Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, when they had made themselves a molten calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies;
- BSB Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,
- NKJV “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, And said, ‘This is your god That brought you up out of Egypt,’ And worked great provocations,
- NASB “Even when they made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,
- NLT even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.
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
Even when they made the golden calf and blasphemed, God did not abandon them. It matters because it shows the depth of Israel's sin against the height of God's mercy.
Overview
The prayer names the golden calf, a flagrant breach of the covenant just made at Sinai, calling it 'awful blasphemies.' Israel exchanged the true God for an idol at the very moment of their deliverance. Yet God's mercy persisted, anticipating the gospel truth that 'where sin increased, grace abounded all the more' (Romans 5:20) in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 106:19–23They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
- Exod 32:4–8And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
- Exod 32:31–32And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
- Ezek 20:7–44Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
- Deut 9:12–16And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 9:18 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.