New Living Translation
Exodus 32:6
6The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
Exodus 32:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
- New International Version (NIV)So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
Context of Exodus 32:6
4Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 5Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!” The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry. 7The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
Read all of Exodus 32Exodus 32:6 word by word
וַיַּשְׁכִּ֙ימוּ֙ מִֽמָּחֳרָ֔ת וַיַּעֲל֣וּ עֹלֹ֔ת וַיַּגִּ֖שׁוּ שְׁלָמִ֑ים וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב הָעָם֙ לֶֽאֱכֹ֣ל וְשָׁת֔וֹ וַיָּקֻ֖מוּ לְצַחֵֽק׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And they rose up earlyשָׁכַםshâkam · to riseH7925
- on the morrowמׇחֳרָתmochŏrâth mochŏrâthâm · morrowH4283
- and offeredעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: offer upH5927
- burnt offeringsעֹלָה‛ôlâh ‛ôlâh · burnt offeringH5930
- and broughtנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: bringH5066
- peace offeringsשֶׁ֫לֶםshelem · peace offeringH8002
- and the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- satיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- down to eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- and to drinkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
- and rose upקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
- to playצָחַקtsâchaq · to laughH6711
Cross-references for Exodus 32:6
- Exodus 24:4Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Numbers 25:2These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab.
- Judges 16:23The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”
- Amos 2:8At their religious festivals, they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security. In the house of their gods, they drink wine bought with unjust fines.
- Amos 8:10I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow— as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be!
- Acts 7:41So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.
- 1 Corinthians 10:7or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”
- Revelation 11:10All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
Commentaries on Exodus 32:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The people sat down to eat and to drink - The burnt-offerings were wholly consumed; the peace-offerings, when the blood bad been poured out, became the food of the priests, etc. When therefore the strictly religious part of these ceremonies was finished, the people sat down to eat of the peace-offerings, and this they did merely as the idolaters, eating and drinking to excess. And it appears they went much farther, for it is said they rose up to play…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-6Verses 1-6 In all probability these three chapters originally formed a distinct composition. The main incidents recorded in them follow in the order of time, and are therefore in their proper place as regards historical sequence. The golden calf - The people had, to a great extent, lost the patriarchal faith, and were but imperfectly instructed in the reality of a personal unseen God. Being disappointed at the long absence of Moses, they seem to have…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6The Hebrew term translated as indulge in revelry is traditionally translated as they got up to play. In Hebrew, like in English, the word play can imply sexual activities (see Genesis 26:8, “caressing”). This is likely the case here. Worship of a fertility symbol, such as a bull, often included the worshipers engaging in sexual activities (see 1 Corinthians 10:7–8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-65-6. Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord--a remarkable circumstance, strongly confirmatory of the view that they had not renounced the worship of Jehovah, but in accordance with Egyptian notions, had formed an image with which they had been familiar, to be the visible symbol of the divine presence. But there seems to have been much of the revelry that marked the feasts of the heathen.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 32:6
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 Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries