Deuteronomy 9:12

12 Then the LORD said to me, ¹'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have ²turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.'

Deuteronomy 9:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:12

And the Lord said unto me
The omniscient God, who knew what was doing in the camp of Israel, though Moses did not, of which he informs him:

arise, get thee down quickly from hence;
from the mount where he was; and the word "arise" does not suppose him to be sitting or lying along, neither of which postures would have been suitable, considering in whose presence he was; but is only expressive of urgency and haste of his departure; it is not used in ( Exodus 32:7 )

for thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, have
corrupted themselves;
their way, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling; the Lord calls them not his people, but the people of Moses, being highly displeased with them; and ascribes their coming out of Egypt to Moses the instrument, and not to himself, as if he repented of bringing them from thence:

they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them:
it being but about six weeks ago, that the command forbidding idolatry, the sin they had fallen into, had been given them:

and they have made them a molten image;
the image of a calf made of melted gold.

Deuteronomy 9:12 In-Context

10 And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.

11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

12 Then the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.'

13 "Furthermore, the LORD said to me, 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people.

14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 32:7, 8
• 2. [Deuteronomy 31:29; Judges 2:17]