Exodus 32:2
in Exodus 32So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
KJV
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
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This verse in Exodus 32
Commentary
5 notes on this verseGolden ear-rings - Both men and women wore these ornaments, and we may suppose that these were a part of the spoils which they brought out of Egypt. How strange, that the very things which were granted them by an especial influence and providence of God, should be now abused to the basest idolatrous purposes! But it is frequently the case that the gifts of God become desecrated by being employed in the service of sin; I will curse your blessings, saith the Lord, Mal 2:2.
This site's exposition
Break off the golden earrings
on Exodus 32:2-3
Aaron asks for the gold hanging on the wives, the sons and the daughters, and the people bring it without an argument. The same free giving of gold is recorded at 35:22, where earrings and rings are brought for the tabernacle, so the material is identical and the use is the difference. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the detail about the sons' earrings as pointing to the mixed multitude of 12:38, since Egyptian young men did not wear them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
6 ), yet their pride would not have suffered them to part with the golden ear-rings. But it is not safe to try how far men's sinful lusts will carry them in a sinful way, and what expense they will be at; it proved here a dangerous experiment. Here is the making of the golden calf,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And Aaron said unto them,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Break off . . . earrings--It was not an Egyptian custom for young men to wear earrings, and the circumstance, therefore, seems to point out "the mixed rabble," who were chiefly foreign slaves, as the ringleaders in this insurrection.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
MAKE US A GOD WHO ‘YEILCHU’ (SHALL GO — in the plural) BEFORE US. “They wished to have many gods.
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
13 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶם֙ | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֔ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| פָּֽרְקוּ֙ | pareku | tear off | H6561 → | 10 times |
| נִזְמֵ֣י | nizmei | [the] rings of | H5141 → | 17 times |
| הַזָּהָ֔ב | hazahav | <the> gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּאָזְנֵ֣י | beazenei | [are] on [the] ears of | H241 → | 187 times |
| נְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם | nesheikhem | wives your | H802 → | 781 times |
| בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם | beneikhem | sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנֹתֵיכֶ֑ם | uvenoteikhem | and daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| וְהָבִ֖יאוּ | vehaviu | and bring [them] | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלָֽי׃ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶם֙to them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
אַהֲרֹ֔ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
פָּֽרְקוּ֙tear off
parekuH6561 →10 times
נִזְמֵ֣י[the] rings of
nizmeiH5141 →17 times
הַזָּהָ֔ב<the> gold
hazahavH2091 →389 times
אֲשֶׁר֙which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּאָזְנֵ֣י[are] on [the] ears of
beazeneiH241 →187 times
נְשֵׁיכֶ֔םwives your
nesheikhemH802 →781 times
בְּנֵיכֶ֖םsons your
beneikhemH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנֹתֵיכֶ֑םand daughters your
uvenoteikhemH1323 →588 times
וְהָבִ֖יאוּand bring [them]
vehaviuH935 →2568 times
אֵלָֽי׃to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Hosea 2:8For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:3
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
- Hosea 8:4
They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
- Hosea 4:11
Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Isaiah 1:3
Through
Ezekiel 16:17You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:14–21
But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,
- Exodus 32:1–4
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…
- Hosea 2:13
I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares…
- Jeremiah 3:9
Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
- Hosea 10:1
Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
- Ezekiel 23:14–21
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.