He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
Parallel Translations
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He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
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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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And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: 'This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Exodus 32:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Nehemiah 9:18 Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies;
- Deuteronomy 9:16 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.
- 1 Kings 12:28 So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
- Acts 7:41 They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
- Exodus 32:8 They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
- Isaiah 44:9-10 Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
- 2 Kings 10:29 However, Jehu didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan.
- Hosea 8:4-5 They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn’t approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off. Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
- Hosea 13:2 Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.’
- Romans 1:21-23 Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things.
- Exodus 20:2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- Exodus 20:23 You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me.
- 2 Chronicles 11:15 He himself appointed priests for the high places, for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.
- 2 Chronicles 13:8 “Now you intend to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods are with you.
- Psalms 106:19-21 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
- Isaiah 40:18-19 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
- Isaiah 46:6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they worship.
- Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, Along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it has departed from it.
- Acts 17:29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
- Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”
- Judges 17:3-4 He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, then his mother said, “I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, who made a carved image and a molten image out of it. It was in the house of Micah.
- Exodus 28:9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel.
- Exodus 28:11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel. You shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold.
- 1 Kings 12:32 Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain They smelled of their leaven of Egypt, where they…
They smelled of their leaven of Egypt, where they saw calves, oxen and serpents worshipped.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 32:4 And he received [them] at their hand,…
Exo 32:4 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.
Ver. 4. A molten calf.] In imitation of the Egyptian idol Apis, a pied-bull. A man may pass through Ethiopia unchanged; but he cannot dwell there, and not be discoloured. How oft, alas, have we abused God’s mercy; taking his jewels, and making a golden calf of them!
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 A molten calf: the meaning of this translation is,…
A molten calf: the meaning of this translation is, that Aaron, to wit, by artificers, did first melt the god into one mass, and then by the graving-tool form it into the shape of a calf, and polish it; or as others render the words, he
formed it in a type or mould, made in the shape of a calf, into which he cast the molten gold, and so made it a molten calf. But the words may be translated thus, He put it, or them, into a purse; for so the Hebrew verb and noun are both used, 2Ki 5:23; and in like manner Gideon disposed the earrings given him for the like use, Jdg 8:24; and afterwards he made of them a molten calf. Now the people desired, and Aaron in compliance with them made this in the form of a
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calf, or an ox, (for the word signifies both,) in imitation of the Egyptians, as Philo the Jew expressly affirms, and the learned generally agree; and it may thus appear:
1. The great idols of the Egyptians, Apis, Seraphis, and Isis, were oxen and cows, as is confessed.
2. The Egyptians, besides the creatures which they adored as gods, did also make, and keep, and worship their images, as even the heathen writers, Mela and Strabo, affirm.
3. The Israelites, whilst they were in Egypt, were many of them infected with the Egyptian idolatry, as it appears from Jos 24:14; Eze 20:7,8; 23:3; Act 7:39. And it is not unlikely divers of them hankered no less after the idols, than after the garlic and onions of Egypt. And being now, as they thought, forsaken by Moses, they might think of returning to Egypt, as afterwards they did, and therefore chose a god of the Egyptian mode, that they might more willingly receive them again.
These be thy gods, i.e. this is thy god, the plural number being put for the singular, as it is usual in this case. The meaning is, This is the sign, or symbol, or image of thy god; for such expressions are very frequent: thus this image of a calf is called a calf frequently, and the images of the temple of Diana are called shrines or little temples, Ac 19. So they intended to worship the true God by this image, as afterwards Jeroboam did by the same image, as we shall plainly see when we come to that place of Scripture. And it is absolutely incredible that the generality of the Israelites should be so void of all sense and reason, as to think that this new-made calf did bring them out Egypt before its own creation, and that this was the same Jehovah who had even now spoken to them from heaven with an audible voice, saying, I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
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 when Aaron saw it,.... In what form it…
And when Aaron saw it,.... In what form it was, and what a figure it made, and how acceptable it was to the Israelites. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,"and Aaron saw Hur slain before him;''for reproving them for their idolatry, as the Midrash (e), quoted by Jarchi, says: and Aaron fearing they would take away his life if he opposed them:
he built an altar before it; that sacrifice might be offered on it to it:
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and Aaron made proclamation, and said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord; that is, he gave orders to have it published throughout the camp, there would be solemn sacrifices offered up to the Lord, as represented by this calf, and a feast thereon, which was a public invitation of them to the solemnity: though some think this was a protracting time, and putting the people off till the morrow, who would have been for offering sacrifice immediately, hoping that Moses would come down from the mount before that time, and prevent their idolatry.
(e) 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.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Fashioned it with a graving tool] There…
Verse 4. 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. Was it possible that the people could have so soon lost sight of the wonderful manifestations of God upon the mount? Was it possible that Aaron could have imagined that he could make any god that could help them? And yet it does not appear that he ever remonstrated with the people! Possibly he only intended to make them some symbolical representation of the Divine power and energy, that might be as evident to them as the pillar of cloud and fire had been, and to which God might attach an always present energy and influence; or in requiring them to sacrifice their ornaments, he might have supposed they would have desisted from urging their request: but all this is mere conjecture, with very little probability to support it. It must however be granted that Aaron does not appear to have even designed a worship that should supersede the worship of the Most High; hence we find him making proclamation, To-morrow is a feast to the LORD, (יהוה); and we find farther that some of the proper rites of the true worship were observed on this occasion, for they brought burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, Ex 32:6-7: hence it is evident he intended that the true God should be the object of their worship, though he permitted and even encouraged them to offer this worship through an idolatrous medium, the molten calf. It has been supposed that this was an exact resemblance of the famous Egyptian god Apis who was worshipped under the form of an ox, which worship the Israelites no doubt saw often practised in Egypt. Some however think that this worship of Apis was not then established; but we have already had sufficient proof that different animals were sacred among the Egyptians, nor have we any account of any worship in Egypt earlier than that offered to Apis, under the figure of an OX.
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 32:4. He made it a molten calf —…
Exo 32:4. He made it a molten calf — He melted it down, and, having a mould prepared, poured the melted gold into it, and then produced it in the shape of an ox or calf giving it some finishing strokes with a graving tool. “They made a calf,” says David, “in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image: they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.” It is probable that the origin of this idolatry was from Egypt. The Scriptures inform us that the Israelites in Egypt imitated the Egyptian superstitions, Jos 24:14; Eze 20:7-8. Now that the Egyptians worshipped animals as early as these days, appears from Exo 8:26. An ox or calf in particular was their great idol. So that we may with certainty conclude, notwithstanding what some late commentators have alleged, that Aaron, in compliance with the prejudices of the people, made this calf after the model of what the Israelites had seen in Egypt, consecrating it to Jehovah as the Egyptians had consecrated similar symbols to their principal deity Osiris. Aaron’s compliance with the popular clamour was, undoubtedly, highly criminal: he ought to have opposed them with all his might, nay, he ought rather to have suffered death than to have yielded to their will in any degree. Accordingly, we find it recorded, (Deu 9:20,) that “the Lord was very angry with him to have destroyed him,” but that Moses “prayed for him.” They said, These be thy gods — Or as Nehemiah expresses, (Neh 9:18,) This is thy God; that is, This is the image or symbol of thy God; who brought thee out of Egypt — For they intended to worship the true God, by this image, as afterward Jeroboam did by the same image, it being incredible that the generality of the Israelites should be so void of all sense and reason, as to think that this new-made calf brought them out of Egypt, even before its own creation, and that this was the same Jehovah that had so lately spoken to them from heaven with an audible voice, saying, “I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.”
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 Received them, "in a purse, (as Gideon did afterwards,…
Received them, "in a purse, (as Gideon did afterwards, Judges viii. 25,) he made a molten calf." (Jonathan) --- Perhaps he engraved on it the peculiar marks of the Egyptian idol, Apis; a square white spot on the forehead, and a crescent upon the side. For it is generally believed, that this calf was designed to imitate that object of worship, to which the Hebrews had been too much accustomed. (Acts vii. 39, 41.; St. Jerome in Osee iv.) The Egyptians adored not only the living ox, but also its image, which they kept in their temple. (Porphyrius, Abst. ii. Mela. i. 8.) Some of the fathers think, that the head of a calf only appeared. (St. Ambrose; Lactantius, &c.) The rest of the figure was perhaps human, as Osiris was represented with the head of an ox, as well as Astarte and Serapis. Monceau pretends that Aaron represented the true God, under the form of a cherub, in which he falsely asserts he had appeared on Mount Sinai, and that his fault consisted only in giving occasion of superstition to the people. But his opinion (though adopted by many Protestants, who excuse all from the guilt of idolatry, but papists; Haydock) has been condemned at Rome, and refuted by Visorius, &c. --- Thy gods, &c. Thus spoke the infatuated ringleaders. (Calmet) --- And they changed their glory, the true God, into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass, Psalm cv. 19. --- They forgot God, who saved them, (Psalm cv. 21,) and forsook Him, (Deuteronomy xxxii. 18,) to adore the calf. (Worthington)
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 fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had…
fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf--The words are transposed, and the rendering should be, "he framed with a graving tool the image to be made, and having poured the liquid gold into the mould, he made it a molten calf." It is not said whether it was of life size, whether it was of solid gold or merely a wooden frame covered with plates of gold. 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. Images of it in the form of a whole ox, or of a calf's head on the end of a pole, were very common; and it makes a great figure on the monuments where it is represented in the van of all processions, as borne aloft on men's shoulders.
they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt--It is inconceivable that they, who but a few weeks before had witnessed such amazing demonstrations of the true God, could have suddenly sunk to such a pitch of infatuation and brutish stupidity, as to imagine that human art or hands could make a god that should go before them. But it must be borne in mind, that though by election and in name they were the people of God, they were as yet, in feelings and associations, in habits and tastes, little, if at all different, from Egyptians. They meant the calf to be an image, a visible sign or symbol of Jehovah, so that their sin consisted not in a breach of the FIRST [Exo 20:3], but of the SECOND commandment [Exo 20:4-6].
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 4. Fashioned it with a graving tool — This…
4. Fashioned it with a graving tool — This is the most natural import of the unpointed Hebrew text, but seems hardly in harmony with the next statement, which is not correctly translated after he had made it, but, simply, and he made it a molten calf. It is manifestly incongruous to speak of forming a molten calf with a graving tool. Hence many critics propose to read חרישׂ, a money bag, or purse, instead of חרשׂ, here translated graving tool, which occurs elsewhere only at Isa_8:1, and there means a pen, or stylus. The statement would then be: And he received (the earrings) from their hand, and collected (ויצר, from צור, to bind or collect together in one mass) it (the gold) in a bag, and made it a molten calf. It is no valid objection to this view to ask, with Keil, “Why should Aaron first bind up the golden earrings in a bag?” For it may with equal force be answered, Why should he not? What better or more appropriate way of receiving and retaining the large amount of gold until it was converted into the golden idol? This, on the whole, is more satisfactory than the view which supplies in thought a wooden mould or model after the word fashioned, for such an idea would have required some clearer form of statement; more satisfactory, also, than to assume that the molten calf was cast over a carved image of wood, or that it was finished up by means of a graver’s tool after it had been cast. On this last supposition, the graver’s work should have been mentioned after, not before, the fusion of the golden ornaments.
According to Jos_24:14; Eze_20:7-8; Eze_23:3; Eze_23:8, Israel had been contaminated with Egyptian idolatry, and the most natural explanation of the construction of this image in the form of a calf is, that it was modelled after the form of Apis, the sacred bull which was worshipped at Memphis. See note and cut at Exo_8:26, page 406. It is hardly credible that during their long sojourn in Egypt the leading men of Israel had not become familiar with the worship of the sacred bull. But it is to be noticed that they did not worship the golden idol as an Egyptian god, but exclaimed before it, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. The plural here, as in Exo_32:1, does not oblige us to translate and explain the words in a polytheistic sense. The next verse shows that they worshipped Jehovah under the symbol of a calf, and so violated the second rather than the first commandment of the decalogue. See notes on Exo_20:4-5. Exo_32:8 of this chapter shows that they did not thus ignorantly worship, but knew that they were violating one of the commandments.
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 4. fashioned it, &c.] the earrings having naturally been…
4. fashioned it, &c.] the earrings having naturally been previously melted down, and cast approximately into the shape of a young bull. The image may either have been of solid gold, or, in spite of the term ‘molten’ (see Isa_30:22; and cf. Deu_7:25, Isa_40:19), have consisted of a wooden core, overlaid with gold: v. 24b—though the terms used can hardly be pressed—would suggest the former view, v. 20 would favour the latter.
a graving tool] a pointed metal instrument: the word rendered ‘pen’ (i.e. a sharp metal stylus) in Isa_8:1.
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calf] The Heb. ‘çgel means a young bull, just as the fem. ‘eglâh (EVV. usually ‘heifer’) means a young cow; but it does not mean necessarily an animal as young as a ‘calf’: the ‘eglâh for instance might be three years old (Gen_15:9), and give milk (Isa_7:21), or plough (Jdg_14:18).
These be thy gods] Cf. almost the same words in 1Ki_12:28 : in the allusion, Neh_9:18, the sing. ‘This’ is used. ‘These’ must refer to an actual plural, and is of course quite suitable in speaking of Jeroboam’s two calves; here it seems as if the narrator had used the plural for the purpose of introducing a covert polemic against the calf-worship of the N. kingdom. So v. 8.
which brought thee, &c.] They recognize in the calf, not only the god who should in the future (v. 1) go before them, but also the god who had already led them forth out of Egypt.
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 (4) And he received them at their hand, and…
(4) And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool.—Rather, and he received it (i.e., the gold) at their hand, and bound it in a bag. So Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Fürst, Knobel, Kurtz, Maurer, Seröder, Cook, &c. “Fashioned it with a graving tool” is a possible rendering of the Hebrew words, but will not suit here, since the next clause tells us that the image was a molten one, and if it had been intended to say that the image was first molten and then finished with a graving too!, the order of the two clauses would have been inverted. A similar phrase to that here used has the sense of “bound in a bag” in 2Ki_5:23.
After he had made it a molten calf.—This is a quite impossible rendering. The original gives “and,” not “after.” The action of this clause must either be simultaneous with that of the last or subsequent. Translate, and made it into a molten calf.
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A molten calf.—It has been usual to regard the selection of the “calf” form for the image as due to Egyptian influences. But the Egyptian calf-worship, or, rather, bull-worship, was not a worship of images, but of living animals. A sacred bull, called Apis, was worshipped at Memphis, and another, called Mnevis, at Heliopolis, both being regarded as actual incarnate deities. Had Egyptian ideas been in the ascendant, it would have been natural to select a living bull, which might have “gone before” the people literally. The “molten calf,” which had no very exact counterpart in Egypt, perhaps points back to an older idolatry, such as is glanced at in Jos_24:14, where the Israelites are warned to “put away the gods which their fathers served on the other side of the flood,” i.e., of the Euphrates. Certainly the bull form was more distinctive of the Babylonian and Assyrian than of the Egyptian worship, and it may he suspected that the emigrants from Chaldæa had clung through all their wanderings to the mystic symbolism which had been elaborated in that primæval land, and which they would contrast favourably with the coarse animal worship of Egypt. In Chaldæa, the bull, generally winged and human-headed, represented the combination of wisdom, strength, and omnipresence, which characterises divinity; and this combination might well have seemed to carnal minds no unapt symbol of Jehovah.
These be thy gods.—Rather, This is thy god.
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 And fashioned it with a graving tool. Rather, "and…
And fashioned it with a graving tool. Rather, "and bound it (the gold) in a bag." Compare 2Ki_5:23, where the same two Hebrew words occur in the same sense. It is impossible to extract from the original the sense given in the Authorised Version, since the simple copula van cannot mean "after." When two verbs in the same tense are conjoined by van "and," the two actions must be simultaneous, or the latter follow the former. But the calf cannot have been graven first, and then molten. It is objected to the rendering, "he bound it in a bag," that that action is so trivial that it would be superfluous to mention it (Keil) But it is quite consonant with the simplicity of Scripture to mention very trivial circumstances. The act of putting up in bags is mentioned both here and also in 2Ki_5:23, and 2Ki_12:9. They said. The fashioners of the image said this. These be thy gods. Rather, "This is thy God." Why Aaron selected the form of the calf as that which he would present to the Israelites to receive their worship, has been generally explained by supposing that his thoughts reverted to Egypt, and found in the Apis of Memphis or the Mnevis of Hellopolis the pattern which he thought it best to follow. But there are several objections to this view.
1. The Egyptian gods had just been discredited by their powerlessnessbeing manifested it was an odd time at which to fly to them.
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2. Apis and Mnevis were not molten calves, but live bulls. If the design had been to revert to Egypt, would not a living animal have been selected?
3. The calf when made was not viewed as an image of any Egyptian god,but as a representation of Jehovah (ver. 5).
4. The Israelites are never taxed with having worshipped the idols of Egyptanywhere else than in Egypt. (Jos_24:14; Eze_20:8 Eze_23:3) To us it seems probable that Aaron reverted to an earlier period than the time of the sojourn in Egypt, that he went back to those "gods on the other side of the flood," which Joshua warned the Israelites some sixty years later, to "put away". The subject is one too large for discussion here; but may not the winged and human-headed bull, which was the emblem of divine power from a very early date in Babylon, have retained a place in the recollections of the people in all their wanderings, and have formed a portion of their religions symbolism? May it not have been this conception which lay at the root of the cherubic forms, and the revival of which now seemed to Aaron the smallest departure from pure monotheism with which the people would be contented?
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 32:4 the shape of a calf: The idol might…
32:4 the shape of a calf: The idol might actually have been an image of a bull, like the images of the Egyptian god Amon-Re that the people had known in Egypt. The bull represented power, domination, and fertility. The writer would then be using the term calf as a way of expressing contempt for the idol. Alternatively, Aaron might have made a calf, feeling that this sin was not as serious as if the idol were a full-sized bull. • these are the gods who brought you out: The people attributed to the idol what they had just said that Moses had done (32:1). Idolatry expresses the belief that the divine realm and the visible world are continuous with one another. This worldview sees it as possible to lay hold of divine power through ritual manipulation of the god by means of the idol. God had been insisting that the very opposite is true: God is not contained in or restrained by his creation, and his blessings cannot be procured by manipulating creation, either ritually or otherwise. The blessings of God are for those who surrender their own efforts to make themselves secure and come to him using the ways and means that he has decreed.
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