from God, after so many great and good
things done for them, and of the change of their gods, and of their fickleness
about them, which was not usual with the Gentiles: though the last word may be
rendered, "among those that rise up from you"; that should spring
from them, come up in their room, and succeed them, their posterity, as in Numbers 32:14 and
so Onkelos renders it, "to your generations", and is so to be
understood, as Abendana observes; and then the sense is, that this sin of
making and worshipping the golden calf, and keeping a holy day, would be to
their shame and disgrace, among their posterity, in all succeeding ages. (If is
quite possible the people were physically naked, having taken off all their
clothes to indulge in the idolatrous worship of the calf and sexual immorality
that usually is associated with such wicked practices. Editor.)
Exodus 32:26 26 then Moses stood in the
entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come
to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
YLT 26and Moses standeth in the gate of the camp,
and saith, `Who [is] for Jehovah? -- unto me!' and all the sons of Levi are
gathered unto him;
Then Moses
stood in the gate of the camp,.... In one of the gates of it; for it
doubtless had more than one to go in and out of, as is clear from Exodus 32:27 it
being probably entrenched all around; here Moses set himself, it being the
usual place, as in cities, where the people were summoned together on important
occasions, and justice and judgment were administered:
and said, who
is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me; who is for
the worship of the true God, and him only, and against the worship of a gold
calf, or any other idol, and is zealous for the glory of God, and the honour of
his name:
and all the
sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him; that is, all
those that had not given in to the idolatry of the calf; all is put for many.
Jarchi infers from hence, that this tribe was wholly free from that sin; but
the contrary is most evident, for it appears from the context that many of them
were slain for it; yea, as, on the one hand, they were only of the tribe of
Levi, who joined themselves to Moses, though there was no doubt many in all the
tribes that were not in the idolatry; so, on the other hand, there were none
slain, or very few, but of the tribe of Levi, as will appear in the exposition
of the following verses, the being principally concerned with Aaron in making
the calf; and therefore those of the same tribe that joined them not were the
more zealous and studious to purge themselves from the imputation of the crime,
by going over to Moses at once, and showing themselves to be on the Lord's
side.
Exodus 32:27 27 And he said to them, “Thus
says the Lord
God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from
entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother,
every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”
YLT 27and he saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God
of Israel, Put each his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate
to gate through the camp, and slay each his brother, and each his friend, and
each his relation.'
And he said
unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,.... The following orders
are given by Moses, not of himself the chief magistrate, and as the effect of
heat and passion, but there were from the Lord, who was Israel's God and King;
he had them expressly from him, or by an impulse on his spirit, or in such a
way and manner that he knew it was of God, and this was his will:
put every man
his sword by his side; girt there, ready to be drawn upon order:
and go in and
out from gate to gate throughout the camp; not into the tents,
where good men might be bemoaning the sin committed, but throughout the
streets, where many were loitering, it being a holy day with the idolaters:
and slay every
man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; who were
idolaters; none were to be spared on account of relation, friendship, and
acquaintance.
Exodus 32:28 28 So the sons of Levi did
according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell
that day.
YLT 28And the sons of Levi do according to the word
of Moses, and there fall of the people on that day about three thousand men,
And the
children of Levi did according to the word of Moses,.... They
girded their swords by their sides, went through the camp, and slew their
brethren, companions and neighbours, who were keeping holy day in honour of the
idol:
and there fell
of the people that day about three thousand men; the Vulgate Latin
version reads 23,000, very wrongly; now these being chiefly, if not altogether,
of the tribe of Levi, the brethren, companions, and neighbours of the Levites,
that were the slayers, together with the after plagues that came upon them, Exodus 32:35
account for the deficiency of males in this tribe, some few months after, when
it was numbered; and the number of them from one month old and upwards amounted
but to 22,000, which was but a very small one in proportion to the other
tribes, who generally, one with another, numbered 40,000 each, and none so few
as 30,000F18See the Bishop of Clogber's Chronology of the Hebrew
Bible, p. 360, 362. ; of this tribe Aaron was, and therefore used with
severity, because of his concern in this sin; and even though it was the tribe
of Moses, it was not spared.
Exodus 32:29 29 Then Moses said,
“Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on
you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”
YLT 29and Moses saith, `Consecrate your hand to-day
to Jehovah, for a man [is] against his son, and against his brother, so as to
bring on you to-day a blessing.'
For Moses had
said,.... To the Levites, when he first gave them their orders:
consecrate
yourselves today to the Lord; devote yourselves to his service, by
obeying his orders, slaying those, or the heads of them, who have cast so much
contempt upon him as to worship the golden calf in his room; and which would be
as acceptable to him as the offerings were, by which Aaron and his sons were
consecrated to the Lord; and as these Levites were consecrated to his service
this day, on this account:
even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; not sparing
the nearest relation found in this idolatry, and for which the tribe of Levi is
commended and blessed in the blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:8
and as it follows:
that he may
bestow a blessing upon you this day; which was their being
taken into the service of God to minister to the priests in the sanctuary, to
bear the vessels of the Lord, and for their maintenance to have the tithes of
the people: this day was, according to the Jewish writersF19Sedar
Olam Rabba, c. 6. p. 18. Pirke Eliezer, c. 46. , the seventeenth of Tammuz, or
June, on which day the Jews keep a fast upon this account.
Exodus 32:30 30 Now it came to pass on the
next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now
I will go up to the Lord;
perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
YLT 30And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that
Moses saith unto the people, `Ye -- ye have sinned a great sin, and now I go up
unto Jehovah, if so be I atone for your sin.'
And it came to
pass on the morrow,.... The eighteenth day of Tammuz it was, the same writers say,
that Moses implored the mercy of God for Israel. Jarchi on Exodus 32:11 says
it was on the seventeenth day the tables were broke, on the eighteenth the calf
was burnt, and on the nineteenth that Moses went up to intercede for them:
that Moses said
unto the people, ye have sinned a great sin; the sin of idolatry, see
Exodus 32:21 from
whence it appears, that all that were guilty of it were not slain, perhaps only
some of one tribe; and there was great reason to fear, that as wrath was gone
forth it would not stop here, but others would fall a sacrifice to the divine
displeasure; wherefore it is proposed by Moses to make application to the Lord
on their behalf, that they might obtain mercy:
and I will go
up unto the Lord: on the top of Mount Sinai:
peradventure I
shall make atonement for your sin; not by any sacrifice
offered, but by his prayers prevail with God to forgive their sin, and not
punish any more for it: he had by his first prayer obtained of the Lord not to
consume them off of the face of the earth, and utterly destroy them as a
nation; but that he did not hinder but that resentment might be shown in a
lesser degree, or by parts; as not 3000 men had been cut off, chiefly out of
one tribe, if not altogether, the rest of the tribes might expect to be
visited, according to the number of their delinquents.
Exodus 32:31 31 Then
Moses returned to the Lord
and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves
a god of gold!
YLT 31And Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and
saith, `Oh this people hath sinned a great sin, that they make to themselves a
god of gold;
And Moses
returned unto the Lord,.... On the mount where he was in the cloud:
and said, oh,
this people have sinned a great sin; which to following words
explain; he confesses the same to God he had charged the people with in Exodus 32:30,
and have made
them gods of gold; the golden calf, which they themselves called
"Elohim", gods.
Exodus 32:32 32 Yet now, if You will
forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have
written.”
YLT 32and now, if Thou takest away their sin -- and
if not -- blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'
Yet now, if
thou will forgive their sin,.... Of thy free grace, good will, and pleasure;
it will redound to thy glory, men will praise thy name on account of it; these
people will have great reason to be thankful, and will lie under great
obligations to thee, to fear, serve, and glorify thee; and in particular it
will be regarded by me as the highest favour that can be asked or granted:
and if not,
blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written; not the book
of the law, as Jarchi, written with the finger of God, the name of Moses was
not written there; nor the book of the just, as the Targum of Jonathan, the
list and catalogue of good men, that belonged to the visible church, called in
after time "the writing of the house of Israel", Ezekiel 13:9 but
rather the book of life, either of this temporal life, and then it means no
more than that he wished to die, even immediately by the hand of God, which
seems to be countenanced by Numbers 11:15 or
else of eternal life, and is no other than the book of life of the Lamb, or
God's predestination or choice of men in Christ to everlasting life, which is
particular, personal, sure, and certain; and Moses asks for this, not as a
thing either desirable or possible, but to express his great affection for this
people, and his great concern for the glory of God; and rather than either
should suffer, he chose, if it was possible, to be deprived of that eternal
happiness he hoped for, and should enjoy.
Exodus 32:33 33 And the Lord said to Moses,
“Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
YLT 33And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Whoso hath
sinned against Me -- I blot him out of My book;
And the Lord
said unto Moses,.... In answer to his request:
whosoever hath
sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book; not that
anyone that is really in the book of life is ever blotted out, or that anyone
predestinated or ordained to eternal life ever perish: but some persons may
think themselves, and they may seem to be written in that book, or to be among
the number of God's elect, but are not, and turn out obstinate impenitent
sinners, and live and die in impenitence and unbelief; when it will appear that
their names were never written in it, which, is the same thing as to be blotted
out of it, see Psalm 69:28. Now by
this answer the Lord does not absolutely refuse the request of Moses with
respect to the people, though he does with regard to himself, and the blotting
his name out of his book; and it is plain, by what follows, he meant to show
mercy to the people, since he bids Moses go and lead them on towards Canaan,
and promises an angel to go before them; though he reserves to himself a
liberty to chastise this people for this sin, as he should have opportunity,
along with others.
Exodus 32:34 34 Now therefore, go, lead
the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel
shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I
will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”
YLT 34and now, go, lead the people whithersoever I
have spoken to thee of; lo, My messenger goeth before thee, and in the day of
my charging -- then I have charged upon them their sin.'
Therefore now
go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee,.... That is,
to the land of Canaan, which he had promised to their fathers and to them, and
had directed Moses to bring them to:
behold, mine
angel shall go before thee: and not I, as Jarchi interprets it; not the
Angel of the covenant, and of his presence, as in Exodus 23:20 but a
created angel, which, though a favour, was a lessening of the mercy before
promised and granted; and which gave the people a great deal of concern, though
Moses by his supplications got the former blessing restored, Exodus 33:2,
nevertheless,
in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them; that is, when
he should visit them in a way of correction for other sins, he would visit them
in like manner for this sin, the worship of the golden calf; and so Jarchi well
explains it,"when I visit upon them their iniquities, I will visit upon
them a little of this iniquity, with the rest of iniquities; and there is no
punishment (adds he) comes upon Israel, in which there is not something of the
punishment of the sin of the calf;'and the Jews have a sayingF20T.
Hieros. Taanith, fol. 68. 3. , that"there is not a generation in which
there is not an ounce of the sin of the calf.'
Exodus 32:35 35 So the Lord plagued the
people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.
YLT 35And Jehovah plagueth the people, because they
made the calf which Aaron made.
And the Lord
plagued the people,.... That is, continued so to do at certain times, with the
pestilence, or other calamities; for this seems not to refer, as some think, to
the slaughter of the 3000 men: the reason follows:
because they
made the calf which Aaron made; that is, they provided him with materials
to make it; they urged and solicited him to do it, and would not be easy
without it, so that the making of it is ascribed to them; or they served it, as
Onkelos; or bowed unto it, as Jonathan; with which agree the Syriac, Arabic,
and Samaritan versions, which render it, they served, or worshipped, or sacrificed
to the calf which Aaron made.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New
King James Version (NKJV)
a.
Exodus 32:13 Genesis 13:15 and 22:17