English Standard Version
Exodus 32:20
20He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
Exodus 32:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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.
- New International Version (NIV)And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.
- New Living Translation (NLT)He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.
Context of Exodus 32:20
18But he said, "It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear." 19And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. 21And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?" 22And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
Read all of Exodus 32Exodus 32:20 word by word
וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶת־הָעֵ֨גֶל אֲשֶׁ֤ר עָשׂוּ֙ וַיִּשְׂרֹ֣ף בָּאֵ֔שׁ וַיִּטְחַ֖ן עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁר־דָּ֑ק וַיִּ֙זֶר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הַמַּ֔יִם וַיַּ֖שְׁקְ אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- the calfעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
- which they had madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- and burntשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
- in the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- and groundטָחַןţâchan · to grindH2912
- to powderדָּקַקdâqaq · to crushH1854
- and strawedזָרָהzârâh · to scatterH2219
- uponפָּנֶהpânîym · face: surfaceH6440
- the waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
- and made the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- drinkשָׁקָהshâqâh · to water: drinkH8248
Cross-references for Exodus 32:20
- Exodus 9:21but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.
- Deuteronomy 7:5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
- Deuteronomy 9:21Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.
- 2 Kings 23:6And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
- Proverbs 1:31therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
- Proverbs 14:14The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
Commentaries on Exodus 32:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20He took the calf - and burnt - and ground it to powder, etc. - How truly contemptible must the object of their idolatry appear when they were obliged to drink their god, reduced to powder and strewed on the water! "But," says an objector, "how could gold, the most ductile of all metals, and the most ponderous, be stamped into dust and strewed on water?" In Deuteronomy 9:21, this matter is fully explained. I took, says Moses, your sin, the calf which ye…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-35Verses 7-35 The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord‘s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-20Verses 15-20 What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Passing the gold powder of the image through the bodies of the people effectively rendered it unclean.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, &c.--It has been supposed that the gold was dissolved by natron or some chemical substance. But there is no mention of solubility here, or in De 9:21; it was "burned in the fire," to cast it into ingots of suitable size for the operations which follow--"grounded to powder"; the powder of malleable metals can be ground so fine as to resemble dust from the wings of a moth or butterfly; and…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 32:20
In the dictionaries
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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