Exodus 32:4 BSB — MannaFest

Exodus 32:4

He 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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

3 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Fashioned 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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

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

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

16 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיִּקַּ֣ח	vai.yi.Kach	and he took [them]	H3947 →
מִיָּדָ֗ם	mi.ya.Dam	from hand their	H3027 →
וַיָּ֤צַר	vai.Ya.tzar	and he fashioned	H6696 →
אֹתוֹ֙	'o.To	<obj.> it	H853 →
בַּחֶ֔רֶט	ba.Che.ret	with <the> tool	H2747 →
וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֖הוּ	vai.ya.'a.Se.hu	and he made it	H6213 →
עֵ֣גֶל	'E.gel	a calf of	H5695 →
מַסֵּכָ֑ה	ma.se.Khah	molten metal	H4541 →
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ	vai.Yo.me.Ru	and they said	H559 →
אֵ֤לֶּה	'E.leh	these	H428 →
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙	'e.lo.Hei.kha	[are] gods your	H430 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל	Yis.ra.'El	O Israel	H3478 →
אֲשֶׁ֥ר	'a.Sher	who	H834 →
הֶעֱל֖וּךָ	he.'e.Lu.kha	they brought up you	H5927 →
מֵאֶ֥רֶץ	me.'E.retz	from [the] land of	H776 →
מִצְרָֽיִם׃	mitz.Ra.yim	Egypt	H4714 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

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,…
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.
Through
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…
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…
Through
Acts 7:41
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
leads to
- Psalms 106:19–21
  At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image.
Through
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.
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.