Antiguo Testamento

Exodus — Capítulo 32

THE GOLDEN CALF. (Exo. 32:1-35) when the people saw that Moses delayed--They supposed that he had lost his way in the darkness or perished in the fire. the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron--rather, "agai…

Versión

Texto — Reina-Valera 1960

1Viendo el pueblo que Moisés tardaba en descender del monte, se acercaron entonces a Aarón, y le dijeron: Levántate, haznos dioses que vayan delante de nosotros; porque a este Moisés, el varón que nos sacó de la tierra de Egipto, no sabemos qué le haya acontecido.

2Y Aarón les dijo: Apartad los zarcillos de oro que están en las orejas de vuestras mujeres, de vuestros hijos y de vuestras hijas, y traédmelos.

3Entonces todo el pueblo apartó los zarcillos de oro que tenían en sus orejas, y los trajeron a Aarón;

4y él los tomó de las manos de ellos, y le dio forma con buril, e hizo de ello un becerro de fundición. Entonces dijeron: Israel, estos son tus dioses, que te sacaron de la tierra de Egipto.

5Y viendo esto Aarón, edificó un altar delante del becerro; y pregonó Aarón, y dijo: Mañana será fiesta para Jehová.

6Y al día siguiente madrugaron, y ofrecieron holocaustos, y presentaron ofrendas de paz; y se sentó el pueblo a comer y a beber, y se levantó a regocijarse.

7Entonces Jehová dijo a Moisés: Anda, desciende, porque tu pueblo que sacaste de la tierra de Egipto se ha corrompido.

8Pronto se han apartado del camino que yo les mandé; se han hecho un becerro de fundición, y lo han adorado, y le han ofrecido sacrificios, y han dicho: Israel, estos son tus dioses, que te sacaron de la tierra de Egipto.

9Dijo más Jehová a Moisés: Yo he visto a este pueblo, que por cierto es pueblo de dura cerviz.

10Ahora, pues, déjame que se encienda mi ira en ellos, y los consuma; y de ti yo haré una nación grande.

11Entonces Moisés oró en presencia de Jehová su Dios, y dijo: Oh Jehová, ¿por qué se encenderá tu furor contra tu pueblo, que tú sacaste de la tierra de Egipto con gran poder y con mano fuerte?

12¿Por qué han de hablar los egipcios, diciendo: Para mal los sacó, para matarlos en los montes, y para raerlos de sobre la faz de la tierra? Vuélvete del ardor de tu ira, y arrepiéntete de este mal contra tu pueblo.

13Acuérdate de Abraham, de Isaac y de Israel tus siervos, a los cuales has jurado por ti mismo, y les has dicho: Yo multiplicaré vuestra descendencia como las estrellas del cielo; y daré a vuestra descendencia toda esta tierra de que he hablado, y la tomarán por heredad para siempre.

14Entonces Jehová se arrepintió del mal que dijo que había de hacer a su pueblo.

15Y volvió Moisés y descendió del monte, trayendo en su mano las dos tablas del testimonio, las tablas escritas por ambos lados; de uno y otro lado estaban escritas.

16Y las tablas eran obra de Dios, y la escritura era escritura de Dios grabada sobre las tablas.

17Cuando oyó Josué el clamor del pueblo que gritaba, dijo a Moisés: Alarido de pelea hay en el campamento.

18Y él respondió: No es voz de alaridos de fuertes, ni voz de alaridos de débiles; voz de cantar oigo yo.

19Y aconteció que cuando él llegó al campamento, y vio el becerro y las danzas, ardió la ira de Moisés, y arrojó las tablas de sus manos, y las quebró al pie del monte.

20Y tomó el becerro que habían hecho, y lo quemó en el fuego, y lo molió hasta reducirlo a polvo, que esparció sobre las aguas, y lo dio a beber a los hijos de Israel.

21Y dijo Moisés a Aarón: ¿Qué te ha hecho este pueblo, que has traído sobre él tan gran pecado?

22Y respondió Aarón: No se enoje mi señor; tú conoces al pueblo, que es inclinado a mal.

23Porque me dijeron: Haznos dioses que vayan delante de nosotros; porque a este Moisés, el varón que nos sacó de la tierra de Egipto, no sabemos qué le haya acontecido.

24Y yo les respondí: ¿Quién tiene oro? Apartadlo. Y me lo dieron, y lo eché en el fuego, y salió este becerro.

25Y viendo Moisés que el pueblo estaba desenfrenado, porque Aarón lo había permitido, para vergüenza entre sus enemigos,

26se puso Moisés a la puerta del campamento, y dijo: ¿Quién está por Jehová? Júntese conmigo. Y se juntaron con él todos los hijos de Leví.

27Y él les dijo: Así ha dicho Jehová, el Dios de Israel: Poned cada uno su espada sobre su muslo; pasad y volved de puerta a puerta por el campamento, y matad cada uno a su hermano, y a su amigo, y a su pariente.

28Y los hijos de Leví lo hicieron conforme al dicho de Moisés; y cayeron del pueblo en aquel día como tres mil hombres.

29Entonces Moisés dijo: Hoy os habéis consagrado a Jehová, pues cada uno se ha consagrado en su hijo y en su hermano, para que él dé bendición hoy sobre vosotros.

30Y aconteció que al día siguiente dijo Moisés al pueblo: Vosotros habéis cometido un gran pecado, pero yo subiré ahora a Jehová; quizá le aplacaré acerca de vuestro pecado.

31Entonces volvió Moisés a Jehová, y dijo: Te ruego, pues este pueblo ha cometido un gran pecado, porque se hicieron dioses de oro,

32que perdones ahora su pecado, y si no, ráeme ahora de tu libro que has escrito.

33Y Jehová respondió a Moisés: Al que pecare contra mí, a este raeré yo de mi libro.

34Ve, pues, ahora, lleva a este pueblo a donde te he dicho; he aquí mi ángel irá delante de ti; pero en el día del castigo, yo castigaré en ellos su pecado.

35Y Jehová hirió al pueblo, porque habían hecho el becerro que formó Aarón.

JAMIESON-FAUSSET-BROWN BIBLE COMMENTARY

Versículo 2

I. Aaron said, . . . Break off . . . earrings--It was not an Egyptian custom for young men to wear e…

Aaron said, . . . Break off . . . earrings--It was not an Egyptian custom for young men to wear earrings, and the circumstance, therefore, seems to point out "the mixed rabble," who were chiefly foreign slaves, as the ringleaders in this insurrection. In giving direction to break their earrings, Aaron probably calculated on gaining time; or, perhaps, on their covetousness and love of finery proving stronger than their idolatrous propensity. If such were his expectations, they were doomed to signal disappointment. Better to have calmly and earnestly remonstrated with them, or to have preferred duty to expediency, leaving the issue in the hands of Providence.

Versículo 3

II. all the people brake off the golden earrings--The Egyptian rings, as seen on the monuments, were …

all the people brake off the golden earrings--The Egyptian rings, as seen on the monuments, were round massy plates of metal; and as they were rings of this sort the Israelites wore, their size and number must, in the general collection, have produced a large store of the precious metal.

Versículo 4

III. fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf--The words are transposed, a…

fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf--The words are transposed, and the rendering should be, "he framed with a graving tool the image to be made, and having poured the liquid gold into the mould, he made it a molten calf." It is not said whether it was of life size, whether it was of solid gold or merely a wooden frame covered with plates of gold. This idol seems to have been the god Apis, the chief deity of the Egyptians, worshipped at Memphis under the form of a live ox, three years old. It was distinguished by a triangular white spot on its forehead and other peculiar marks. Images of it in the form of a whole ox, or of a calf's head on the end of a pole, were very common; and it makes a great figure on the monuments where it is represented in the van of all processions, as borne aloft on men's shoulders. they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt--It is inconceivable that they, who but a few weeks before had witnessed such amazing demonstrations of the true God, could have suddenly sunk to such a pitch of infatuation and brutish stupidity, as to imagine that human art or hands could make a god that should go before them. But it must be borne in mind, that though by election and in name they were the people of God, they were as yet, in feelings and associations, in habits and tastes, little, if at all different, from Egyptians. They meant the calf to be an image, a visible sign or symbol of Jehovah, so that their sin consisted not in a breach of the FIRST [Exo 20:3], but of the SECOND commandment [Exo 20:4-6].

Versículo 5

IV. Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord--a remarkable circumstance, s…

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.

Versículo 7

V. the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down--Intelligence of the idolatrous scene enacted at the …

the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down--Intelligence of the idolatrous scene enacted at the foot of the mount was communicated to Moses in language borrowed from human passions and feelings, and the judgment of a justly offended God was pronounced in terms of just indignation against the gross violation of the so recently promulgated laws.

Versículo 10

VI. make of thee a great nation--Care must be taken not to suppose this language as betokening any ch…

make of thee a great nation--Care must be taken not to suppose this language as betokening any change or vacillation in the divine purpose. The covenant made with the patriarchs had been ratified in the most solemn manner; it could not and never was intended that it should be broken. But the manner in which God spoke to Moses served two important purposes--it tended to develop the faith and intercessory patriotism of the Hebrew leader, and to excite the serious alarm of the people, that God would reject them and deprive them of the privileges they had fondly fancied were so secure.

Versículo 15

VII. Moses turned, and went down from the mount--The plain, Er-Raheh, is not visible from the top of J…

Moses turned, and went down from the mount--The plain, Er-Raheh, is not visible from the top of Jebel Musa, nor can the mount be descended on the side towards that valley; hence Moses and his companion, who on duty had patiently waited his return in the hollow of the mountain's brow, heard the shouting some time before they actually saw the camp.

Versículo 19

VIII. Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands--The arrival of the leader, like …

Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands--The arrival of the leader, like the appearance of a specter, arrested the revellers in the midst of their carnival, and his act of righteous indignation when he dashed on the ground the tables of the law, in token that as they had so soon departed from their covenant relation, so God could withdraw the peculiar privileges that He had promised them--that act, together with the rigorous measures that followed, forms one of the most striking scenes recorded in sacred history.

Versículo 20

IX. he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, &c.--It has been supposed that th…

he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, &c.--It has been supposed that the gold was dissolved by natron or some chemical substance. But there is no mention of solubility here, or in Deu 9:21; it was "burned in the fire," to cast it into ingots of suitable size for the operations which follow--"grounded to powder"; the powder of malleable metals can be ground so fine as to resemble dust from the wings of a moth or butterfly; and these dust particles will float in water for hours, and in a running stream for days. These operations of grinding were intended to show contempt for such worthless gods, and the Israelites would be made to remember the humiliating lesson by the state of the water they had drunk for a time [NAPIER]. Others think that as the idolatrous festivals were usually ended with great use of sweet wine, the nauseous draught of the gold dust would be a severe punishment (compare Kg2 23:6, Kg2 23:15; Ch2 15:16; Ch2 34:7).

Versículo 22

X. And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot--Aaron cuts a poor figure, making a shufflin…

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot--Aaron cuts a poor figure, making a shuffling excuse and betraying more dread of the anger of Moses than of the Lord (compare Deu 9:20).

Versículo 25

XI. naked--either unarmed and defenseless, or ashamed from a sense of guilt. Some think they were lit…

naked--either unarmed and defenseless, or ashamed from a sense of guilt. Some think they were literally naked, as the Egyptians performed some of their rites in that indecent manner.

Versículo 26

XII. Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said--The camp is supposed to have been protected by a r…

Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said--The camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart after the attack of the Amalekites. Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me--The zeal and courage of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed an intoxicated mob. The people were separated into two divisions, and those who were the boldest and most obstinate in vindicating their idolatry were put to death, while the rest, who withdrew in shame or sorrow, were spared.

Versículo 29

XIII. Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord--or, "Ye have consecrated yourselves to-day." The Levite…

Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord--or, "Ye have consecrated yourselves to-day." The Levites, notwithstanding the dejection of Aaron, distinguished themselves by their zeal for the honor of God and their conduct in doing the office of executioners on this occasion; and this was one reason that they were appointed to a high and honorable office in the service of the sanctuary.

Versículo 30

XIV. Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin--Moses labored to show the people the hein…

Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin--Moses labored to show the people the heinous nature of their sin, and to bring them to repentance. But not content with that, he hastened more earnestly to intercede for them.

Versículo 32

XV. blot me . . . out of thy book--an allusion to the registering of the living, and erasing the name…

blot me . . . out of thy book--an allusion to the registering of the living, and erasing the names of those who die. What warmth of affection did he evince for his brethren! How fully was he animated with the true spirit of a patriot, when he professed his willingness to die for them. But Christ actually died for His people (Rom 5:8).

Versículo 35

16. the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf--No immediate judgments were inflicted, b…

the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf--No immediate judgments were inflicted, but this early lapse into idolatry was always mentioned as an aggravation of their subsequent apostasies. Next: Exodus Chapter 33

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