Exodus 32:29

29 Then Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother."

Exodus 32:29 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 32:29

For Moses had said
To the Levites, when he first gave them their orders:

consecrate yourselves today to the Lord;
devote yourselves to his service, by obeying his orders, slaying those, or the heads of them, who have cast so much contempt upon him as to worship the golden calf in his room; and which would be as acceptable to him as the offerings were, by which Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the Lord; and as these Levites were consecrated to his service this day, on this account:

[even] every man upon his son, and upon his brother;
not sparing the nearest relation found in this idolatry, and for which the tribe of Levi is commended and blessed in the blessing of Moses, ( Deuteronomy 33:8 Deuteronomy 33:9 ) and as it follows,

that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day;
which was their being taken into the service of God to minister to the priests in the sanctuary, to bear the vessels of the Lord, and for their maintenance to have the tithes of the people: this day was, according to the Jewish writers ^F19, the seventeenth of Tammuz, or June, on which day the Jews keep a fast upon this account.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F19 Sedar Olam Rabba, c. 6. p. 18. Pirke Eliezer, c. 46.

Exodus 32:29 In-Context

27 And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.' "

28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

29 Then Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother."

30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."

31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!