John Gill Bible Commentary

And I said unto them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off,.... That is, any ear rings of gold, let them loose or take them off their ears: so they gave it me; of their own accord, as if unasked by him, though he had bid them bring it to him, Exo 32:2, then I cast it into the fire; to melt it, but says nothing of the mould the melted gold was poured into: and there came out this calf; he speaks of it as if the gold became in the form of a calf without any design, or without using any methods to put it in this form; but that it was a matter of chance, or rather something preternatural and miraculous; he speaks of it as if it was alive, and came out of itself: and indeed the Jews represent it as done by magic art, and by the operation of Satan, and speak of it as coming out alive, bellowing and dancing; and the Targum of Jonathan is,"and I cast it into the fire, and Satan entered into the midst of it, and out of it came the likeness of this calf.''Aaron says not a word of his fashioning it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf; but Moses learned this elsewhere, and has recorded it. What Moses thought of this apology is not said; it could not be satisfactory to him: and it is certain the conduct of Aaron in this affair was displeasing to God; and it seemed as if he would have destroyed him, had not Moses prayed for him, Deu 9:20.