1.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

delayed = put them to shame by his not coming down. Compare Psalms 44:7 ; Psalms 53:5 ; Psalms 119:3 .
out of = from.
make us gods . The great sin of to-day (1 Corinthians 10:7 , 1 Corinthians 10:11 ). Made now not of materials; but made by imagination; and worshipped by the senses.
man . Hebrew. 'ish , App-14 .
wot not = know not.
all = the greater part. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6 .
them . The Ellipsis ( App-6 ) should be supplied by the word "it ": i.e. the gold (Exodus 32:3 ).

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.

3.

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

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.

calf . The chief Egyptian god, with which they were familiar in Egypt.
These be thy gods . Expounded in Nehemiah 9:18 as meaning "This is thy god". Compare Psalms 106:19 .

5.

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

a feast to the LORD . All done under cover of "religion".
the LORD . Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

6.

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

offered. Hebrew. 'alah. See App-43 .
burnt offerings . Hebrew, plural of 'alah. See App-43 . eat and to drink. Figure of speech Ellipsis ( App-6 ), i.e. to eat [the sacrifices] and to drink [the libations].
to play = to make sport. Compare Exodus 32:19 . So 1 Corinthians 10:7 . to dance: i, e. lasciviously. This was part of idolatrous worship.

7.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

the LORD [Hebrew. Jehovah. said . See note on Exodus 3:7 , and cep. note on Exodus 6:10 .
thy . . . thou . As though disowning them. Compare Moses' grand faith, in his reply, Exodus 32:11 .

8.

They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

sacrificed . Hebrew. zaback App-43 .

9.

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

behold . Figure of speech Asterismos ( App-6 ).

10.

Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

11.

And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

the LORD . Hebrew "the face of Jehovah": i.e. before, or in the presence of Jehovah.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .
Thy . . . Thou . This is the reply of Moses. He knows they were not "cast off" (Romans 11:2 ), but only "cast aside" (Romans 11:11 ) for a little moment. See notes on Romans 11:2 , Romans 11:15 .

12.

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Wherefore . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis ( App-6 ).
mischief , or wrong-doing. Hebrew. r'a'a. App-44 . repent. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia ( App-6 ).
evil. Hebrew. r'a'a. App-44 .

13.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

Israel. Not Jacob, because this is the language of highest faith.
swarest . Figure of speech Anthropopatheia ( App-6 ). Compare Hebrews 6:13 , Hebrews 6:17 . Genesis 22:16-18 .
as the stars . Figure of speech Paroemia ( App-6 ).

14.

And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

thought to do . Hebrew which He spake of doing.

15.

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

went down . Moses' fourth descent. See note on Exodus 19:3 (the fifth ascent was in Exodus 24:9 ),
the two tables . See on Exodus 31:18 .

16.

And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

the tables . . . the tables . Figure of speech Epanadiplosis ( App-6 ), emphasising the importance of the statement.
the writing . . the writing . Figure of speech Epizeuxis. App-6 . The two figures together greatly emphasising the verse as a whole; and, combined = another Figure of speech Anadiplosis ( App-6 ), viz. "tables", "writings"-; -"writings", "tables "the solemn or important writing. See note on Exodus 17:14 .

17.

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

18.

And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

shout . . . cry . . . singular. The same word in Hebrew.

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.

dancing . Compare Exodus 32:6 . As in the worship of Apis.

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.

burnt. A secret known to the Egyptians.
water . Compare Deuteronomy 9:2 .Deuteronomy 17:6 .
children = sons.

21.

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

sin. Hebrew. chat'a. App-44 .

22.

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

are set : or, supply the Ellipsis "are ready for ""

23.

For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

man . Hebrew 'ish, App-14 .
wot = know.

24.

And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

25.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

26.

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Who . . . ? &c. Figure of speech Erotesis ( App-6 ).
all. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6 , i.e. all who had not joined in the idolatry. Compare Deuteronomy 33:9 .

27.

And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

side = thigh.

28.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

children = sons.
three thousand men . These 3,000 were the "men" slain by "the sons of Levi. "The 23,000 of 1 Corinthians 10:8 includes those who died of the "plague" which followed. See verse Exodus 32:35 , below.

29.

For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Consecrate . See note on Exodus 28:4 .

30.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

31.

And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

returned. Moses' fifth ascent. See note on Exodus 19:8 .

32.

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

sin = Figure of speech Aposiopesis ( App-6 ), to emphasise the unspeakableness of the sin.
Thy book. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia ( App-6 ). Compare Psalms 69:28 . Isaiah 4:3 .

33.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

him . Under the Law, the sinner blotted out: under grace, sin blotted out.

34.

Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

behold . A special reading (Severna Codex, App-34 ) has "and behold". See App-34 .
Mine angel . Probably an inferior angel, not that of Exodus 23:20 , Exodus 23:21 .
when I visit. Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6 ). Literally "when I visit I will visit". See note on Genesis 26:28 with Gen 60:24 , Gen 60:25 . This is to emphasise the fact that there is such a thing as postponed judgment. Compare Exodus 34:7 . Numbers 14:33 .Ezekiel 18:1-3 .Matthew 23:32-36 .

35.

And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

plagued. See note on Exodus 32:28 above.