New International Version
Exodus 32:20
20And 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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
18Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” 19When 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. 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. 21He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to 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 those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.
- Deuteronomy 7:5This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.
- Deuteronomy 9:21Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
- 2 Kings 23:6He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people.
- Proverbs 1:31they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
- Proverbs 14:14The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs.
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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