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Exodus 32:1

in Exodus 32

Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

KJV

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; 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.

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This verse in Exodus 32

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

This site's exposition

the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron

Forty days earlier the people had answered at 24:3 and 24:7 that all the LORD had spoken they would do, and 24:18 says Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. What they ask for is something to go before them, which is what the pillar had done since 13:21. They also hand the deliverance to Moses, calling him the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, and verse 7 puts that same phrase back in God's mouth.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

Homily - On Our Lord · Written before 373.

proposed

For he was of the sons of Israel, whom terrible signs accompanied up to the sea, that they might fear; and blessed miracles surrounded in the waste desert, that they might be reconciled; but through lack of faith, for a slight cause, they rejected them, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Secondly, Misinterpretations of our Redeemer's delays are the occasion of a great deal of wickedness. Our Lord Jesus has gone up into the mount of glory, where he is appearing in the presence of Gold for us, but out of our sight; the heavens must contain him, must conceal him, that we may live by faith. There he has been long; there he is yet.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

When the people saw that Moses delayed - How long this was before the expiration of the forty days, we cannot tell; but it certainly must have been some considerable time, as the ornaments must be collected, and the calf or ox, after having been founded, must require a considerable time to fashion it with the graving tool; and certainly not more than two or three persons could work on it at once. This work therefore, must have required several days. The people gathered themselves together - They came in a tumultuous and seditious manner, insisting on having an object of religious worship made for them, as they intended under its direction to return to Egypt. See Act 7:39, Act 7:40. As for this Moses, the man that brought us up - This seems to be the language of great contempt, and by it we may see the truth of the character given them by Aaron, Exo 32:22, they were set on mischief. It is likely they might have supposed that Moses had perished in the fire, which they saw had invested the top of the mountain into which he went.
In all probability these three chapters originally formed a distinct composition. The main incidents recorded in them follow in the order of time, and are therefore in their proper place as regards historical sequence. The golden calf - The people had, to a great extent, lost the patriarchal faith, and were but imperfectly instructed in the reality of a personal unseen God. Being disappointed at the long absence of Moses, they seem to have imagined that he had deluded them, and had probably been destroyed amidst the thunders of the mountain Exo 24:15-

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

MAKE US A GOD WHO ‘YEILCHU’ (SHALL GO — in the plural) BEFORE US. “They wished to have many gods.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Exodus 32:1:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

34 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיַּ֣רְאand it saw

    vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • בֹשֵׁ֥שׁhe delayed

    vosheshH954 →

  • מֹשֶׁ֖הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • לָרֶ֣דֶתto come down

    laredetH3381 →381 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הָהָ֑רthe mountain

    haharH2022 →546 times

  • וַיִּקָּהֵ֨לand it assembled

    vaiyikahelH6950 →

  • הָעָ֜םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • עַֽל־to

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • אַהֲרֹ֗ןAaron

    ʾaharonH175 →347 times

  • וַיֹּאמְר֤וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלָיו֙to him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • ק֣וּם׀arise

    kumH6965 →628 times

  • עֲשֵׂה־make

    ʾaseh-H6213 →2628 times

  • לָ֣נוּfor <the> us

    lanu

  • אֱלֹהִ֗יםgods

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יֵֽלְכוּ֙they will go

    yelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ<to> before us

    lefaneinuH6440 →2123 times

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • זֶ֣ה׀this

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֣הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • הָאִ֗ישׁthe man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙he brought up us

    heelanuH5927 →890 times

  • מֵאֶ֣רֶץfrom [the] land of

    meeretzH776 →2504 times

  • מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt

    mitzrayimH4714 →641 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָדַ֖עְנוּwe know

    yada'nuH3045 →945 times

  • מֶה־what?

    meh-H4100 →752 times

  • הָ֥יָהhas it happened

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • לֽוֹ׃to <the> him

    lo

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Acts 7:40They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’14 worksDeuteronomy 9:9When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.10 worksExodus 24:18Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.7 works2 Peter 3:4“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”7 worksMatthew 24:48But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’7 worksDeuteronomy 9:11–12And at the end of forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.6 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.6 worksPsalms 81:11But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.6 worksExodus 13:21And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.5 worksActs 17:29Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.5 worksExodus 14:11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?5 worksDeuteronomy 4:15–18So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful5 worksExodus 33:14–15And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”4 worksExodus 16:3“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”4 worksActs 19:26And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.4 worksMicah 6:4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.4 worksExodus 32:11But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?4 worksExodus 20:3–5You shall have no other gods before Me.4 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Peter 3:4

    “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”

    it leads to

    • Luke 12:45

      But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 17:15

      Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”

    • Malachi 2:17

      You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He…

    • Jeremiah 5:12–13

      They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.

    • Isaiah 5:18–19

      Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 9:9

    When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 34:28

      So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Exodus 24:18

      Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

  • Through

    Matthew 24:48

    But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’

    it leads to

    • 2 Peter 3:3–5

      Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

Moses Breaks the Tables of the Law — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Moses Breaks the Tables of the Law — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 32 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, Homily - On Our Lord; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 32 →