instruction to Moshe is in the imperative (command) form in the Hebrew, which relays a sense of urgency. v.8: They have quickly turned from the way

Transcription

1 Exodus 32 v.1: Now the people saw that Moshe took his time to come down the Mountain, so the people gathered against Aaron, then said to him: Get up, make gods for us that will go before us, since that man Moshe who brought us up from the land of Egypt we don t know what happened to him! v.1: Literally, gathered against can be understood as confronted. To go before us can be understood as lead us. Another rendition, then, could be: Now the people saw that Moshe took his time to come down the Mountain, so they confronted Aaron, saying to him, Get up, make idols for us that will lead us v.2: So Aaron said to them, Take off the gold ear rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters; then bring (them) to me. v.3: And all the people took apart the gold ear rings that were in their ears, and brought (them) to Aaron. v.4: Then he took (them) from their hands, and fashioned it with tools; and he made it (into) a calf mask. Then they said: These are your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt. v.5: So Aaron witnessed this, and he then built an altar in front of them, and Aaron cried out, saying: It is a holyday to Adonai tomorrow! v.6: Then they woke up early in the morning, offered up sacrifices, and presented peace offerings. And the nation sat down to eat and drink; then they got up to indulge. v.6: The words used to describe this event portray a festive and possibly lewd occasion: indulge is lesaheq,,לשחק literally meaning to play or to laugh ; sat down, vayeshev,,וישב can also mean gathered together or came together. Rashi comments that the word lesaheq hints of sexual immorality. v.7: And then Adonai spoke to Moses: Go down now, because your nation, which you brought up out of Egypt, has corrupted itself. v.7: The Hebrew has an up and down directional movement. Moshe is to go down, red,,רד because of the wrong actions of the people whom Moshe had brought up, he alita,.העלית The Torah uses directional words in a symbolic way (for example, the book of Jonah does this). The

2 instruction to Moshe is in the imperative (command) form in the Hebrew, which relays a sense of urgency. v.8: They have quickly turned from the way that you instructed them; they made a calf idol for themselves, then bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they declared: These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. v.9: So Adonai said to Moses: I have seen this people, and look, they are stiffnecked. v.9: The word ra iti,,ראיתי means literally to see. It often also means to see with understanding, and we suggest that meaning for this verse. Stiffnecked is the phrase qasheh oref, עורף,קשה meaning extremely stubborn. Rashi adds that it means refusing to listen. v.10: And now, leave Me, so My fuming anger will be against them, and annihilate them. Then I will make a great nation from you. v.10: A great nation is the same language as is used in Genesis 12. An accurate paraphrase could be: Then I will make a great nation (promised to Abraham) out of you. v.11: So Moshe pleaded before the presence of Adonai his God. And he said, Why is Adonai greatly angered at Your people whom You brought from the land of Egypt by great force, and with a strong hand?,פן pen, v.11: Moshe entreats God before the face of Adonai The word can mean both a physical face or the presence of someone. v.12: Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, He brought them out for an evil purpose, to kill them in the mountains, to annihilate them off the face of the earth. Turn from the fury of Your anger and be comforted concerning the evil of Your people! v.12: Fury of Your anger is haron apeka,(אפך) literally the anger of Your nose. Be comforted concerning the ra,,רע evil of Your people is the literal rendition. v.13: Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom you gave an oath in which you said to them, I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and all of this Land, that I said I will grant to your descendants so that they will inherit it forever. v.13: This Land, ha aretz hazot, הזאת,הארץ is a technical phrase referring to the Land of Israel. 2

3 v.14: Then Adonai was comforted concerning the harsh actions that He said He would do to His people. v.15: And Moshe changed the direction of his face, then descended down the Mountain, and the two tablets of the witness were in his hand. The tablets had writing upon both sides they were inscribed on one side and on the other side. v.15: Moshe turned, vayifen,,ויפן literally means Moshe changed the direction of his face. v.16: And the tablets, they were the handiwork of God. So the writing was the writing of God. It was engraved on the tablets. v.16: Some translators render this verse to say that He (God) engraved on the tablets (the last phrase of the verse). However, we believe it is more accurate to the given verb conjugation to translate the phrase as we have done. v.17: Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting out loud, and he said to Moshe: There is a sound of war in the camp! v.18: And he replied: It s not the sound of a powerful victory, and it s not the sound of a weak defeat, (but) a singing sound that I hear. v.19: So when he approached the camp, it was then that he saw the calf, and dancing. Then Moshe got angry, and threw the tablets down, breaking them, underneath the Mountain. v.19: Underneath the Mountain that is, where the Mountain only begins to rise, on lower land, at its very bottom. v.20: Then he took the calf that they had made and burned it in fire, and ground it up until it was fine. And he scattered it on the face of the water, then he watered the people of Israel with it. v.20: Watered the people is only one word that is usually taken to mean make them drink, which is accurate. It could mean to douse the people, that is, to throw this water on the people, as opposed to having them drink the water. v.21: Then Moshe said to Aaron: What did this people do to you, in order to bring upon you such a huge sin. v.21: The word sin here is chata ah (חטאה) missing the mark. v.22: And Aaron said: Don t get angry, my lord (said denoting respect to Moshe). You know the people, that they are in or with evil! 3

4 v.22: This verse is quite formal; my lord is simply a term of respect (the,(יהוה) not to be confused with the name Adonai,אדוני adoni, Hebrew which refers only to God. v.23: And they said to me, Make gods for us that will go before us, because that man Moshe, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don t know what happened to him! v.24: So I said to them, Whoever has gold, take it apart and give it to me, so that I can throw it into fire; then this calf came out. v.24: Although the translation sounds as if the making of the calf was unintentional, the text does not read this way. The idiom throw it into the fire may very well be translated cast it into a molding furnace or fiery oven (and purpose would be implied by this). The imagery is simple, but fire had a number of different meanings. Our translation is the more literal of those possible. v.25: Then Moshe saw the people, that they were out of control (allowed to run wild, cast off all constraints), because Aaron let them go out of control as a mockery with their enemies. v.26: So Moshe stood in the entrance to the encampment, and asked, Who is for Adonai? (Come) to me! Then all the Levites gathered to him. v.27: And he told them, So says Adonai, God of Israel:.כה אמר יהוה Adonai, v.27: So says Adonai is a powerful phrase, koh amar When it appears in the Torah, we can expect a vibrant challenge from God to follow. v.28: Then the Levites did exactly as Moshe had said. On that very day, about three thousand people from the nation fell. v.28: The inclusion of the Hebrew word ke,,כ meaning as, if, about, approximately clues us into knowing that this is not a head-count, thoroughly accurate number, but a rounding off, an approximation. v.29: Then Moshe said: Fill your hand today to Adonai, so you can be given a blessing, because everyone has been fighting against his son and his brother. v.29: This is somewhat cryptic and poetic language. We have given you the literal translation. v.30: The next day Moshe said to the people: You have sinned a great sin. So now I will go up to Adonai. Maybe I can kaphar (כפר) your transgression. 4

5 v. 30: Maybe I can plead the value of your life. [Note: Kaphar has not been translated as further study is needed due to the numerous possibilities.] v.31: So Moshe returned to Adonai, saying: Please, the people have sinned a great sin; they made for themselves idols from gold. v.32: And now, if You will, bear their transgression; but if not, please erase me from Your book in which You have written. v.32: If you will bear their transgression is the literal Hebrew. It means please bear their transgression. v.33: Then God spoke to Moshe: I will erase from My Book whomever sinned. v.34: So now, go and put the people where I tell you. Look, My messenger will go before you. And on the day of My accounting, I will make them accountable for missing the mark. v.35: Then Adonai nagaph,,(נגף) struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made. v.35: Zechariah uses this same word to describe how God will deal with the nations that attack Israel (Zechariah 14.15). 5