Exodus 32:20

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• 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.

Context of Exodus 32:20

18Moses said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, but the sound of singing I hear.” 19When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. 21Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?” 22Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil.

Exodus 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 those who did not take the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle in the field.
• Deuteronomy 7:5Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah poles, and burn up their idols.
• Deuteronomy 9:21As for your sinful thing that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.
• 2 Kings 23:6He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.
• Proverbs 1:31Therefore they will eat from the fruit of their way, and they will be stuffed full of their own counsel.
• Proverbs 14:14The backslider will be paid back from his own ways, but a good person will be rewarded for his.

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

• Falsehood
• Iconoclasm
• Idol
• Idolatry
• Israel
• Reproof
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• Consume
• Corrupt
• Fashion
• Golden calf
• Grind
• Levite

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