Exodus 32:21

21 En Mozes zeide tot Aaron: Wat heeft u dit volk gedaan, dat gij zulk een grote zonde over hetzelve gebracht hebt?

Exodus 32:21 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 32:21

And Moses said unto Aaron
Having destroyed the calf, and thereby expressed his abhorrence of their idolatry, he examines the principal persons concerned, and inquires into the cause and reason of it, how it came about; and begins with Aaron, though his own brother, with whom along with Hur he had committed the government of the people during his absence; and therefore was justly accountable for such a transaction, which could not have been without his knowledge and consent: no mention is made of Hur, whether he was dead or no is not certain; the Jewish writers say he was, and that he was killed for reproving the Israelites for their wickedness; and it looks as if he was dead, since he was not in the examination, and we hear of him no more afterwards:

what did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a
sin upon them?
as idolatry is, than which no sin can be greater, it being not only a breach of the first table of the law, but directly against God, against the very being of God, and his honour and glory; it is a denial of him, and setting up an idol in his room, and giving to that the glory that is only due to his name; and Aaron being the chief magistrate, whose business it was to see that the laws of God were observed, and to restrain the people from sin, and to have been a terror to evil doers; yet falling in with them, and conniving at them, he is charged with bringing sin upon them, or them into that; and is asked what the people had done to him, that he should do this to them, what offence they had given him, what injury they had done him, that he bore them a grudge for it, and took this method to be revenged? for it is suggested, had they used him ever so ill, he could not have requited it in a stronger manner than by leading them into such a sin, the consequence of which must be ruin and destruction, see ( Genesis 20:9 ) or else Moses inquires of Aaron what methods the people had made use of to prevail upon him to suffer them to do such a piece of wickedness; whether it was by persuasion and artful insinuations, or by threatening to take away his life if he did not comply, or in what manner they had wrought upon his weak side, to induce him to take such a step.

Exodus 32:21 In-Context

19 En het geschiedde, als hij aan het leger naderde, en het kalf, en de reien zag, dat de toorn van Mozes ontstak, en dat hij de tafelen uit zijn handen wierp, en dezelve beneden aan den berg verbrak.

20 En hij nam dat kalf, dat zij gemaakt hadden, en verbrandde het in het vuur, en vermaalde het, totdat het klein werd, en strooide het op het water, en deed het den kinderen Israels drinken.

21 En Mozes zeide tot Aaron: Wat heeft u dit volk gedaan, dat gij zulk een grote zonde over hetzelve gebracht hebt?

22 Toen zeide Aaron: De toorn mijns heren ontsteke niet! gij kent dit volk, dat het in den boze ligt.

23 Zij dan zeiden tot mij: Maak ons goden, die voor ons aangezicht gaan, want dezen Mozes, dien man, die ons uit Egypteland opgevoerd heeft, wij weten niet, wat hem geschied zij.