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 me.”
Parallel Translations
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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 me.”
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And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
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And Aaron said unto them: 'Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.'
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Exodus 32:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 12:35-36 The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.
- Judges 8:24-27 Gideon said to them, “I do have a request: that you would each give me the earrings of his plunder.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) They answered, “We will willingly give them.” They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his plunder into it. The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, in addition to the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and in addition to the chains that were about their camels’ necks. Gideon made an ephod out of it, and put it in Ophrah, his city. Then all Israel played the prostitute with it there; and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
- Ezekiel 16:11-12 I decked you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and put a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
- Ezekiel 16:17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them.
- Hosea 2:8 For she didn’t know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
- Genesis 24:47 I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.
- Exodus 35:22 They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh.
- Genesis 24:22 As the camels had done drinking, the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thinking that they would rather forego idolatry, than to…
Thinking that they would rather forego idolatry, than to resign their most precious jewels.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off…
Exo 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] unto me.
Ver. "2. Brake off the golden ear-rings.] Hereby he hoped to break their design; but all in vain for they were "mad upon their idols." {Jer 50:38}
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 The golden earrings were of good value and common…
The golden earrings were of good value and common use among the eastern people, who seem to have used them superstitiously, Gen 35:4; Jdg 8:24; and therefore Aaron demands these, partly that he might take away one vice, or occasion of vice, whilst the people were intent upon another; and partly that the proposed loss of their precious earrings might cool their idolatrous desires.
In the ears of your wives, whom he thought most fond of their jewels, and most unlikely to part with them.
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 And all the people brake off the golden earrings,…
And all the people brake off the golden earrings, which were in their ears,.... The men took off their earrings, and persuaded their wives and children, or obliged them to part with theirs; though the Targum of Jonathan says the women refused to give their ornaments to their husbands, therefore all the people immediately broke off all the golden ornaments which were in their ears (x), so intent were they upon idolatry. This is to be understood not of every individual, but of the greatest part of the people; so apostle explains it of some of them, Co1 10:7. Idolaters spare no cost nor pains to support their worship, and will strip themselves, their wives, and children, of their ornaments, to deck their idols; which may shame the worshippers of the true God, who are oftentimes too backward to contribute towards the maintenance of his worship and service:
and brought them unto Aaron: presently, the selfsame day; they soon forgot the commands enjoined them to have no other gods, save one, and to make no graven image to bow down to it, and their own words, Exo 24:7.
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(x) So Pirke Eliezer, c. 45.
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 And Aaron said break off the golden ear-rings -…
And Aaron said break off the golden ear-rings - We do not find that he said one word to discountenance their proposal. Some suppose, that when Aaron bid them break off their ear-rings, he did it with design to crush the proposal, believing that, though their covetousness would have let them do it, yet their pride would not have suffered them to part with them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Golden ear-rings] Both men and women wore…
Verse 2. Golden ear-rings] Both men and women wore these ornaments, and we may suppose that these were a part of the spoils which they brought out of Egypt. How strange, that the very things which were granted them by an especial influence and providence of God, should be now abused to the basest idolatrous purposes! But it is frequently the case that the gifts of God become desecrated by being employed in the service of sin; I will curse your blessings, saith the Lord, Mal 2:2.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 32:2. Break off the golden ear-rings — These…
Exo 32:2. Break off the golden ear-rings — These were probably some of the jewels which they had of the Egyptians. From the ears of your sons — Men wore these ornaments in the eastern countries as well as the women, Jdg 8:24. Some suppose that when Aaron gave this direction he did it with a design to crush the proposal, believing, that if their covetousness did not hinder them from giving up their ear-rings, their pride, at least, would prevent their parting with them. He says, therefore, Which are in the ears of your wives and daughters — Thinking them most fond of their jewels, and most unlikely to part with them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain And your sons. The Septuagint omit this. But in…
And your sons. The Septuagint omit this. But in the East, it was fashionable for men also to wear ear-rings. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xi. 37; Judges viii. 24; Ezechiel vii. 20. Aaron hoped the people would relent at this proposal. (St. Augustine, q. 141.)
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 Aaron said, . . . Break off . .…
Aaron said, . . . Break off . . . earrings--It was not an Egyptian custom for young men to wear earrings, and the circumstance, therefore, seems to point out "the mixed rabble," who were chiefly foreign slaves, as the ringleaders in this insurrection. In giving direction to break their earrings, Aaron probably calculated on gaining time; or, perhaps, on their covetousness and love of finery proving stronger than their idolatrous propensity. If such were his expectations, they were doomed to signal disappointment. Better to have calmly and earnestly remonstrated with them, or to have preferred duty to expediency, leaving the issue in the hands of Providence.
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 2. Break off the golden earrings — A strong…
2. Break off the golden earrings — A strong expression, as if implying that the act involved some measure of violence, or, at least, an effort and sacrifice on their part. The prevailing view has been that Aaron, anxious to dissuade the people from their purpose, proposed this great sacrifice on their part in hope that they would thereupon withdraw their demand upon him to make them a god. This is not an improbable view, and is favoured by Aaron’s apology before Moses in Exo_32:22-24. But the facts here recorded, as well as Numbers 12, exhibit the moral weakness of Aaron. He did well as Moses’s spokesman, (Exo_4:14-16,) but sadly lacked the sterling qualities of a great spiritual leader. Specimens of ancient earrings are shown in the annexed cut.
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 2. of your sons] earrings are not elsewhere in…
2. of your sons] earrings are not elsewhere in the OT. described as worn by males (unless indeed, by implication, in Gen_35:4).
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 (2) And Aaron said . . . Break off…
(2) And Aaron said . . . Break off the golden earrings.—It is a reasonable conjecture that Aaron thought to prevent the projected idolatry by this requirement. Not having the courage to meet the demand of the people with a direct negative, he may have aimed at diverting them from their purpose by requiring a sacrifice which they would be unwilling to make, viz., the personal ornaments of their wives and children. The women might reasonably have been expected to resist, and the men to yield before such resistance; but the event proved otherwise.
Your sons.—Earrings are worn in the East almost as much by men as by women. Most Assyrian and some Egyptian monarchs are represented with them.
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 Break off. "Take off" would perhaps be a better…
Break off. "Take off" would perhaps be a better translation. The ear-rings would not require any breaking. They were penannular, and could be removed by a smart pull. Your wives, your sons, and your daughters. See the comment on Exo_3:22. It is implied that the men did not wear earrings. At an earlier date the household of Jacob, chiefly men, had worn them. (Gen_35:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 32:2-4 The religious professional, Aaron, demanded a specific contribution…
32:2-4 The religious professional, Aaron, demanded a specific contribution of gold rings and then excluded the people from any further involvement in the process. This is very different from what God had commanded regarding the construction of the Tabernacle, where the people were invited to bring many different kinds of things as they felt led (25:1-9; 35:4–36:7) and to share in the work under the guidance of a Spirit-filled layperson (31:1-6; 36:1-2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.