So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, 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.
- BSB Then all the people took off their gold earrings 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 46:6Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down — yes, they worship.
- Judg 17:3–4He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, then his mother said, “I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.”
- Isa 40:19–20A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
- Jer 10:9There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; they are all the work of skillful 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
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