Exodus 32:16-26

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

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

18 And he answered, It is not the voice of those that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of those that cry for being overcome, but the noise of those that sing that I hear.

19 And it came to pass as soon as he came near unto the camp and he saw the calf and the dances, anger caused Moses to wax hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mount.

20 And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and scattered it upon the waters and made the sons of Israel drink it.

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

22 And Aaron answered, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people that they are inclined to evil.

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 do not know what is become of him.

24 And I answered unto them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.

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? Come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Exodus 32:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 32

This chapter gives an account of the idolatry of the Israelites making and worshipping a golden calf, Ex 32:1-6 the information of it God gave to Moses, bidding him at the same time not to make any suit in their favour, that he might consume them, and make a large nation out Moses's family, Ex 32:7-10 the intercession of Moses for them, in which he succeeded, Ex 32:11-14 his descent from the mount with the two tables in his hands, accompanied by Joshua, when he was an eyewitness of their idolatry, which raised his indignation, that he cast the two tables out of his hands and broke them, took the calf and burnt it, and ground it to powder, and made the children of Israel drink of it, Ex 32:15-20 the examination of Aaron about the fact, who excused himself, Ex 32:21-24 the orders given to the Levites, who joined themselves to Moses, to slay every man his brother, which they did to the number of 3000 men, Ex 32:25-29 another intercession for them by Moses, which gained a respite of them for a time, for they are threatened to be visited still for their sin, and they were plagued for it, Ex 32:30-35.