Chapter Thirty-Two
The Golden Calf Incident
32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. 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.”
Moses had been away on the mountain for forty days (see Exodus 24:18; Deuteronomy 9:9) and the people were starting to get anxious. Some interpret Exodus 24:18 as Moses stating that he will be on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, and that since that time had elapsed, some of the Israelites thought he was dead, and that God had abandoned them in the desert. This is a popular viewpoint by many Jews, the Palestinian Targum on the book of Shemoth (the book of Exodus) records this explanation:
But the people saw that Mosheh delayed to come down from the mount, and the people gathered together unto Aharon, when they saw that the time he had appointed to them had passed; and Satana had come, and caused them to err, and perverted their hearts with pride. And they said to him, Arise, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Mosheh, the man who brought us up from the land of Mizraim, he may have been consumed in the mountain by the fire which flameth from before the Lord, (and) we know not what hath befallen him in his end.[1]
Note: Mosheh is a reference to Moses; Satana is a reference to Satan; and Mizraim is Egypt.
More than likely the Israelites became impatient, being only a few months away from Egypt, a place where thousands of pagan gods were worshiped, perhaps they felt vulnerable and fear of being abandoned.
32:2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
One of the more puzzling aspects about the story that unfolds in this chapter is in regard to Aaron. Why did Aaron willingly participate? Some believe he didn’t have much choice. The Jewish Mishnah tractate Sanhedrin [Folio 7A], records in the middle of an explanation on how Psalm 10:3 should be interpreted, one rabbi uses this same question as an example to make point (although not related to this story):
Rabbi Tanhum bar Hanilai has said, “The cited verse of Scripture speaks only with regard to the making of the Golden Calf. For it is said, ‘And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it’ (Ex. 32:5).” What did he see? Said Rabbi Benjamin bar Japheth said Rabbi Eleazar, “He saw Hur slain before him. He reasoned, ‘If I do not listen to them, they will do to me what they did to Hur, and in me will be carried out the verse of prophecy.[2]
Moses told the elders that both Hur and Aaron would remain with them to handle any problem that might arise (see Exodus 24:14). If this was true, and Aaron did witness the execution of Hur, then that might explain why Aaron was willing to participate and also solve a yet-future question as to why Aaron was not punished by God for his involvement.
Aaron first responds by requesting that the Israelites bring him the gold that they wore. Some believe that he wanted them to think twice about building an idol.
32:3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
Apparently without hesitation, the Israelites offered their gold adornments for the construction of a golden idol. Aaron then melted the metal and fashioned it with a graving tool (Hebrew word ‘ḥē’·rěṯ’,[3] a noun that describes several tools, from an engraving tool to a chisel, can also be a writing implement), making a golden calf. Many believe Aaron refused to make an idol representing God (see Exodus 20:4; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 27:15; Psalm 97:7) and perhaps knowing that many of the trouble-makers (often called the rabble) were not Israelites and probably well intrenched in pagan idolatry (see Exodus 12:38; Leviticus 24:10-11; Numbers 11:4), Aaron made them a familiar looking idol, a golden calf. Based on archeological evidence around the area today known as Jabal al-Lawz,[4] the golden calf may have been as long as thirty feet, much larger than most artwork that depicts this story.
When Aaron was done, the people started to tell each other, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” In more than one way, a direct insult to God, as God had, and will continue to use that reference, exclusively for Himself (see Exodus 20:2; Leviticus 22:33; 25:38, 42, 55; 26:13; Psalm 81:10).
32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”
Aaron builds an altar for sacrifices (Hebrew word ‘miz·bēªḥ’,[5] is the noun from the verb ‘zāḇaḥ’,[6] which refers to the slaughtering of an animal, a place to offer sacrifices, very different from how the word ‘altar’ is used today). Then Aaron delays the inevitable celebration another day, perhaps thinking that Moses would arrive that night. It is interesting to note that Aaron did not refer to the celebration as being a feast to the gods, but as a feast to YHWH.
32:6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
The people rose up early, apparently, they couldn’t wait to get started as they immediately offered burnt offerings and brought animals or grain for peace offerings. There is no mention regarding to whom they were offering these sacrifices. Some believe that they may have been attempting to seek God’s blessing as He told Moses, “An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.” (Exodus 20:24) If so, they forgot the preceding verse, “You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.” (Exodus 20:23) However, the context spells out a different story. After they ate and drank, they got up to play, the Hebrew word translated here as ‘play’, is ‘ṣǎ·ḥēq’,[7] a verb meaning to laugh, to mock, to make fun of something. The New Living Translation renders the last half of the verse, “After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” (Exodus 32:6b, NLT) It is clear the people had turned their backs on God.
32:7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
While still on Mount Sinai, Moses is told about what the people were doing. Note how God refers to the people as being Moses’ people, those that he brought out of Egypt; sounds like He has disowned the Israelites. God says they have corrupted themselves by turning away from Him (leaving no doubt what their intentions were) and notes how fast they began to disregard everything they agreed to do.
God then told Moses about the golden calf and how they have been worshiping and sacrificing to it, saying, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” God adds that He sees them as “stiff-necked” people, (Hebrew phrase, “qāšē(h[8]) ō’·rěp,”[9] meaning hard or strong neck, this is the first of several times this phrase appears in Scripture) referring to their stubborn and rebellious nature.
God now informs Moses that He wants him to leave so that His anger may burn (Hebrew ‘yi·ḥǎr’,[10] to be kindled, flare up) against them and consume them, He is essentially saying He is done with the Israelites and wants to start over and make a great nation out of Moses’ offspring.
32:11 But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O 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? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
Moses implores God to reconsider and not destroy the Israelites. He first refers to, what we might call today a public relations matter, God’s reputation. If He destroyed the Israelites, what would stop the Egyptians from saying, “He was planning all along to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth. That’s why he brought them out of our land.” (Exodus 12b, GW). Not that God would ever forget a promise, Moses reminds Him about the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob) and that their offspring would number as many as there are stars and promise of the land, for an eternal inheritance (while they violated the covenant they had recently agreed to there at Sinai, the Abrahamic Covenant remained unconditional).[11]
32:14 And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
The text informs us that Moses was successful in preventing God from destroying the Israelites. Was God actually going to eliminate His people? Some believe that He said those things to encourage Moses to accept his role as their intercessor. As Moses is considered a model of Christ (see Hebrews 11:23-26), intercession for others is a vital and important role. God would know that Moses would attempt to intercede, but would He lie just to make a point? No.
32:15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
Moses proceeds down off the mountain with the two tablets that contained God’s law and commandments. The tablets were written on both sides, being engraved by God. The word that is translated here as ‘engraved’ is different than the word previously translated as ‘engraved’ regarding the Hight Priest garments (which was the Hebrew word ‘pāṯaḥ’,[12] a verb meaning “to open,” seen earlier in chapter 28), this word is ‘ḥā·rǔṯ’,[13] found only this one time in Scripture, meaning to engrave, cut, or carve.
32:17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
When Moses made it back to where he left Joshua, who apparently waited for Moses (see Exodus 24:13), Joshua told him about the noise of the people, calling it the “noise of war in the camp.” The Hebrew word translated here as ‘war’, is the word ‘mil·ḥā·mā(h)’,[14] meaning war, battle, fight, combat, such as a military engagement. The commotion from the camp below sounded like a war breaking out to Joshua.
32:18 But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
Probably as they got closer to the camp, they realized that the sounds were not of war in either defeat or victory, but more like singing, possibly in a riotous and uncontrolled way (the Targum of Onkelos records it as the "voice of revelers,”[15] the Hebrew word ‘ǎn·nǒṯ’,[16] refers to someone responding or answering a person, however, it can also refer to singing, shouting, or even howling).
But once Moses saw the calf and the dancing, he knew what was really going on, in his anger he threw the tablets on the ground, breaking them at the foot of the mountain.
32:20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
Moses took the calf that they had made (through their contributions of gold for the construction of the calf, each of the Israelites would have been considered its co-builders) and first burned it with fire and then ground it to a fine powder and scattered the powder on the water and forced them to drink it (see also Deuteronomy 9:21). Some believe that the calf may have been made of wood and overlaid with gold, making it easier to burn, break up, and then pulverize. Regardless, it was evident Moses was very upset and angry with the people.
By comparing the story of the unfaithful wife that is recorded in Numbers 5:11-31 to this story, regarding the unfaithful Israelites who worshiped the golden calf, the commentary in the Talmud tractate Abodah Zorah[17] points out that the purpose of this ordeal of drinking the gold-laden water was to identify the transgressors.
32:21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. 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.’
Moses then turns to his brother and asks him, what did the people do that would make you even consider participating in such an abomination before God? Moses was convinced that there had to be a significant event that took place to persuade Aaron to do something so outrageous. Aaron begins to respond truthfully, as Moses knew that the people were often set on evil, as he had already dealt with some of rabble rousers (see Exodus 15:24).[18] He then continues and said they asked for him to make them gods who will go before them, to lead them, since they thought his brother was no longer with them.
32:24 So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
Aaron then told Moses about him requesting them to donate all the gold that they were wearing, and how they willingly gave it to him. Then, instead of telling the truth, Aaron begins to fantasize and offer one of the greatest lies in the Bible as an excuse. He says that he threw the gold into a fire and out came a golden calf. He neglected to say anything about fashioning it with a graving tool to make a calf (see verse four). Moses appropriately ignores his answer.
32:25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the LORD’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
Moses saw that the people were, “running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.” (Exodus 32:25b, NIV) possibly in rebellion to the destruction of the calf. Moses then stood at the entrance of the camp, and asked the people who was on YHWH’s side? If they were, they were to come over to Moses. All of his fellow Levites came and gathered around him.
32:27 And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ ” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.
Moses instructs the men that had chosen to follow God, to prepare their swords and to go throughout the camp and kill all those who were unrepentant for their participation in the pagan worship and the offering of sacrifices given to the golden calf. The phrase stating that they are to kill their brother is not necessarily a reference to a direct descendant, but rather as a reference to any relative (not everyone was an Israelite, but all of the Israelites would have been considered relatives). This may sound excessive, or perhaps without mercy, we must remember that God made it clear, “Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.” (Exodus 22:20, NLT)
32:29 And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”
In the book of Genesis, Levi, the third son of Jacob, had a sordid history. He and his brother Simeon murdered the men in Shechem (see Genesis 34:1-29) and later during Jacob’s blessing of his sons, Jacob said he and his brother would be cursed for their anger (see Genesis 49:7). The future of the tribe, up to the time of Moses, did not look promising. However, now, with their willingness to stand for God, they got a second chance. Moses tells them that they have been ordained for service to YHWH (similar phrase used to express the ordination of the priests).[19]
The tribe of Levi will later be commissioned to assist the priests and to be responsible for the transportation of the Tabernacle. Even though they will not inherit land, like the other tribes, they will inherit God (see Joshua 13:33) and be given various cities throughout the nation of Israel (which would fulfill for Levi the last portion of Jacob’s blessing given to Simeon and Levi, regarding being scattered throughout Israel, see Genesis 49:7) and be responsible for teaching the other tribes about God and His law. They will also be responsible for the cities of refuge.
32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
The events that transpired after Moses came down the mountain undoubtedly spanned several days. For those who recognized their error and sin, and wished to repent, Moses tells them that they have indeed sinned, but he would go back up the mountain and try to intercede for them.
32:31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.
Moses returns to YHWH and immediately confesses their transgressions before Him, beginning by admitting their sin of making a god for themselves made of gold. No excuses, just the facts.
32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
Moses sincerely requests God to consider their repentance as being genuine contriteness of heart. To emphasize his request, Moses does something extraordinary. In fact so extraordinary that only two people in the Bible that have made this request of God. Moses asks, if God will not accept his request of forgiveness on behalf of the remaining penitent Israelites, that his name be blotted out of the book of life. He was willing to forfeit his salvation for the sake of his people. Paul later made a similar statement, “With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.” (Romans 9:1-4a, NLT) Even though both fully understood that God’s salvation does not work that way, no one can offer themselves up for the sake of their children, or anyone else, these two men loved their people so much they were willing to go to hell for them. Christians need to have the same passion for the those that are lost.
32:33 But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. 34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” 35 Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
God explains to Moses that only those who have sinned against Him will be blotted out of the book of life, not those that repented and were forgiven. God tells him to go and lead the people to the Promised Land, He will send an angel to go before them as before (see Exodus 14:19), as it was now time to leave the Mount Sinai area.
God then proclaims that He will send a plague on the people as punishment for the construction and subsequent worship of the calf. There is no reference as to what the plague was or how many died. Some believe the last verse should have been placed before verse 27, claiming the 3,000 men that died at the hand of the Levites was that plague, since the Hebrew word translated here as ‘plague’ is ‘yig·gōp’,[20] a verb meaning to strike or to smite, as in one nation striking another.
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[1] Etheridge, J. W. (Trans.). (1862–1865). The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch; With the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum: From the Chaldee (Ex 32). London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts.; Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green.
[2] Neusner, J. (2011). The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 24). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 2747.
[4] Believed to be the true location of Mount Sinai, see commentary under Exodus 3:2.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 4196.
[6] Strong’s Hebrew 2076.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 6711.
[8] Strong’s Hebrew 7186.
[9] Strong’s Hebrew 6203.
[10] Strong’s Hebrew 2734.
[11] See commentary under Genesis 12:1-3, see also Genesis 15:18-20.
[12] Strong’s Hebrew 6603.
[13] Strong’s Hebrew 2801
[14] Strong’s Hebrew 4421.
[15] Etheridge, J. W. (Trans.). (1862–1865). The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch; With the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum: From the Chaldee (Ex 32). London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts.; Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green.
[16] Strong’s Hebrew 6030.
[17] Neusner, J. (2011). The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (Vol. 17b, p. 170). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
[18] See also Considerations after Exodus 15:27.
[19] See commentary under Exodus 28:41.
[20] Strong’s Hebrew 5062.