New King James Version
Exodus 32:19
19So 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.
Context of Exodus 32:19
17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18But he said: “It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear.” 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. 20Then 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. 21And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
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 32:4And 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!”
- Deuteronomy 9:16And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you.
- Exodus 15:20Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
- 2 Samuel 6:14Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.
- Lamentations 5:15The joy of our heart has ceased; Our dance has turned into mourning.
- Exodus 32:11Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
- Numbers 12:3(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
- Matthew 5:22But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
- Mark 3:5And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
- Mark 10:14But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
- Ephesians 4:26“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
- Deuteronomy 9:17Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.
- Deuteronomy 27:26‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
- Jeremiah 31:32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.
- Zechariah 11:10And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries