Exodus 32:1

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, 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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
people	הָעָ֔ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saw	וַיַּ֣רְא vai.Yar'	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֖ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
delayed	בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ vo.Shesh	H954	properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
down	לָרֶ֣דֶת la.Re.det	H3381	to descend (literally · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
mount	הָהָ֑ר ha.Har	H2022	a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
people

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Acts 7:40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become…
Deuteronomy 9:9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode…
Exodus 24:18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Matthew 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of th…
Deuteronomy 9:11-12 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenan…
Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to…
Exodus 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 32:1-6

While Moses was in the mount, receiving the law from God, the people had time to meditate upon what had been delivered, and prepare themselves for what was further to be revealed, and forty days was little enough for that work; but, instead of that, there were those among them that were contriving how to break the laws they had already received, and to anticipate those which they were in expectation of. On the thirty-ninth day of the forty, the plot broke out of rebellion against the Lord. Here is, I. A tumultuous address which the people made to Aaron, who was entrusted with the government in the absence of Moses: Up, make us gods, which shall go before us, Exo 32:1. 1. See the ill effect o…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 32:1

When the people saw that Moses delayed - How long this was before the expiration of the forty days, we cannot tell; but it certainly must have been some considerable time, as the ornaments must be collected, and the calf or ox, after having been founded, must require a considerable time to fashion it with the graving tool; and certainly not more than two or three persons could work on it at once. This work therefore, must have required several days. The people gathered themselves together - They came in a tumultuous and seditious manner, insisting on having an object of religious worship made for them, as they intended under its direction to return to Egypt. See Act 7:39, Act 7:40. As for th…

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John Gill on Exodus 32:1

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,.... The time, according to the Targum of Jonathan, being elapsed, which he had fixed for his descent, and through a misreckoning, as Jarchi suggests; they taking the day of his going up to be one of the forty days, at the end of which he was to return, whereas he meant forty complete days; but it is not probable that Moses knew himself how long he should stay, and much less that he acquainted them before hand of it; but he staying longer than they supposed he would, they grew uneasy and impatient, and wanted to set out in their journey to Canaan, and to have some symbol and representation of deity to go before them: t…

The Church Fathers

For he was of the sons of Israel, whom terrible signs accompanied up to the sea, that they might fear; and blessed miracles surrounded in the waste desert, that they might be reconciled; but through lack of faith, for a slight cause, they rejected them, saying: As for this Moses who brought us up, we know not what has become of him. For they ceased to regard the mighty works that had been surrounding them. They perceived that Moses was not near them; so that for this cause that had come near, they drew near to the heathenism of Egypt. For Moses was for a little removed from before them, that the calf that was before them might appear, that they might worship it openly also; for they had been secretly worshipping it in their hearts. But when their heathenism from being inward became open, then Moses also from being hidden openly appeared; that he might openly punish those whose heathenism had revelled beneath the holy cloud which had overshadowed them. But God removed the Shepherd of the flock from it for forty days, that the flock might show that its trust was fixed upon the calf. While God was feeding the flock with all delights, it chose for itself as its Shepherd the calf, which was not able even to eat. Moses who kept them in awe was removed from them, that the idolatry might cry aloud in their mouths, which the restraint of Moses had kept down in their hearts. For they cried: Make us gods, to go before us.
— Ephrem the Syrian, Homily - On Our Lord

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Idolatry — Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of…
Levite — A descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the…
Levites — (descendants of Levi). Sometimes the name extends to the whole tribe, the priests included, (Exodus 6:25; Leviticus 25:32; Numbers 35:2; Joshua 21:3,41) etc; sometimes only to those members of the…
Calf Of Gold · Made on account of the delay of Moses in the mount — Made on account of the delay of Moses in the mount
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Golden calf made — Golden calf made
Idolatry · Exemplified: Israel — Exemplified: Israel
Trouble · .When Moses waited upon the mountain — .When Moses waited upon the mountain

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 32:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 32:1-6

Adam Clarke on Exodus 32:1

John Gill on Exodus 32:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 32:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 32:1-6

Adam Clarke on Exodus 32:1

John Gill on Exodus 32:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 32:1

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 32:1-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 32:1-35

Rashi on Exodus 32:1