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Exodus 32:3

in Exodus 32

Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

KJV

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

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This verse in Exodus 32

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
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 ears (x), 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, 1Co 10:

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.

This site's exposition

took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron

John Gill cites the Targum of Jonathan, where the wives refuse to hand over their ornaments and the men break off their own. Gill reads all the people as the greater part, since 1 Corinthians 10:7 says some of them were idolaters. Adam Clarke takes the earrings as spoil from Egypt, 12:35.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox ( Ps. cvi. 20 ), and proclaimed their own folly, beyond that of other idolaters, who worshipped the host of heaven. Having made the calf in Horeb, they worshipped the graven image, Ps. cvi.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And all the people brake off the golden ear-rings - The human being is naturally fond of dress, though this has been improperly attributed to the female sex alone, and those are most fond of it who have the shallowest capacities; but on this occasion the bent of the people to idolatry was greater than even their love of dress, so that they readily stripped themselves of their ornaments in order to get a molten god. They made some compensation for this afterwards; see Exo 36:22, and See Clarke’s note on Exo 38:9.

The words behind it

11 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.

  • וַיִּתְפָּֽרְקוּ֙and they tore off from themselves

    vaiyitparekuH6561 →10 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נִזְמֵ֥י[the] rings of

    nizmeiH5141 →17 times

  • הַזָּהָ֖ב<the> gold

    hazahavH2091 →389 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • בְּאָזְנֵיהֶ֑ם[were] on ears their

    beazeneihemH241 →187 times

  • וַיָּבִ֖יאוּand they brought [them]

    vaiyaviuH935 →2568 times

  • אֶֽל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַהֲרֹֽן׃Aaron

    ʾaharonH175 →347 times

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

Related verses

8 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.

Isaiah 40:19–20To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?2 worksIsaiah 46:6They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.2 worksJeremiah 10:9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.2 worksJudges 17:3–4And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”2 worksExodus 33:6So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.2 worksExodus 35:22So all who had willing hearts, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings, rings and necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. And they all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 36:5and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD has commanded us to do.”2 worksJudges 8:24Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)2 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

    Jeremiah 10:9

    Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 115:4

      Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

    • Daniel 10:5

      I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

    • 1 Kings 10:22

      For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

    • Isaiah 40:19

      To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?

  • Through

    Isaiah 46:6

    They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.

    it leads to

    • Acts 17:29

      Therefore, 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.

    • Jeremiah 10:14

      Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

    • Isaiah 40:19–20

      To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?

    • Daniel 3:5–15

      As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set…

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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 32 →