the molten calf
1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain they as sembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods to walk ahead of us; as for this Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2 And Aaron said to them, “Take the gold earrings from your wives, your sons and daughters and bring them to me.”
3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took what they gave him and with a graving tool made the gold into a molten calf.
They then said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.”
5 Now, when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the molten calf and cried out, “Tomorrow will be a feastday for Yahweh.”
6 So next day they rose early and sacri ficed burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. They then sat down to eat and drink and got up to make merry. ［Jer 31,32］
7 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said: ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.’”
9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff-necked peo ple.
10 Now just leave me that my anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.”
11 But Moses calmed the anger of Yah weh, his God, and said, “Why, O Yah weh, should your anger burst against your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Let not the Egyptians say: ‘Yahweh brought them out with evil intent, for he wanted to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn away from the heat of your anger and do not bring disaster on your people.
13 Remember your servants, Abra ham, Isaac and Jacob, and the pro mise you yourself swore: I will mul tiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”
14 Yahweh then changed his mind and would not yet harm his people.
15 Moses then returned and came down from the mountain carrying in his hand the two slabs of the State ment, slabs written on both sides, back and front.
16 These slabs were the work of God and the writing graven on the slabs was the writing of God.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people who were shouting he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18 But Moses answered, “It is not a victory song, nor the cry of defeat that I hear, but the sound of singing.”
19 When he drew near to the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burst forth and he threw the slabs from his hands and shattered them against the base of the mountain.
20 Then he seized the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, grinding it into a powder that he scattered over the surface of the water, and this he made the Israelites drink.
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you brought such a great sin on them?”
22 And Aaron said, “Don’t let your anger be roused. You know this people and how evil they are.
23 They said to me: ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’
24 I then said to them that whoever had gold was to give it over to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf!”
25 Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild, to a point that would make them an easy prey for their opponents.
26 Then Moses stood at the gate of the camp and said, “All those for Yahweh, come to me.” And all the sons of Levi rallied round him.
27 Then he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel commands: Let each one carry a sword at his side. Go back and forth from door to door and don’t hesitate to kill even your broth ers, your companions and your relatives.”
28 The Levites did what Moses had ordered and that day about three thousand men fell.
29 Moses then said, “From now on your hands are consecrated to Yahweh for each of you has been able to turn against his very sons and brothers. Because of this, Yahweh gives you today his blessing.”
Moses intercedes for the people
30 The next day Moses said to the peo ple, “You have committed a very grave sin, but now I am going up to Yahweh; perhaps I will obtain pardon for your sin.”
31 So Moses went towards Yahweh and said, “Ah! This people has committed a very great sin; they made a god out of gold.
32 And now please forgive their sin… if not, blot me out of the book you have written.”
33 Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out from my book.
34 Go now! Lead the people where I told you. My Angel will walk before you and on the day of punishment I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And so Yahweh punished the people with a plague because of the calf Aaron had made for them.
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Comments Exodus, Chapter 32
• 32.1 Just as Adam disobeyed in the beginning, so too does Israel, after receiving the Law. The difficult relationship between Israel and its God now begins. He threatens, punishes and, after that, pardons.
Moses thinks that by using drastic measures, he will make Israel return to the right path and the people will be more responsible. But the years pass and the people continue to sin. Therefore, later prophets will become convinced that a Law does not suffice: mortals need a new heart: see the new covenant in Jer 31:31.
Make us gods. The Israelites have not really accepted Yahweh, the demanding and challenging God who commands them to conquer the promised land. They wish to return to their old religion which merely requires feasts and rites. The golden calf they fashion out of wood covered with gold (which Moses will burn), is the traditional figure of the Canaanite god El, a habitually good-natured god who puts the minds of the fearful believers at ease.
Their sin, then, is not only in making an image of God, but even more, in making a god which suits them. This same sin is committed by many believers today who look for a relaxing religion or spirituality free from the contradictions one finds when working with God in the world.
• 9. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation. When the people fail in fidelity, Yahweh asks Moses for an exceptional proof of his own fidelity. He suggests that his own descendants could very well form a new people of God to re place these irresponsible ones. But Moses has understood that this cannot be and should not be: God will never withdraw his promises to Israel. So Moses must sacrifice himself to the end to save these sinners. He will seek neither salvation nor spiritual gifts for his own descendants at the expense of the people who received the Covenant.
Moses succeeds and obtains pardon for Israel. God permits him to stand before Yahweh to appease his anger (Ps 106:23). In various parts of the Bible, Moses will be presented as an intercessor who had authority to ask in the name of his people, and who was, thus, the anticipated figure of Jesus, the only Mediator and Intercessor.
On going down, Moses hears the irresponsible answer of Aaron who lays the blame on the people. Aaron has acted like an opportunist priest, anxious to please the people, but quick ly forgetting the mission he has received from God, not from the people. Let us recall that Aa ron was the patron and model of the Jewish priests. The priests who wrote these pages kept the teaching of Moses and claimed his authority but they were humble enough to present Aa ron, their ancestor, as a common and sin ful man, whose deeds did not match his high status.
The unfaithful people will not easily pay for their sin. The different accounts mixed in this chapter do not agree regarding what actually happened. Verse 35 makes us think of a punishment like the pestilence. Verses 25-29 indicate that not all participated in the rebellion. The men of the tribe of Levi were more faithful and helped Mo ses to re-establish his authority: they started kill ing the guilty ones.
That is why today he gives you the blessing. But do not let this make us think that God blesses violence: see how this ancient text praises those who have chosen God; they have shown their loyalty the way one only could and should in this primitive age. If they had acted then as one should in the 21st century, salvation history would have died in the cradle.
Many details in this story came from those who wrote these pages centuries later. They were influenced by what happened in the sanctuaries of Bethel and of Dan, where King Jeroboam had yearling calves placed as images of Yahweh (1 K 12:26).