✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Êxodo 32

BLIVRE · Chapter 32/40

1Mas vendo o povo que Moisés tardava em descer do monte, achegou-se então a Arão, e disseram-lhe: Levanta-te, faze-nos deuses que vão adiante de nós; porque a este Moisés, aquele homem que tirou da terra do Egito, não sabemos o que lhe aconteceu.

2E Arão lhes disse: Separai os pendentes de ouro que estão nas orelhas de vossas mulheres, e de vossos filhos, e de vossas filhas, e trazei-os a mim.

3Então todo o povo separou os pendentes de ouro que tinham em suas orelhas, e trouxeram-nos a Arão:

4O qual os tomou das mãos deles, e formou-o com buril, e fez disso um bezerro de fundição. Então disseram: Israel, estes são teus deuses, que te tiraram da terra do Egito.

5E vendo isto Arão, edificou um altar diante do bezerro; e apregoou Arão, e disse: Amanhã será festa ao SENHOR.

6E no dia seguinte madrugaram, e ofereceram holocaustos, e apresentaram pacíficos: e sentou-se o povo a comer e a beber, e levantaram-se a regozijar-se.

7Então o SENHOR disse a Moisés: Anda, desce, porque teu povo que tiraste da terra do Egito se corrompeu:

8Logo se apartaram do caminho que eu lhes mandei, e se fizeram um bezerro de fundição, e o adoraram, e sacrificaram a ele, e disseram: Israel, estes são teus deuses, que te tiraram da terra do Egito.

9Disse mais o SENHOR a Moisés: Eu vi a este povo, que por certo é povo de dura cerviz:

10Agora, pois, deixa-me que se acenda meu furor neles, e os consuma: e a ti eu porei sobre grande gente.

11Então Moisés orou à face do SENHOR seu Deus, e disse: Ó SENHOR, por que se acenderá teu furor em teu povo, que tu tiraste da terra do Egito com grande força, e com mão forte?

12Por que hão de falar os egípcios, dizendo: Para o mal os tirou, para matá-los nos montes, e para exterminá-los de sobre a face da terra? Volta-te do furor de tua ira, e arrepende-te do mal de teu povo.

13Lembra-te de Abraão, de Isaque, e de Israel teus servos, aos quais juraste por ti mesmo, e disse-lhes: Eu multiplicarei vossa semente como as estrelas do céu; e darei a vossa semente toda esta terra que disse, e a tomarão por herança para sempre.

14Então o SENHOR se arrependeu do mal que disse que havia de fazer a seu povo.

15E virou-se Moisés, e desceu do monte trazendo em sua mão as duas tábuas do testemunho, as tábuas escritas por ambos os lados; de uma parte e de outra estavam escritas.

16E as tábuas eram obra de Deus, e a escritura era escritura de Deus gravada sobre as tábuas.

17E ouvindo Josué o clamor do povo que gritava, disse a Moisés: Barulho de batalha há no campo.

18E ele respondeu: Não é eco de gritos de vitória de fortes, nem eco de gritos de fracos: eu ouço barulho de cantorias.

19E aconteceu, que quando chegou ele ao acampamento, e viu o bezerro e as danças, acendeu-se a ira a Moisés, e lançou as tábuas de suas mãos, e quebrou-as ao pé do monte.

20E tomou o bezerro que fizeram, e queimou-o no fogo, e moeu-o até reduzi-lo a pó, que espalhou sobre as águas, e deu-o a beber aos filhos de Israel.

21E disse Moisés a Arão: Que te fez este povo, que trouxeste sobre ele tão grande pecado?

22E respondeu Arão: Não se ire meu senhor; tu conheces o povo, que é inclinado ao mal.

23Porque me disseram: Faze-nos deuses que vão adiante de nós, que a este Moisés, o homem que tirou da terra do Egito, não sabemos o que lhe aconteceu.

24E eu lhes respondi: Quem tem ouro? Separai-o. E o deram a mim, e lancei-o no fogo, e saiu este bezerro.

25E vendo Moisés que o povo estava descontrolado, porque Arão o havia deixado se descontrolarem para vergonha entre seus inimigos,

26Pôs-se Moisés à porta do acampamento, e disse: Quem é do SENHOR? junte-se comigo. E juntaram-se com ele todos os filhos de Levi.

27E ele lhes disse: Assim disse o SENHOR, o Deus de Israel: Ponde cada um sua espada sobre sua coxa: passai e voltai de porta em porta pelo acampamento, e matai cada um a seu irmão, e a seu amigo, e a seu parente.

28E os filhos de Levi o fizeram conforme o dito de Moisés: e caíram do povo naquele dia como três mil homens.

29Então Moisés disse: Hoje vos consagrastes ao SENHOR, porque cada um se consagrou em seu filho, e em seu irmão, para que dê ele hoje bênção sobre vós.

30E aconteceu que no dia seguinte disse Moisés ao povo: Vós cometestes um grande pecado: mas eu subirei agora ao SENHOR; talvez lhe consiga apaziguar o furor acerca de vosso pecado.

31Então voltou Moisés ao SENHOR, e disse: Rogo-te, pois este povo cometeu um grande pecado, porque fizeram para si deuses de ouro,

32Que perdoes agora seu pecado, e se não, apaga-me agora de teu livro que escreveste.

33E o SENHOR respondeu a Moisés: Ao que pecar contra mim, a este apagarei eu de meu livro.

34Vai, pois, agora, leva a este povo aonde te disse: eis que meu anjo irá diante de ti; que no dia de minha visitação eu visitarei neles seu pecado.

35E o SENHOR feriu ao povo, porque fizeram o bezerro que formou Arão.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

While Moses is on the mountain, the people pressure Aaron into making a golden calf to worship; God's anger burns and he threatens to destroy the people, but Moses intercedes; coming down, Moses breaks the tablets of the Law and severely punishes the idolatry.

Explanation

This is one of the most dramatic and theologically significant chapters in the book: while Moses was receiving the Law on the mountain, the people, impatient and anxious over his prolonged absence, quickly turn to idolatry, asking Aaron to fashion a visible, tangible god — a clear violation of the first and second commandments just given. Moses' courageous intercession in the face of God's justified anger, reminding him of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is one of the most powerful examples of intercession in all of Scripture, showing how a person can literally 'appeal to God's own character' in prayer to plead for mercy. Moses' breaking of the tablets, though an act of understandable human anger, visually symbolizes the breaking of the very covenant the people had just made. The punishment that followed, though severe, distinguishes between those who turned wholly to evil and those who repented, showing that even amid judgment, God's justice seeks purification, not total and arbitrary destruction.

Fun facts

  • Moses' plea to God, 'blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book' (v. 32), should he not forgive the people, is one of the most radical expressions of sacrificial intercession in all of Scripture, showing Moses' willingness to personally bear the consequences for the sake of the people he led.
  • The golden calf likely reflected the influence of Egyptian idolatry, where bulls and calves were associated with deities such as Apis, showing how, despite decades away from Egypt, cultural and religious remnants of that land still deeply shaped the mindset of the newly freed people.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 32:1With Moses gone for weeks on the mountain, the people feared they had been left without leadership and without visible divine protection. Asking for a god who could “go before us” reflected a common custom among ancient peoples—having a physical image represent the deity guiding them, something Israel’s own God had already forbidden in the Ten Commandments.
  2. Êxodo 32:2Aaron asks the people to hand over the gold earrings belonging to their own families, perhaps hoping that sacrificing personal jewelry would cool their demand, but the people hand them over without hesitation.
  3. Êxodo 32:3The people comply without reluctance, handing over their gold earrings en masse for the idol they had asked Aaron to make.
  4. Êxodo 32:4The calf was a common symbol of strength and fertility in several religions of Egypt and Canaan, which likely inspired this choice of image. It’s notable that the text uses the plural “gods”—the KJV reads, “These be thy gods, O Israel”—even for a single statue, probably reflecting an ancient way of speaking about God.
  5. Êxodo 32:5With the calf finished, Aaron builds an altar and announces a feast “to the Lord”—the KJV has him proclaim, “To morrow is a feast to the Lord”—a strange attempt to blend idolatry with the name of the true God Himself.
  6. Êxodo 32:6The next day’s celebration combines formal sacrifices with feasting, drinking, and revelry—behavior that suggests a fertility ritual typical of the neighboring religions.
  7. Êxodo 32:7God interrupts the conversation on the mountain to warn Moses about what is happening below, calling the people “thy people”—the KJV has Him say, “for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves”—a deliberate rhetorical distancing.
  8. Êxodo 32:8God describes precisely what the people did: they quickly abandoned the commandment against idols and credited the calf with their deliverance from Egypt.
  9. Êxodo 32:9God sums up the problem in a single expression: the people are stubborn, or “stiffnecked,” as the KJV puts it—the image of someone who resists bending and being guided.
  10. Êxodo 32:10This is a moment of dramatic tension in the narrative: God proposes destroying the rebellious people and starting over through Moses, just as He once did through Abraham. It is Moses’s next words, defending the people, that change the course of the story.
  11. Êxodo 32:11Moses intercedes immediately, questioning why God’s anger would turn against the very people He had just freed with such great power.
  12. Êxodo 32:12Moses argues with practical reasoning: destroying the people now would give the Egyptians grounds to say that God brought them out of Egypt only to kill them in the wilderness.
  13. Êxodo 32:13Moses appeals to the ancient promise made to the patriarchs, reminding God of His own oath to multiply their descendants and give them the promised land.
  14. Êxodo 32:14This “repentance” of God, following Moses’s plea, is one of the most debated verses in the Old Testament regarding how to understand the relationship between God’s will and human pleading. Scholars don’t fully agree on how to interpret this change—whether it’s a new decision or a human way of narrating something already part of the plan.
  15. Êxodo 32:15Moses comes down from the mountain carrying the tablets of the law, written on both sides, not yet imagining the scene he was about to find.
  16. Êxodo 32:16It emphasizes that both the tablets and the writing on them were God’s direct work, making what Moses is about to do with them even more serious.
  17. Êxodo 32:17Joshua, who had been waiting for Moses on a lower part of the mountain, interprets the noise coming from the camp as the sound of battle.
  18. Êxodo 32:18Moses corrects Joshua’s interpretation: that sound is neither victory nor military defeat, but a noisy celebration, which is confirmed as soon as they draw near.
  19. Êxodo 32:19Seeing the calf and the feast with his own eyes, Moses reacts with such anger that he breaks the sacred tablets right at the foot of the mountain, even before confronting the people.
  20. Êxodo 32:20After destroying the idol, Moses ground the metal to fine powder and mixed it into the water the people drank. It’s a drastic way of showing, in practice, that this “god” was nothing but ordinary metal—the people literally swallowed the remains of what they had worshiped.
  21. Êxodo 32:21Moses confronts Aaron directly, asking what the people had done to deserve him leading them into such a grave sin in his absence.
  22. Êxodo 32:22Aaron tries to defend himself by blaming the people’s own tendency toward evil, minimizing his own role in making the idol.
  23. Êxodo 32:23Aaron repeats the people’s original request almost word for word, trying to justify his action as a response to pressure he couldn’t resist.
  24. Êxodo 32:24In Aaron’s version, the calf practically formed itself after he threw the gold into the fire—an explanation that omits the active work of shaping it already described earlier.
  25. Êxodo 32:25Moses realizes the people are out of control, shamefully exposed before possible enemies—a direct consequence of Aaron’s failed leadership at that moment.
  26. Êxodo 32:26Moses makes a public appeal at the entrance of the camp, and only the tribe of Levi joins him, showing that not everyone had taken part equally in the idolatry.
  27. Êxodo 32:27This is one of the harshest passages in the book of Exodus: an order for violent, immediate punishment against those who took part in the calf’s idolatry, carried out by the Levites themselves among their own people. The text neither softens nor morally justifies the episode—it simply records what happened.
  28. Êxodo 32:28The Levites carry out Moses’s harsh order, and about three thousand people die that day as a direct consequence of the calf’s idolatry.
  29. Êxodo 32:29Moses explains that acting against their own relatives in that specific moment was an act that consecrated the Levites to God’s service, placed above family ties.
  30. Êxodo 32:30The next day, Moses publicly acknowledges the gravity of the sin committed and decides to go back up the mountain to try to intercede for the people’s forgiveness.
  31. Êxodo 32:31Moses speaks with God again, admitting bluntly the gravity of what happened: the people made gods of gold for themselves.
  32. Êxodo 32:32Moses asks God that, if He will not forgive the people, He blot him out too—from a “book” the Bible mentions a few times (the KJV has Moses say, “blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book”), associated with the record of those who belong to God’s living people. It’s a gesture of extreme intercession: Moses would rather share the people’s fate than be saved alone.
  33. Êxodo 32:33God answers that responsibility for the sin falls on whoever actually sinned, and Moses is not required to share the same punishment for interceding.
  34. Êxodo 32:34God allows the journey to continue, with an angel guiding the people, but warns that the punishment for the sin does not disappear completely—it is only postponed to a future moment.
  35. Êxodo 32:35The chapter closes by confirming that God sent a plague on the people, an additional consequence beyond the one already caused by the Levites, directly tied to the calf’s idolatry.

Chapters

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play