So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
Parallel translations
- WEB As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
- KJV And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
- BSB As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- NASB And it came about, as soon as Moses approached the camp, that he saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
- NLT When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Seeing the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burns and he shatters the tablets. The broken tablets dramatize Israel's broken covenant.
Overview
Moses' righteous anger mirrors God's own, and breaking the tablets visibly enacts the covenant Israel has already shattered through idolatry. This is not a loss of self-control but a fitting symbol of judgment. The need for the covenant to be renewed later (Exodus 34) points to humanity's inability to keep God's law and the need for a better covenant in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Deut 9:16–17I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly out of the way which Yahweh had commanded you.
- Exod 32:4–6He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
- Exod 32:11Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
- Exod 15:20Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances.
- Jer 31:32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.
- Deut 27:26‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
- 2 Sam 6:14David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was clothed in a linen ephod.
- Lam 5:15The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.
- Zech 11:10–11I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
- Zech 11:14Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
- Mark 10:14But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.
- Mark 3:5When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
- Eph 4:26“Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,
- Num 12:3Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth.
- Matt 5:22But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 32:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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