Êxodo 32

Êxodo 32

Calvin remarks, ‘This is introduced to inform us how intemperately the people raged in their insane worship of the calf, since their shouting was heard from afar. It is thus that the devil bewitches poor miserable men, so that dissolute licentiousness with them is pious ardour.’ Exodus 32:19 It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses' anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. NET Exodus 32:19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. NLT Exodus 32:19 When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. ESV Exodus 32:19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. NIV Exodus 32:19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. KJV Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. LXE Exodus 32:19 And when he drew nigh to the camp, he sees the calf and the dances; and Moses being very angry cast the two tables out of his hands, and broke them to pieces under the mountain. ASV Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. CSB Exodus 32:19 As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. NKJ Exodus 32:19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. NRS Exodus 32:19 As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. YLT Exodus 32:19 And it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount; he saw: Ex 32:4-6 De 9:16,17 the dancing: Ex 15:20 2Sa 6:14 La 5:15 anger: Ex 32:11 Nu 12:3 Mt 5:22 Mk 3:5 10:14 Eph 4:26 brake them: De 9:17 27:26 Jer 31:32 Zec 11:10,11,14 Exodus 32 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries SEEING STIRS SEETHING! In Ex 32:11 Moses had asked "why does Your anger burn against Your people? (Ex 32:10)" But now, seeing turns to seething of his anger just like God's had burned. As Hamilton says "If such idol atry makes Moses’s “nose turn red” (for this is what the Hebrew says), should it not also make the Lord’s nose turn red?" It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing - If Moses saw the people, then surely they saw him. It is interesting that the last time we saw Israel singing and dancing was after the Red Sea deliverance by Jehovah (read Ex 15:20,21), but now they celebrate the same way but in honor of a golden calf as their god! Amazing apostasy! And Moses' anger burned - Literally “and the anger of Moses burned hot." While Moses had been told of the rebellion, when he actually witnessed it he became very angry. It is one thing to hear about someone close to you sinning, but it is quite another thing catching in the very act of sinning. Guzik on Moses' anger - Moses had to deal with anger through much of his life. In anger he killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11–12). In anger he broke the tablets written by the finger of God. In anger he beat the rock God commanded him to speak to (Numbers 20:10–11). This last display of anger kept Moses out of the Promised Land. (Exodus 32 Commentary) BROKEN COVENANT BROKEN TABLETS! And he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain - As anger often does, it brought action, in this case destruction of the decalogue on stone. It is very likely that the breaking of the covenant tablets symbolized Israel's breaking of the covenant (Ex 24:3). Some writers feels Moses was acting on instructions from God, but the text does not tell us. John Currid - The act of smashing the tablets of the law is highly symbolic: because the Hebrews had shattered the covenant with Yahweh, Moses smashes the sign of the covenant before their very eyes! (Epsc Exodus Volume 2 ) Hamilton makes an interesting comparison - The scene is reminiscent of another one in Scripture: 1 Sam. 15:1-35 (see Grottanetti 1999: 59). In both Exod. 32 and 1 Sam. 15 a large group of people is about to engage in an erroneous and sinful (ritual) action, a sin of commission in Exod. 32, a sin of omission in 1 Sam. 15. Second, both happen under the supervision of a vicarious leader, Aaron and Saul, who previously have been anointed by the prophets Moses and Samuel respectively. Third, the prophet is absent both times when the sinful activities transpire, but finds out about it when God discloses it to him. Fourth, the prophet angrily confronts the leader of the crowd about his actions. Fifth, both times the prophet destroys quite violently the object of sinful behavior (the calf and Agag). Sixth, Aaron blames the people, and Saul blames the soldiers, while both proclaim their own innocence. (Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary) Exodus 32:20 He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it. NET Exodus 32:20 He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. NLT Exodus 32:20 He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it. ESV Exodus 32:20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. NIV Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. KJV Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. LXE Exodus 32:20 And having taken the calf which they made, he consumed it with fire, and ground it very small, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel to drink it. ASV Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. CSB Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water. NKJ Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. NRS Exodus 32:20 He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. YLT Exodus 32:20 and he taketh the calf which they have made, and burneth it with fire, and grindeth until it is small, and scattereth on the face of the waters, and causeth the sons of Israel to drink. took the calf: De 7:5,25 9:21 2Ki 23:6,15 made the: Pr 1:31 14:14 Exodus 32 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MOSES BURNS, GRINDS AND SCATTERS THE IDOL IMAGE Related Passage: Deut 9:21 “I took your sinful thing, 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; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain. COMMENT - Note in the re-telling, Moses does not speak of the drinking of pulverized idol in the water. He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it - Note Moses called the calf "your sinful thing" in Dt 9:21. Notice that no one tries to stop Moses from destroying the "god!" Moses came down from Mt Sinai with the authority of a man who had been with God for 40 days and Israel did not try to deny it. In burning and grinding the calf, scattering the ashes on water and making the people drink it there was a strong symbolism showing Moses' repudiation of Israel's idolatry. Recall there were up to 2 million Israelites. Did they all have to drink? And another question is this the water that flows from the rock at Sinai/Horeb (Ex 17:6)? THOUGHT - Is this not an attitude that God wants all His children to have concerning idols? Utter destruction is called for. No compromise! Half measures will not do. God wants no competing "suitors" either for His Wife Israel or His Bride the Church. Regardless of how one interprets the burning, grinding, forced drinking, the fact is clear that these vivid actions by Moses in removing the idol would (or should) give the people an unforgettable picture of their great sin (v21). Josiah one of the last kings (and actually the last good king) of Judah instituted a restoration in which he mimicked Moses' actions... He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people....15 Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, (HE MADE NOT ONE BUT TWO GOLDEN CALVES - read 1 Ki 12:28 = "behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.") had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. (2 Kings 23:6, 15) NET Note is interesting - Pouring the ashes into the water running from the mountain in the brook (Deut 9:21) and making them drink it was a type of the bitter water test that tested the wife suspected of unfaithfulness. Here the reaction of the people who drank would indicate guilt or not (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 419). Walter Kaiser - Not only were the stone tablets broken, symbolizing the breaking of God’s covenant by the people, but Moses quickly broke up the calf and the festivities, bringing an end to the people’s covenant with carnality. (EBC-Ex) Hamilton has a similar explanation - The closest parallel we have is Nu 5:11–31, in which the wife whom her husband suspects of adultery has to drink “bitter water” that will prove, by what it does or does not do to her body, her guilt or innocence (ED: THIS MAKES SENSE WHEN ONE CONSIDERS THAT JEHOVAH IS THE "HUSBAND" OF ISRAEL WHO HAS BEEN UNFAITHFUL!). In Ex 32:20 it is Moses’s way of determining who the ringleaders in this idolatrous act are. Otherwise, how else would the Levites, later in the chapter, be able to identify and punish the culpable parties? But we do not know what the symptoms of guilt are as is the case in the ordeal of Num. 5. (Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary) Alan