Exodus 32:35

35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.

Exodus 32:35 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 32:35

And the Lord plagued the people
That is, continued so to do at certain times, with the pestilence, or other calamities; for this seems not to refer, as some think, to the slaughter of the 3000 men: the reason follows,

because they made the calf which Aaron made;
that is, they provided him with materials to make it; they urged and solicited him to do it, and would not be easy without it, so that the making of it is ascribed to them; or they served it, as Onkelos; or bowed unto it, as Jonathan; with which agree the Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan versions, which render it, they served, or worshipped, or sacrificed to the calf which Aaron made.

Exodus 32:35 In-Context

33 The Lord answered, "It is those who have sinned against me whose names I will remove from my book.

34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin."

35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.