“Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are.
Parallel translations
- WEB Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
- KJV And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
- BSB “Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.
- NKJV So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
- NASB And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil.
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
Aaron deflects blame, urging Moses not to be angry and pointing to the people's evil bent. He minimizes his own responsibility.
Overview
Aaron's response shifts fault onto the people's well-known sinfulness rather than owning his role. While his observation about the people is true, it functions as an excuse. The verse illustrates the human instinct, since Eden, to evade responsibility for sin rather than confess it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 9:24You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you.
- Exod 15:24The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
- 1 Sam 15:24Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
- Prov 4:16For they don’t sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.
- Ps 36:4He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
- Exod 16:20Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them.
- Exod 14:11They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt?
- Deut 9:7Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh.
- Exod 16:2–4The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;
- Exod 17:2–4Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”
- Exod 16:28Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
- Deut 31:27For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. How much more after my death?
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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 32:22 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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