I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.
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Deuteronomy 9:17-21 sits inside this longer paragraph.
So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which Yahweh had commanded you. I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath. When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you. So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
Parallel Translations
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I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.
I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also.
Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.
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And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.
And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
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And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.
And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him.
For I was in dread of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me that time also.
Moreover the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him; and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and beat it in pieces, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount. —
Cross-references (27)
- Exodus 34:28 (v18) He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the…
- Deuteronomy 10:10 (vv18–19) I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh would not…
- Exodus 32:14 (v19) So Yahweh turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.
- Exodus 32:20 (v21) He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of…
- James 5:16-17 (v19) Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is…
Show all 25 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 9:9 (v18) When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I…
- Psalms 106:23 (vv18–19) Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he…
- Exodus 32:10-11 (v19) Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”…
- Exodus 33:17 (v19) Yahweh said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
- Psalms 99:6 (v19) Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who call on his name. They called on Yahweh, and he answered them.
- Exodus 32:10-14 (v18) Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”…
- 2 Samuel 12:16 (v18) David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground.
- Nehemiah 1:2-7 (v19) Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the…
- Isaiah 31:7 (v21) For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin which your own hands have made for you.
- Amos 7:2-3 (v19) When they finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”…
- Luke 12:4-5 (v19) “I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom…
- Exodus 32:21 (v20) Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
- Exodus 32:35 (v20) Yahweh struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.
- Deuteronomy 9:8 (v19) Also in Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you.
- Isaiah 2:18-21 (v21) The idols shall utterly pass away. Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of…
- Isaiah 30:22 (v21) You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away…
- Hosea 8:11 (v21) Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning.
- Amos 7:5-6 (v19) Then I said, “Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.” Yahweh relented concerning this. “This also shall not…
- Hebrews 7:26-28 (v20) For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who…
- Exodus 32:2-5 (v20) Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to…
25 distinct cross-references across this passage (27 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Whereby he showeth what danger they are in, that…
Whereby he showeth what danger they are in, that have authority and resist not wickedness.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–19 Deu 9:17 And I took the two tables, and…
Deu 9:17 And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.
Ver. 17. And cast them.] {See Trapp on "Exo 32:19"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21 Not by an unbridled passion, but in zeal for…
Not by an unbridled passion, but in zeal for God’s honour, and by the direction of God’s Spirit, to signify to the people, that the covenant between God and them contained in those tables was broken and made void, and they were now quite cast out of God’s favour, and could expect nothing from him but fiery indignation and severe justice. See Poole "Exo 32:19".
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–21 And I took the two tables, and cast them…
And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands,.... In wrath and indignation at the sin they were guilty of:
and brake them before your eyes; as an emblem of their breach of them by transgressing them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 21 I brake them before your eyes - Not by…
I brake them before your eyes - Not by an unbridled passion, but in zeal for God's honour, and by the direction of God's spirit, to signify to tine people, that the covenant between God and them contained in those tables was broken and they were now cast out of God's favour, and could expect nothing from him but fiery indignation.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v21 Verse 21. I took your sin, the calf which…
Verse 21. I took your sin, the calf which ye had made] See this fully explained, Clarke "Ex 32:20".
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 21 Deu 9:17. I brake them before your eyes —…
Deu 9:17. I brake them before your eyes — Not by an unbridled passion, but it zeal for God’s honour, and by the direction of God’s Spirit; to signify to the people that the covenant between God and them, contained in those tables, was broken, and that they were now cast out of God’s favour, and could expect nothing from him but fiery indignation.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv18, 20 I fell down before the Lord, as at the…
I fell down before the Lord, as at the first - Moses interceded for the people before he came down from the mountain the first time Exo 32:11-13. This intercession is only briefly alluded to in this verse. Afterward he spent another 40 days on the mountain in fasting and prayer to obtain a complete restitution of the covenant Exo 34:28. It is this second forty days, and the intercession of Moses made therein (compare Exo 34:9), that is more particularly brought forward here and in Deu 9:25-29.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 Sins. Many believe that Moses spent the whole time…
Sins. Many believe that Moses spent the whole time in obtaining pardon. Hiscuni agrees herein with the other Rabbins, only he thinks Moses was all the time in the tabernacle. Other 40 days, or a third rigid fast, were requisite to obtain the second tables of the law, as the text seems to insinuate, (ver. 25., and chap. x. 10,) unless Moses repeat what he has here asserted, as many able chronologers suppose. (Torneil; Usher; &c.) (Calmet) (Tirinus) --- The former opinion is maintained, however, by Salien, &c., Exodus xxxiv. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21 I took the two tables, . . . and…
I took the two tables, . . . and broke them before your eyes--not in the heat of intemperate passion, but in righteous indignation, from zeal to vindicate the unsullied honor of God, and by the suggestion of His Spirit to intimate that the covenant had been broken, and the people excluded from the divine favor.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21 17. I took the two tables,… and brake them…
17. I took the two tables,… and brake them before your eyes — This was equivalent to declaring that the covenant which Jehovah had made with them was now broken by their apostasy. Comp. Exo_32:1-17.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv17–21 17. Vivid variation and expansion of Exo_32:19 b: and…
17. Vivid variation and expansion of Exo_32:19 b: and Moses’ anger waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and brake them beneath the mount.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17–21 (17) I . . . brake them before your…
(17) I . . . brake them before your eyes.—This shows that the act was deliberate on Moses’ part. He did not simply drop the tables in his passion before they reached the camp; he deliberately broke the material covenant in the face of the people, who had broken the covenant itself. When we remember the effect of hastily touching not the tables of the Law themselves, but the mere chest that contained them, in after-times, we may well believe that the breaking of these two tables was an act necessary for the safety of Israel. In Exo_33:7, we read that Moses placed the temporary tabernacle outside the camp at the same time. The two actions seem to have had the same significance, and to have been done for the same reason.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Moses cast from him the two tables of stone…
Moses cast from him the two tables of stone on which God had inscribed the words of the Law, and broke them in pieces in the view of the people, when he came down from the mount and saw how they had turned aside from the right way, and were become idolaters. This was not the effect of a burst of indignation on his part; it was a solemn declaration that the covenant of God with his people had been nullified and broken by their sinful apostasy.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 19, 21 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues reminding the people of Israel about what happened in the past.
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I broke them before your eyes
Here "your eyes" is a synecdoche for the people of Israel. AT: "I broke them right in front of you" or "I broke them where you could see them" (See: Synecdoche)
lay facedown
"lay with my face on the ground." This is a way of showing that Yahweh was great and Moses was not.
forty days and forty nights
"40 days and 40 nights" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
bread
sin
evil
anger
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.