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Matthew Henry on Exodus 31:18
The law was written in tables of stone, to show how lasting it is: to denote likewise the hardness of our hearts; one might more easily write on stone, than write any thing good on our corrupt natural hearts. It was wri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 31:18
When he had made an end of communing. Literally, "when he had finished speaking." Two tables. Rather, "the two tables"—i.e; the tables promised when he went up into the mount (Exodus 24:12). Of stone. Stone was the ordi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 31:18
EXPOSITION THE TABLES OF TESTIMONY. It had been assumed, in the directions given for the construction of the ark, that God would give, in some material form, a document to be called "the testimony," which was to be laid…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 31:18
The Tables of Testimony were in many respects like the document impressed upon them. For instance, they were— I. OF STONE, AND THEREFORE ENDURING AND WELL NIGH IMPERISHABLE. Few things are more enduring than some kinds…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 32:1-6
While Moses was in the mount, receiving the law from God, the people made a tumultuous address to Aaron. This giddy multitude were weary of waiting for the return of Moses. Weariness in waiting betrays to many temptatio…
The Golden Calf. (b. c. 1491.)
THE GOLDEN CALF. (B. C. 1491.) While Moses was in the mount, receiving the law from God, the people had time to meditate upon what had been delivered, and prepare themselves for what was further to be revealed, and fort…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:1-6
The Golden Calf. I. THE PEOPLE'S REQUEST TO AARON. 1. The cause of the request. There are really two causes to be considered here, first, a cause of which they were conscious, and then, secondly, a deeper cause of which…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:1
The people saw that Moses delayed to come down. He had been absent, probably, above a month. It was the first day of their worship when he descended; and a week would suffice for the collection of the ornaments, the for…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:1-6
EXPOSITION THE IDOLATRY OF THE GOLDEN CALF. During the absence of Moses in Mount Sinai, an absence of nearly six weeks, the Israelites grew impatient, and regarding their leader as lost to them, and the Divine Presence…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:1-6
The hankering after idols, and its consequences. There is a war ever going on in human nature between the flesh and the spirit (Romans 7:23; Romans 8:1-13). The two are "contrary the one to the other." From the time of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:1-7
The sin of the golden calf. Disastrous effects followed in the camp of Israel on the withdrawal of Moses' to the mount. Moved as by a common impulse, the people "gathered themselves together," and demanded of Aaron that…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:2
Break off. "Take off" would perhaps be a better translation. The ear-rings would not require any breaking. They were penannular, and could be removed by a smart pull. Your wives, your sons, and your daughters. See the c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:3
All the people broke off the golden ear-rings. Thus, as is supposed, disappointing Aaron, who had counted on the refusal of the women to part with their finery, and the reluctance of the men to compel them. Had ear-ring…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:4
And fashioned it with a graving tool. Rather, "and bound it (the gold) in a bag." Compare 2 Kings 5:23, where the same two Hebrew words occur in the same sense. It is impossible to extract from the original the sense gi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:5
He built an altar before it. Aaron thus proceeded to "follow a multitude to evil" (Exodus 23:2), and encouraged the idolatry which he felt himself powerless to restrain. Still, he did not intend that the people should d…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:6
They rose up early on the morrow. The people were like a child with a new toy. They could scarcely sleep for thinking of it. So, as soon as it was day, they left their beds, and hastened to begin the new worship Burnt o…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 32:7-14
God says to Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust. They had turned aside out o…
The Intercession of Moses. (b. c. 1491.)
THE INTERCESSION OF MOSES. (B. C. 1491.) Here, I. God acquaints Moses with what was doing in the camp while he was absent, Exodus 32:7-8. He could have told him sooner, as soon as the first step was taken towards it, an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:7-14
The wrath of Jehovah and the intercession of Moses. I. JEHOVAH DESCRIBES TO MOSES THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL. Jehovah is omniscient; even while spreading before Moses, with all elaboration, the patterns in the mount, his al…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:7-11
The first intercessions. If Israel has been forgetting God, God has not been forgetting Israel. His eye has been on all their doings. There has not been a thought in their heart, or a word on their tongue, but, lo! it h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:7-14
EXPOSITION THE INTERCESSION OF MOSES. Moses, in Sinai, was so far removed from the camp, and the cloud so shut out his vision of it, that he had neither seen nor heard anything unusual, and was wholly ignorant of what h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:7
Go, descend—i.e; "make haste to descend—do not tarry—there is need of thy immediate presence." Thy people, which thou broughtest, etc. Words calculated to awaken the tenderness between which and self-love the coming str…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:7-10
The anger of God. God may well be angry when his people apostatise; and having recently professed entire submission to his will (Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:3), rebel suddenly, and cast his words behind their backs. God's an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:8
They have turned aside quickly. A few weeks have sufficed to make them forget their solemn pledges (Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:3), and fly in the face of a plain unmistakable commandment. A molten calf. In the contemptuous…