Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Exodus 32:23

in Exodus 32

They told me, ‘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

For they said unto me, 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

For they said unto me, 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.

⋯

This verse in Exodus 32

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Make us gods who will go before us

on Exodus 32:23-24

Aaron repeats the people's demand from verse 1 almost word for word, and then his account parts from the narrator's. Verse 4 says with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf, while Aaron says out came this calf. Adam Clarke calls the second a subterfuge.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

For they said unto me, make us gods, which shall go before us,....

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • לִ֔יto <the> me

    li

  • עֲשֵׂה־make

    ʾaseh-H6213 →2628 times

  • לָ֣נוּfor <the> us

    lanu

  • אֱלֹהִ֔יםgods

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יֵלְכ֖וּthey will go

    yelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • לְפָנֵ֑ינוּ<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

4 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.

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.5 worksExodus 32:1–4Now 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!”3 worksActs 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.’3 worksExodus 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, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”2 works

The walk

5 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

    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,…

    it leads to

    • 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 20:3–4

      You shall have no other gods before Me.

    • Exodus 20:23

      You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.

    • Deuteronomy 9:16

      And 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.

    • Exodus 22:20

      If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.

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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Exodus 32 →