Exodus 32:4
in Exodus 32He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
KJV
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
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This verse in Exodus 32
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFashioned it with a graving tool - There has been much controversy about the meaning of the word חרט cheret in the text: some make it a mould, others a garment, cloth, or apron; some a purse or bag, and others a graver. It is likely that some mould was made on this occasion, that the gold when fused was cast into it, and that afterwards it was brought into form and symmetry by the action of the chisel and graver. These be thy gods, O Israel - The whole of this is a most strange and unaccountable transaction.
This site's exposition
after he had made it a molten calf
The word molten occurs here for the first time in Scripture. They credit the exodus to a thing made that week, saying these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and Jeroboam uses almost the same sentence over two calves at 1 Kings 12:28. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown identify the figure with the Egyptian bull Apis of Memphis, while other readers have named Hathor or taken the calf as a pedestal for an unseen god, and Exodus itself names none of them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence · Written before 523.
proposed
Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place. It destroyed the people in the wilderness by penalties of all kinds; from the table of lust they rose up and worshipped a …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
And he received them at their hand,....
Note, He that covers his sin shall not prosper, for sooner or later it will be discovered. Well, this was all Aaron had to say for himself; and he had better have said nothing, for his defence did but aggravate his offence; and yet he is not only spared, but preferred; as sin did abound, grace did much more abound. The people are next to be judged for this sin.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This idol seems to have been the god Apis, the chief deity of the Egyptians, worshipped at Memphis under the form of a live ox, three years old. It was distinguished by a triangular white spot on its forehead and other peculiar marks.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֣ח | vaiyikach | and he took [them] | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִיָּדָ֗ם | miyadam | from hand their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַיָּ֤צַר | vaiyatzar | and he fashioned | H6696 → | |
| אֹתוֹ֙ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בַּחֶ֔רֶט | bacheret | with <the> tool | H2747 → | |
| וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֖הוּ | vaiyaasehu | and he made it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| עֵ֣גֶל | ʾegel | a calf of | H5695 → | 35 times |
| מַסֵּכָ֑ה | masekhah | molten metal | H4541 → | 28 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵ֤לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeloheikha | [are] gods your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | O Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֶעֱל֖וּךָ | heelukha | they brought up you | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מֵאֶ֥רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַיִּקַּ֣חand he took [them]
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
מִיָּדָ֗םfrom hand their
miyadamH3027 →1618 times
וַיָּ֤צַרand he fashioned
vaiyatzarH6696 →
אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
בַּחֶ֔רֶטwith <the> tool
bacheretH2747 →
וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֖הוּand he made it
vaiyaasehuH6213 →2628 times
עֵ֣גֶלa calf of
ʾegelH5695 →35 times
מַסֵּכָ֑הmolten metal
masekhahH4541 →28 times
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֵ֤לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙[are] gods your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לO Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֶעֱל֖וּךָthey brought up you
heelukhaH5927 →890 times
מֵאֶ֥רֶץfrom [the] land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Exodus 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said,…
it leads to
- Exodus 20:3–4
You shall have no other gods before Me.
- 1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- Exodus 20:23
You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- Exodus 20:3–4
Through
1 Kings 12:28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 10:29
but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
- Exodus 32:8
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said,…
- 2 Kings 17:16
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served…
- 2 Kings 10:29
Through
Acts 7:41At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:19–21
At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image.
- Psalms 106:19–21
Through
Deuteronomy 9:16And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
it leads to
- Exodus 32:19
As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- Exodus 32:19
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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence.