Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
Parallel translations
- KJV And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
- BSB “What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
- NKJV And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
- NASB Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?”
- NLT Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”
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
Moses confronts Aaron, asking how the people led him into such a great sin. He holds Aaron accountable for his leadership failure.
Overview
As Israel's appointed priest and Moses' deputy, Aaron bore special responsibility for guarding the people from idolatry. Moses' question presses the issue of leadership and culpability. The confrontation shows that those in spiritual authority are gravely accountable for how they shepherd God's people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 20:9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!”
- Josh 7:19–26Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please give glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done! Don’t hide it from me!”
- 2 Kgs 21:9–11But they didn’t listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel.
- 1 Kgs 14:16He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
- 1 Kgs 21:22I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin.”
- Deut 13:6–8If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
- Gen 26:10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
- 1 Sam 26:19Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so that Yahweh has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, they are cursed before Yahweh; for they have driven me out today that I shouldn’t cling to Yahweh’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’
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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 32:21 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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