Exodus 32:3

Verse

Berean Standard Bible

Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

American Standard Version (1901)

And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

Bible in Basic English

And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the earrings to Aaron.

Free Bible Version

So everyone took off the gold earrings they were wearing and brought them to Aaron.

Geneva Bible 1599

Then all ye people pluckt from them selues the golden earings, which were in their eares, and they brought them vnto Aaron.

King James (Authorized) Version

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

One Unity Resource Bible

All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron [Light-bringer].

Translation for Translators

So the people did that. They took off all their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

Unlocked Literal Bible

All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.

Noah Webster Bible

And all the people broke off the golden ear-rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

World English Bible

All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

Young's Literal Translation

and all the people themselves break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,

Context

The Golden Calf

²So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”³Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.⁴He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

Summary

In Exodus 32:3, the Israelites, in the absence of Moses, turned to idolatry by creating a golden calf to worship. This act of disobedience and unfaithfulness reveals their lack of trust in God and His appointed leader. It serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of succumbing to temptation and abandoning the true worship of the Lord. The incident highlights the consequences of straying from God's commandments and the importance of remaining steadfast in faith even in challenging times. Ultimately, it underscores the need for wholehearted devotion to God and His ways to avoid falling into sin.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

And all the people brake off the golden ear-rings - The human being is naturally fond of dress, though this has been improperly attributed to the female sex alone, and those are most fond of it who have the shallowest capacities; but on this occasion the bent of the people to idolatry was greater than even their love of dress, so that they readily stripped themselves of their ornaments in order to get a molten god. They made some compensation for this afterwards; see Exo 36:22, and See Clarke's note on Exo 38:9.

John Gill Bible Commentary

And he received them at their hand,.... For the use they delivered them to him: and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf; that is, after he had melted the gold, and cast it into a mould, which gave it the figure of a calf, and with his tool wrought it into a more agreeable form, he took off the roughness of it, and polished it; or if it was in imitation of the Egyptian Apis or Osiris, he might with his graving tool engrave such marks and figures as were upon that; to cause the greater resemblance, so Selden (y) thinks; see Gill on Jer 46:20 or else the sense may be, that he drew the figure of a calf with his tool, or made it in "a mould" (z), into which he poured in the melted gold: and made it a molten calf; the Targum of Jonathan gives another sense of the former clause, "he bound it up in a napkin"; in a linen cloth or bag, i.e. the gold of the ear rings, and then put it into the melting pot, and so cast it into a mould, and made a calf of it. Jarchi takes notice of this sense, and it is espoused by Bochart (a), who produces two passages of Scripture for the confirmation of it, Jdg 8:24 and illustrates it by Isa 46:6. What inclined Aaron to make it in the form of a calf, is not easy to say; whether in imitation of the cherubim, one of the faces of which was that of an ox, as Moncaeus thought; or whether in imitation of the Osiris of the Egyptians, who was worshipped in a living ox, and sometimes in the image of one, even a golden one. Plutarch is express for it, and says (b), that the ox was an image of Osiris, and that it was a golden one; and so says Philo the Jew (c), the Israelites, emulous of Egyptian figments, made a golden ox; or whether he did this to make them ashamed of their idolatry, thinking they would never be guilty of worshipping the form of an ox eating grass, or because an ox was an emblem of power and majesty: and they said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt; they own they were, brought up out of that land by the divine Being; and they could not be so stupid as to believe, that this calf, which was only a mass of gold, figured and decorated, was inanimate, had no life nor breath, and was just made, after their coming out of Egypt, was what brought them from hence; but that this was a representation of God, who had done this for them; yet some Jewish writers are so foolish as to suppose, that through art it had the breath of life in it, and came out of the mould a living calf, Satan, or Samael, entering into it, and lowed in it (d). (y) De Diis Syris Syntagm. 1. c. 4. p. 138. (z) "formavit illud modulo", Piscator; so some in Ben Melech, and in Vatablus; and so the Vulgate Latin, "formant opere fusorio"; see Fagius in loc. (a) Hierozoic. p. 1. l. 2. c. 39. col. 334, 335. (b) De Isid. & Osir. (c) De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 677. (d) Pirke Eliezer, c. 45.

Exodus 32:3

The Golden Calf

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

American Standard Version (1901)

And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

Bible in Basic English

And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the earrings to Aaron.

Free Bible Version

So everyone took off the gold earrings they were wearing and brought them to Aaron.

Geneva Bible 1599

Then all ye people pluckt from them selues the golden earings, which were in their eares, and they brought them vnto Aaron.

King James (Authorized) Version

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

One Unity Resource Bible

All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron [Light-bringer].

Translation for Translators

So the people did that. They took off all their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

Unlocked Literal Bible

All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.

Noah Webster Bible

And all the people broke off the golden ear-rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

World English Bible

All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

Young's Literal Translation

and all the people themselves break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Exodus 32:3

Verse

Context

The Golden Calf

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Exodus 32:3

The Golden Calf

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary