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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:22-24
Aaron's excuses. We are all ready enough to condemn Aaron for his insincere and shifty answer; but do not the apostle's words occur to any of us?—"Therefore, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:23
Make us gods. Rather "Make us a god."
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:24
There came out this calf. Aaron speaks as if he had prepared no mould, but simply thrown the gold into the hot furnace, from which there issued forth, to his surprise, the golden calf. This was not only a suppressio ver…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:25-30
The zeal of Levi. Panic was in the camp. The idolaters stood as they had been taken in their guilty revels. Their sin had been of too heinous a nature to admit of its being passed over without severe punishment. Law mus…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:25-29
EXPOSITION MOSES PUNISHES THE RINGLEADERS. The presence of Moses in the camp—his impressive act in breaking the tables—even his seizure of the idol and consignment of it to destruction—did not arrest the licentious orgy…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:25
The people were naked. It has been suggested that "licentious" or "unruly" would be a better rendering (Gesenius, Dathe, Rosenmuller, Kalisch, Cook), but the primary sense of pharua is "naked," "stript;" and of the lice…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:26
Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. The following points suggest a practical treatment of the passage— I. IN THE WARFARE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, THERE IS NEED FOR TAKING SIDES. Some side we must take. We can…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:26
Moses stood in the gate of the camp. We must understand "the principal gate," since the camp had several (Exodus 32:27) Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come to me. Literally, "Who for Jehovah? To me"—but expressed, a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:26-28
The punishment of idolatry. God did not long allow the sin against his majesty to remain unpunished. He declared his will to Moses (Exodus 32:27)—"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel"—and Moses, with his usual dutifulness…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:27
Go in and out from gate to gate, etc.,—i.e; "pass through the whole camp—visit every part of it—and, where you see the licentious rites continuing, use your swords—do not spare, though the man be a brother, or a compani…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:28
About three thousand. We cannot gather from this, as some have done, that the Levites who rallied to Moses were only 3,000—for every Levite was not obliged to kill a man—but only that, when this number was slain, the id…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:29
For Moses had said. Moses, on giving them their commission (Exodus 32:27), had told them, that their zeal in the matter would he a consecration, and would secure them God's blessing. They earned by it the semi-priestly…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:30-35
EXPOSITION MOSES ONCE MORE INTERCEDES WITH GOD FOR THE PEOPLE—GOD ANSWERS HIM. No distinct reply seems to have been given to the previous intercession of Moses (Exodus 32:11-13). He only knew that the people were not as…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:30
On the morrow. The day must have been well-nigh over when the slaughter of the 3000 was completed: and after that the corpses had to be buried, the signs of carnage to be effaced, and the wounded, of whom there must hav…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:30-34
Moses as the forerunner of Christ. "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me," said the great lawgiver, ere he left the earth (Deuteronomy 17:15, Deuteronomy 17:18); and the parallelism between C…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:30-35
The second intercession. This second intercession of Moses is even more wonderful than the first. The question raised on that former occasion—Is Moses more merciful than God?—will, indeed, no longer occur. Those who mig…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:31
Gods of gold. Rather "a god of gold."
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:32
If thou wilt forgive their sin. The ellipsis which follows, is to be supplied by some such words, as "well and good"—"I am content"—"I have no more to say." Similar eases of ellipses will be found in Danial Exodus 3:5;…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:33
Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Beyond a doubt, it is the general teaching of Scripture that vicarious punishment will not be accepted. "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the fathe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:34
Lead the people unto the place, etc. This was a revocation of the sentence of death passed in Exodus 32:10. The people was to be spared, and Moses was to conduct them to Palestine. Mine Angel shall go before thee. Mine…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 32:35
The Lord plagued, or "struck"—i.e; "punished" the people. There is nothing in the expression which requires us to understand the sending of a pestilence. HOMILETICS
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 33:1
The Lord said unto Moses. In continuation of what he had said in Exodus 32:33, Exodus 32:34, but possibly at another time; and with the object of fully explaining what had been meant in Exodus 32:34. The land which I sw…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 33:1-6
The hiding of God's face from man. When God hides away his face from his people, it may be— I. AS A JUDGMENT. It was as a judgment that God separated between himself and man after the Fall, and "drove man forth" from th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 33:1-6
EXPOSITION THE THREAT OF GOD'S WITHDRAWAL, AND THE HUMILIATION OF THE PEOPLE. The intercession of Moses, and his offer to sacrifice himself for his people had obtained from God some great concessions, viz.— 1. That the…