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Exodus 32:28

in Exodus 32

The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

KJV

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

This verse in Exodus 32

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

There fell about three thousand men - These were no doubt the chief transgressors; having broken the covenant by having other gods besides Jehovah, they lost the Divine protection, and then the justice of God laid hold on and slew them. Moses doubtless had positive orders from God for this act of justice, (see Exo 32:27); for though, through his intercession, the people were spared so as not to be exterminated as a nation, yet the principal transgressors, those who were set on mischief, Exo 32:22, were to be put to death.

This site's exposition

Put every man his sword by his side

on Exodus 32:27-28

The order is to kill inside the camp and inside families, brother, companion and neighbour, and three thousand fall that day. Deuteronomy 33:9 blesses Levi in the language of exactly this scene, that he said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him, and the blessing goes on to give Levi the law and the incense. Adam Clarke holds that the three thousand were the chief transgressors rather than a number taken at random, since the nation as a whole had been spared through Moses' prayer.

This site's exposition

about three thousand of the people fell dead

Caesarius of Arles set these few deaths against the six hundred thousand who were saved, the count of men given at 12:37. Acts 2:41 counts about three thousand added at Pentecost.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

And that He might increase in them this fear, immediately, by the mouth of offence, the rod of His chastisement was revealed, and after the offence the Chastiser gave them no respite, because their servitude was not worthy of His longsuffering. Above their head the …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The interest of sin and wickedness is the devil's interest, and all wicked people side with that interest; the interest of truth and holiness is God's interest, with which all godly people side; and it is a case that will not admit a neutrality.
And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said--The camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart after the attack of the Amalekites. Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me--The zeal and courage of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed an intoxicated mob.

The words behind it

13 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.

  • וַיַּֽעֲשׂ֥וּand they did

    vaiyaasuH62132628 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] descendants of

    venei-H11214930 times

  • לֵוִ֖יLevi

    leviH387859 times

  • כִּדְבַ֣רaccording to [the] word of

    kidvarH16971440 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֑הMoses

    moshehH4872765 times

  • וַיִּפֹּ֤לand it fell

    vaiyipolH5307435 times

  • מִן־of

    min-H44801188 times

  • הָעָם֙the people

    haamH59711873 times

  • בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day

    baiyomH31172304 times

  • הַה֔וּא<the> that

    hahu'H19311879 times

  • כִּשְׁלֹ֥שֶׁתabout three

    kishloshetH7969432 times

  • אַלְפֵ֖יthousand<s>

    ʾalfeiH505505 times

  • אִֽישׁ׃person[s]

    ʾishH3761663 times

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

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

    1 Corinthians 10:8

    We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 25:1–9

      While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,

    • 1 Corinthians 6:18

      Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

    • Psalms 106:29

      So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

    • 1 Corinthians 6:9

      Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…

    • Revelation 2:14

      But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food…

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 33:9

    He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 32:25–29

      Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.

    • Matthew 10:37

      Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

    • Jeremiah 18:18

      Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us…

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

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 40.1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.