The Golden Calf
Exod. 32:1-35
32:1 – “When the people saw that Moshe delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aharon, and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” The People expected Moshe to up to Yahuah and come straight back down, but the delay may have led them to assume that Moshe had died. They wanted some form of reassurance that they would not be left leaderless. Moshe left Aharon and Khur to supervise the People in his absence. Tradition states that the People rebelled and Aharon and Khur tried to keep order. However, Hur was killed as he no longer appears in Scripture as a person, but as the father of Uri. This left Aharon to watch over the People.
“Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Cor. 10:11). This is typical of this present age, wherein the Jewish people are waiting for the return of the Messiah. However, the longer He delays, the more the Jews fall into idolatry under the descendants of the Levitical Priesthood, Rabbinic Judaism, Chasidim and Kabbalah. Nevertheless “Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Master; for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:6, 7).
It would seem strange that representatives of the three million or so people came up to Aharon and all called for a new god to be made. It is often the case that malcontents insinuate themselves close to the seat of power, and it may have been such people that are now stirring up trouble, knowing that Moshe the strong leader was not in the camp to gainsay their negative, if not evil, actions.
“I am Yahuah your `Elohiym, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahuah your `Elohiym, am a jealous `Elohiym…You shall most certainly not make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves.” (Exod. 20:2-5a, 23). It was not so very long ago that Yahuah gave explicit instructions not to make any idols
32:2, 3 – “Aharon 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.’ All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon.” All the gold from the Egyptians had been given up by the People to make the gold items for the Tabernacle (Exod. 25:1-3), therefore, Aharon told the People to give up their personal jewellery.
32:4 – “He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, Yisra`el, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Many Jewish commentators have tried to cover up Aharon’s involvement by stating that the Calf was not made as an idol to be worshipped. Rather, it was made as a replacement for Moshe (Chabad.org *5 Rashi in Likutei Sichot). Nevertheless, this verse dismisses this claim in that it is the same wording Yahuah spoke regarding idolatry(Exod. 20:2).
“He received what they handed him…” It was said that because Aharon was given the gold, it actually did not belong to him, therefore it was not his idol nor accredited as its maker (Chabad.org *14 quoting Rashi in Likutei Sichot).
“…and they said…” Several opinions have arisen as to whom is speaking here, Aharon and Khur prior to Khur’s death at the revelation of the Calf or sorcerers from within ereb rab, the mixed multitude (cf Exod. 12:38). It is said that Aharon had no part to play in the making of the Calf except in the gathering and smelting of the gold, but it was the sorcerers that conjured up the Calf in order to lead astray the People.
32:5 – “When Aharon saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aharon made a proclamation, and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahuah.” The sole purpose of an altar is to offer up a sacrifice. By placing the altar close by the Calf, would suggest that it was to the Calf that the sacrifices were made.
32:6 – “They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to revel.”
צָחַק #H6711 tsar-khak laughter, *1905 mockery or derision. Rashi comments upon tsarkhak as being idolatry, licentiousness and murder (Chabad.org). This is not the laughter of joy, but one of riotous behaviour and it was in trying to stop such immorality that Khur was killed.
32:7 – “Yahuah spoke to Moshe, ‘Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!’” Yahuah may be referring to His inability to be associated with idolatry. Yahuah would have known the hearts of the rebels, let alone their words in ascribing their deliverance to human agency, Moshe. This ereb rab would consist of those people that had latched on to the Yisra`elites, not Yahuah’s People, the Yisra`elites. This mixture of people is one reason that Yahuah warns us against khemetz leavening the whole mass and to have nothing to do with evil people, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent… My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,” (cf Prov. 1:10, 15).
32:8 – “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Yisra`el, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’” Again, this is confirmation that the Calf was an idol and not just to represent Moshe.
32:9 – “Yahuah said to Moshe, ‘I have seen these people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people.’”
רָאָה #H7200 rar-ar to see, to observe and take notice. הִנֵּה #H2009 hin-ay to behold. The use of the twin words to behold stresses that Yahuah has not only seen what the people were doing, but has taken particular notice and is unable to remain inactive.
…stiffnecked… cruel, hard-hearted, vehement, stubborn as a disobedient ox.
32:10 – “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.” Yahuah knows the full extent of Moshe’s character, but does Moshe? Yahuah puts Moshe to the test in order for Moshe to realise his full potential. In annihilating the idolatrous rabble, Moshe would have become the new patriarch, the second Abraham, to whom successive generations would look back.
32:11-13 – “Moshe begged Yahuah his `Elohiym, and said, ‘Yahuah, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Yitzkhak, and Yisra`el, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” This is one of the greatest intercessory prayers in Scripture and a perfect example of how to pray. Moshe reminds Yahuah that it was Him and not Moshe that brought the People out of Egypt. It was Yahuah’s People, to whom He made the Covenant through Abraham, Yitzkhak and Ya`acob concerning Eretz Yisra`el. Moshe would not let the Egyptians have the opportunity to impugn the name of Yahuah.
32:14 – “Yahuah repented of the evil which He said He would do to His people.” Repentance is an anthropomorphism whereYahuah is ascribed human characteristics and emotions in order to explain how Yahuah relents and turns away His wrath because of Moshe’s intercession.
32:15, 16 – “Moshe turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. The tablets were the work of `Elohiym, and the writing was the writing of `Elohiym, engraved on the tables.” Ten is a significant number in Rabbinic Judaism, in that it takes a minimum of ten men to form a minyan, a group forming a representative sample of the whole community. This can also be seen on tablets of stone, where on Yahuah inscribed Eseret Ha-devarim (Ten Words/Commandments), that represent the full Torah. These stone tablets were placed within the arone, “I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the arone.” (Deut. 10:2).
32:17, 18 – “When Yahusha heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moshe, ‘There is the noise of war in the camp.’ He said, ‘It is not the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.’” Yahusha escorted Moshe part way up the mountain, leaving Moshe to continue up into the presence of Yahuah. On the way back down, Yahusha informs Moshe of the riotous behaviour, so loud that it sounds that a battle had broken out in the camp. Again, this indicates that it is not the whole mass of the Exodus, but a relatively small group of rebels.
32:19 – “It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the Calf and the dancing: and Moshe’s anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.” The grammar is uncertain here as to whom Mosh is angry, the malcontents or Aharon. However, it would seem that Moshe was angry against Aharon.
32:21-24 – “Moshe said to Aharon, ‘What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?’ Aharon said, ‘Do not let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:’ so they gave it me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.’” Aharon’s reply harkens back to Gan `Eden where Adam and Khavah refused to accept responsibility of their sin, but both put the blame onto another (Khavah and the serpent respectively).
Irrespective as to whom the instigator of the sin was, Aharon was left in charge and as the prospective High Priest, must hold himself to a much higher standard.
32:20 – “He took the Calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Yisra`el drink of it.” This alludes to the trial of the Suspect Wife (Num. 5:11-31).
32:26 – “then Moshe stood in the gate of the camp, and said, ‘Whoever is on Yahuah’s side, come to me!’ All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.” It is highly doubtful that all the Levi`im of military age came to answer Moshe’s call. However, it would require a substantial number to carry out the task. The gate of any city was where the elders met to judge disputes or legal matters. The reference to the gate in this verse must refer to the area Moshe and Aharon had arranged for people to come up and ask for rulings on various religious and secular matters.
32:27 – “He said to them, ‘Thus says Yahuah, the `Elohiym of Yisra`el, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.’’” Moshe reiterated the commandment that all idolators must be destroyed (Exod. 22:19(20)). In order to do this, the Levi`im must move methodically from tribe to tribe, symbolized by starting at each gate or elders’ assembly (Hertz p.359 quoting the Mechlita).
32:28 – “The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moshe: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” Although three thousand is only a small proportion of the total number of people, it laid down the principle that idolatry cannot be tolerated and that the khemetz of sin must be dealt with immediately and severely, with no consideration for the background of the idolator. The Master Yahusha also acknowledges the destructive force of sin, and the necessity for swift resolution, “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehinnom of fire.” (Matt. 18:8, 9).
32:29 – “Moshe said, ‘Consecrate yourselves today to Yahuah, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that He may bestow on you a blessing this day.’”
מָלָא #H4390 *1195 mar-lar to fill, consecrate, to fulfil that which was promised. The Levi`im fulfilled the promises of Yahuah that all idolators must be killed. It also means to fill one’s hands with a sacrifice, an Hebraic idiom to set apart one’s service to Yahuah. This is the technical term used for the installation of a priest (cf Exod. 28:41).
In light of their zeal for Yahuah, the Levi`im were tasked with the logistics of transporting the Tabernacle and for the everyday workings of the Tabernacle and future Temple, (Num. 3:5-10). This prevented them from being counted as part of the Yisra`elite army, and as such, were not allocated any land in Eretz Yisra`el (Deut. 10:8, 9). However, each tribe that had been allocated land, would give four cities and land for the provision of the Levi`im and would also six cities of refuge throughout the Land (Num. 35:1-8).
Yahuah also has taken the male Levi`im to be set apart for Him, in lieu of every first-born male in commemoration of the slaying of the first-born in Egypt (Num. 3:11-14).
32:30-32 – “It happened on the next day, that Moshe said to the people, ‘You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahuah. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.’ Moshe returned to Yahuah, and said, ‘Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin, and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.’” Moshe was a prophet of Yahuah, and considered as the greatest prophet in Judaism. However, Moshe was stepping up as an intercessor.
“Yahuah your `Elohiym will raise up to you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to Him you shall listen;” (Deut. 18:15). “Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, ‘This is truly the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some said, ‘What, does the Messiah come out of the Galil?’” (John 7:40, 41). The people of the Second Temple period were looking for the Prophet and for the Messiah to appear. However, they were looking for separate persons; the Prophet to be a law giver and the Messiah to be a king. The Rabbinic teachings they were raised upon would not be looking for a single Person; and certainly not to be the atonement for sinners. Moshe came down with tablets of stone, whereas the Master Yahusha is the Living Torah. Moshe returned to Yahuah hoping to be an atonement for the sin of the People, whereas the Master Yahusha returned knowing that His full atonement for all people had been accomplished at Gulgota (MacKintosh p. 334).
This incident formed the rationale for King Yarob`am to erect a golden calf and its associated altar at Beit-`El and at Dan, in order to legitimise his usurping of the Davidic throne (1 Kgs. 12:20-33). Yarob`am celebrated this idolatry by initiating sacrifices to the idols on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the exact date of the Golden Calf incident.
Yahuah bless you and keep you,
Yahuah make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you,
Yahuah lift up His face toward you and give you peace.
All glory be to Yahuah,
References and Credits
In using these references, it is in no way agreeing to or condoning the theological viewpoint of the authors.
Harris R.L., Archer Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Moody,
G.J. Jr., Waltke B.K. Chicago, Il.
(1980) (denoted by *)
Hertz Dr. J.H. (1987) The Pentateuch And Haftorahs, 2nd. ed., Socino Press, London.
MacKintosh C.H. Notes on the Book of Exodus, Pickering & Inglis, Glasgow.
Strong J. (1994) Strong’s New Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible,
(denoted by #H or #G) World Bible Publishers Inc.,Madison.
Strong J. (1996) The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words,
(denoted by #H or #G) Thomas Nelson, Nashville.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3613047/jewish/what-was-the-golden-calf.htm
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