Darby Bible
Exodus 32:4
4And he took [them] out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf: and they said, This is thy 1god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
Exodus 32:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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.
- New International Version (NIV)He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
Context of Exodus 32:4
2And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] to me. 3Then all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears, and brought [them] to Aaron. And he took [them] out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf: and they said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! 5And Aaron saw [it], and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah! 6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered up burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to sport.
Read all of Exodus 32Exodus 32:4 word by word
וַיִּקַּ֣ח מִיָּדָ֗ם וַיָּ֤צַר אֹתוֹ֙ בַּחֶ֔רֶט וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֖הוּ עֵ֣גֶל מַסֵּכָ֑ה וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵ֤לֶּה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
- tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- handיָדyâd · hand: themselvesH3027
- madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- calfעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- broughtעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
Cross-references for Exodus 32:4
- Exodus 20:23Ye shall not make beside me gods of silver, and ye shall not make to you gods of gold.
- Deuteronomy 9:16And I saw, and behold, ye had sinned against Jehovah your God: ye had made for yourselves a molten calf; ye had quickly turned aside from the way which Jehovah had commanded you.
- Psalms 106:19They made a calf in Horeb, and did homage to a molten image;
- Isaiah 44:9They that form a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things are of no profit; and they are their own witnesses: they see not, nor know; — that they may be ashamed.
- Isaiah 46:6— They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
- Acts 7:41And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
- Acts 17:29Being therefore [the] offspring of God, we ought not to think that which is divine to be like gold or silver or stone, [the] graven form of man's art and imagination.
- Exodus 28:9And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:
- 1 Kings 12:28And the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
- 2 Kings 10:29Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: [from] the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.
- 2 Chronicles 11:15and he ordained for himself priests for the high places, and for the he-goats and for the calves that he had made.
- 2 Chronicles 13:8And now ye think to shew yourselves strong against the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude, and ye have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods.
- Hosea 8:4They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not; of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
- Hosea 10:5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calf of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the idolatrous priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.
- Hosea 13:2And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
- Exodus 32:8They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them: they have made themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
Commentaries on Exodus 32:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Fashioned it with a graving tool - There has been much controversy about the meaning of the word חרט cheret in the text: some make it a mould, others a garment, cloth, or apron; some a purse or bag, and others a graver. It is likely that some mould was made on this occasion, that the gold when fused was cast into it, and that afterwards it was brought into form and symmetry by the action of the chisel and graver. These be thy gods, O Israel - The whole of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-6Verses 1-6 In all probability these three chapters originally formed a distinct composition. The main incidents recorded in them follow in the order of time, and are therefore in their proper place as regards historical sequence. The golden calf - The people had, to a great extent, lost the patriarchal faith, and were but imperfectly instructed in the reality of a personal unseen God. Being disappointed at the long absence of Moses, they seem to have…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4fashioned it into a molten calf: The idol might have been a bull, similar to the Egyptian god Amon-Re, which the people knew from Egypt. The bull represented power, domination, and fertility. The writer might have said calf to despise the idol. Or, Aaron might have made a calf, thinking this sin was less severe than making a full-sized bull. These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out: The people credited the idol with what they had just said…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf--The words are transposed, and the rendering should be, "he framed with a graving tool the image to be made, and having poured the liquid gold into the mould, he made it a molten calf." It is not said whether it was of life size, whether it was of solid gold or merely a wooden frame covered with plates of gold. This idol seems to have been the god Apis, the chief deity of the…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 32:4
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Exodus 32:4 32.4 Elohim ↩
Commentaries on Exodus 32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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