Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
- KJV And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
- NKJV So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
- NASB So all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
- NLT All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.
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
All the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. The people eagerly gave their treasure to make an idol.
Overview
The people's ready surrender of their gold shows their wholehearted pursuit of false worship. The same kind of generosity that should have adorned God's sanctuary was poured into idolatry. This reveals how misdirected devotion turns good gifts toward sin, and why hearts must be redirected to God through Christ (Matthew 6:21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Isa 46:6They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
- Judg 17:3–4And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”
- Isa 40:19–20To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Jer 10:9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
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 32:3 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.