Exodus 32

Exodus · Chapter 32

Exodus 32:20

1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, 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 wot not what is become of him.2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.9And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.23For 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 wot not what is become of him.24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.27And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.29For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.30And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.31And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.33And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.34Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.35And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and he tookוַיִּקַּ֞חvai-yi-KACHH3947G
to take: take

לָקַח (la.qach) : take 1) to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to take, take in the hand 1a2) to take and carry along 1a3) to take from, take out of, take, carry away, take away 1a4) to take to or for a person, procure, get, take possession of, select, choose, take in marriage, receive, accept 1a5) to take up or upon, put upon 1a6) to fetch 1a7) to take, lead, conduct 1a8) to take, capture, seize 1a9) to take, carry off 1a10) to take (vengeance) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be captured 1b2) to be taken away, be removed …

the calfהָעֵ֨גֶלha-'E-gelH5695
calf

עֵ֫גֶל (e.gel) calf, bull-calf

whichאֲשֶׁ֤ר'a-SHERH0834A
which

אֲשֶׁר (a.sher) A: 1) (relative part.) 1a) which, who 1b) that which 2) (conj) 2a) that (in obj clause) 2b) when 2c) since 2d) as 2e) conditional if B: Beth+ 1) in (that) which 2) (adv) 2a) where 3) (conj) 3a) in that, inasmuch as 3b) on account of C: Mem+ 1) from (or than) that which 2) from (the place) where 3) from (the fact) that, since D: Kaph+ 1) (conj.), according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

they had madeעָשׂוּ֙'a-SUH6213H
to make

עֲבַד (a.vad) 1) to make, do 1a)(P'al) 1a1) to make, create 1a2) to do, perform 1b) (Ithp'al) 1b1) to be made into 1b2) to be done, be wrought, be performed, be executed, be carried out

and he burned [it]וַיִּשְׂרֹ֣ףvai-yis-ROFH8313
to burn

סָרַף (sa.raph) (Pael) burnt Another spelling of sa.raph (שָׂרַף "to burn" H8313)

with the fireבָּאֵ֔שׁba-'ESHH0784
fire

אֵשׁ (esh) 1) fire 1a) fire, flames 1b) supernatural fire (accompanying theophany) 1c) fire (for cooking, roasting, parching) 1d) altar-fire 1e) God's anger (fig.) Aramaic equivalent: esh (אֶשָּׁא "fire" H0785)

and he ground [it]וַיִּטְחַ֖ןvai-yit-CHANH2912
to grind

טָחַן (ta.chan) (Qal) to grind, crush

untilעַ֣ד'adH5704
till

עַד (ad) prep 1) as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as 1a) of space 1a1) as far as, up to, even to 1b) in combination 1b1) from...as far as, both...and (with 'min' -from) 1c) of time 1c1) even to, until, unto, till, during, end 1d) of degree 1d1) even to, to the degree of, even like conj 2) until, while, to the point that, so that even Aramaic equivalent: ad (עַד "till" H5705)

thatאֲשֶׁר־'a-SHER-H0834A
which

אֲשֶׁר (a.sher) A: 1) (relative part.) 1a) which, who 1b) that which 2) (conj) 2a) that (in obj clause) 2b) when 2c) since 2d) as 2e) conditional if B: Beth+ 1) in (that) which 2) (adv) 2a) where 3) (conj) 3a) in that, inasmuch as 3b) on account of C: Mem+ 1) from (or than) that which 2) from (the place) where 3) from (the fact) that, since D: Kaph+ 1) (conj.), according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

it was fineדָּ֑קDakH1854
to shatter

דּוּק (duq) 1) to be shattered, fall to pieces 1a) (P'al) to break in pieces

and he scattered [it]וַיִּ֙זֶר֙vai-YI-zerH2219
to scatter

זָרָה (za.rah) 1) to scatter, fan, cast away, winnow, disperse, compass, spread, be scattered, be dispersed 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to scatter 1a2) to fan, winnow 1b) (Niphal) to be scattered, be dispersed 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to scatter, disperse (intensive of Qal) 1c2) to winnow, sift 1d) (Pual) to be scattered, be spread out

onעַל־'al-H5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

[the] surface ofפְּנֵ֣יpe-NEIH6440J
face: before

פָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of

the waterהַמַּ֔יִםha-MA-yimH4325G
water

מַי (ma.yim) 1) water, waters 1a) water 1b) water of the feet, urine 1c) of danger, violence, transitory things, refreshment (fig.)

and he made drink [it]וַיַּ֖שְׁקְvai-YASHKH8248H
to water: watering

שָׁקָה (sha.qah) : watering(ANIMALS/PLANTS) 1) to give to drink, irrigate, drink, water, cause to drink water 1a) (Hiphil) 1a1) to water, irrigate 1a2) to water, give drink to 1b) (Pual) to be watered 1c) (Niphal) variant

[the] people ofבְּנֵ֥יbe-NEIH1121GNo entry
Israelיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃YIS-ra-'ELH3478
Jacob

יַעֲקֹב (ya.a.qov) A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.25.26; son of: Isaac (H3327) and Rebekah (H7259); brother of: Esau (H6215); married to Rachel (H7354), Leah (H3812), Zilpah (H2153) and Bilhah (H1090A); father of: Reuben (H7205), Simeon (H8095), Levi (H3878), Judah (H3063), Dan (H1835H), Naphtali (H5321), Gad (H1410), Asher (H0836), Issachar (H3485), Zebulun (H2074), Dinah (H1783), Joseph (H3130) and Benjamin (H1144); also called Jacob frequently Another name of yis.ra.el (יִשְׂרָאֵל "Israel" H3478) § Jacob = "heel holder" or "supplanter" …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.