And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
- BSB Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to 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 lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
- Judg 17:3–4And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
- Isa 40:19–20The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
- Jer 10:9Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
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.