God’s Word Translation
Exodus 32:19
19When he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. In a burst of anger Moses threw down the tablets and smashed them at the foot of the mountain.
Exodus 32:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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.
- New International Version (NIV)When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And 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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
Context of Exodus 32:19
17Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It’s the sound of war in the camp!” 18Moses replied, “It’s not the sound of winners shouting. It’s not the sound of losers crying. It’s the sound of a wild celebration that I hear.” When he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. In a burst of anger Moses threw down the tablets and smashed them at the foot of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. 21Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you encouraged them to commit such a serious sin?”
Read all of Exodus 32Exodus 32:19 word by word
וַֽיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרַב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מִיָּדָיו֙ אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And it came to pass, as soon as he came nighקָרַבqârab · to present: comeH7126
- unto the campמַחֲנֶהmachăneh · campH4264
- that he sawרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- the calfעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
- and the dancingמְחוֹלָהmechôlâh · danceH4246
- and Moses’מֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
- waxed hotחָרָהchârâh · to be incensedH2734
- and he castשָׁלַךְshâlak · to throwH7993
- the tablesלוּחַlûach lûach · tabletH3871
- out of his handsיָדyâd · handH3027
- and brakeשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
- them beneathתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
- the mountהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
Cross-references for Exodus 32:19
- Exodus 32:4After he had worked on the gold with a tool, he made it into a statue of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.”
- Deuteronomy 9:16Then I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made a statue of a calf for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord commanded you to live.
- Exodus 15:20Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women, dancing with tambourines, followed her.
- 2 Samuel 6:14Wearing a linen ephod, David danced in the Lord’s presence with all his might.
- Lamentations 5:15There is no joy left in our hearts. Our dancing has turned into mourning.
- Exodus 32:11But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why are you so angry with your people whom you brought out of Egypt using your great power and mighty hand?
- Numbers 12:3(Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)
- Matthew 5:22But I can guarantee that whoever is angry with another believer will answer for it in court. Whoever calls another believer an insulting name will answer for it in the highest court. Whoever calls another believer a fool will answer for it in hellfire.
- Mark 3:5Jesus was angry as he looked around at them. He was deeply hurt because their minds were closed. Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held it out, and his hand became normal again.
- Mark 10:14When Jesus saw this, he became irritated. He told them, “Don’t stop the children from coming to me. Children like these are part of God’s kingdom.
- Ephesians 4:26Be angry without sinning. Don’t go to bed angry.
- Deuteronomy 9:17I took the two tablets, threw them down, and smashed them in front of you.
- Deuteronomy 27:26“Whoever doesn’t obey every word of these teachings will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.
- Jeremiah 31:32It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
- Zechariah 11:10Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it in pieces, to break the promise that I had made to all the nations.
Commentaries on Exodus 32:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19He saw the calf, and the dancing - Dancing before the idol takes place in almost every Hindoo idolatrous feast - Ward. He cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them - He might have done this through distress and anguish of spirit, on beholding their abominable idolatry and dissolute conduct; or he probably did it emblematically, intimating thereby that, as by this act of his the tables were broken in pieces, on which the law of God was written; so…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. 19Moses might have shattered the tablets out of anger. It could also have been his way of saying the people shattered the covenant with God. Later, God reminded Moses that he was the one who broke the tablets (see 34:1).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands--The arrival of the leader, like the appearance of a specter, arrested the revellers in the midst of their carnival, and his act of righteous indignation when he dashed on the ground the tables of the law, in token that as they had so soon departed from their covenant relation, so God could withdraw the peculiar privileges that He had promised them--that act, together with the rigorous…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 32:19
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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