Bezalel and Oholiab
1The LORD spoke to Moses: 2See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3and I have filled him with divine spirit,a with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, 4to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. 6Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7the tent of meeting, and the ark of the covenant,b and the mercy seatc that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, 8the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, 10and the finely worked vestments, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. They shall do just as I have commanded you.
The Sabbath Law
12The LORD said to Moses: 13You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. 14You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. 15Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. 16Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. 17It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
The Two Tablets of the Covenant
18When Godd finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant,e tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
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a Or with the spirit of God
b Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
c Or the cover
d Heb he
e Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
31.1–11 The primary role of a Judahite versus the secondary role of a Danite in constructing the tabernacle presages the superiority of the Jerusalem temple of Solomon (of Judah; 1 Kings 6) over Jeroboam’s shrine at Dan (1 Kings 12.25–30); cf. note on 32.1–35. The passage is reprised in 35.30–36.1.
31.2 Called by name, idiomatic for “designated” (e.g., Isa 43.1). Bezalel in Hebrew means “In-the-Shade (Protection)-of-God.” Hur. See note on 17.10. Hur, Uri, and Bezalel are descendants of the Judahite Caleb (Num 13.6) in 1 Chr 2.18–20.
31.3 Divine spirit. Cf. Gen 41.38. Craft, rendered work in 20.9.
31.4 Devise, in Hebrew cognate to designs.
31.5 Setting. Cf., e.g., 25.7. Carving, the same word rendered cutting. In. The Hebrew adds “doing,” which is assonant with setting.
31.6 Oholiab in Hebrew means “My-Tent-Is-the-Father (God).” Skill to all the skillful, lit. “wisdom in the heart of every wise of heart” cf. note on 28.3.
31.7 Furnishings, rendered utensils in vv. 8–9.
31.10 Finely worked, some ancient manuscript traditions read “service,” of a root similar to to minister (e.g., 30.20).
31.12–17 The sacred time of the sabbath is analogous to the sacred space of the tabernacle; see Lev 19.30; cf. Ex 39.32; 40.34; Gen 2.1–2; also cf. Ex 39.43; Gen 2.3. See also Ex 16.22–26; 20.8–11; 23.12; 34.21; 35.2–3.
31.13 You yourself, a rhetorical indication of a new topic (27.20; 28.1; 30.23), not an emphasis on Moses’ personal performance. Keep. See note on 20.8, where the term is translated remember; cf. Lev 19.3, 30. Sign. Cf. Gen 9.12–13; 17.11. Know. Cf. 29.46; see Ezek 20.12.
31.14 Holy. See note on 29.37. Profanes, used of the sanctuary (e.g., Lev 21.12, 23; Ezek 23.39) as well as the sabbath (e.g., Ezek 20.13). Put to death, by the community; cf. Num 15.32–36. Work. Cf. 20.9. Cut off. See note on 12.15.
31.15 Solemn rest. See note on 16.23.
31.17 Rested. Cf. Gen 2.2. Refreshed. Cf. 23.12.
31.18 He gave him. In Hebrew the phrase prominently begins the verse. Tablets. See 24.12.
EXODUS 32
The Golden Calf
1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold,a and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.” 6They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
7The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
11But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenantb in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets. 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18But he said,
“It is not the sound made by victors,
or the sound made by losers;
it is the sound of revelers that I hear.”
19As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
21Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” 22And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent on evil. 23They said to me, ‘Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’ so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
25When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for A
aron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Who is on the LORD’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’” 28The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. 29Moses said, “Today you have ordained yourselvesc for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”
30On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. 32But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.” 33But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin.”
35Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron made.
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a Or fashioned it with a graving tool; Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
c Gk Vg Compare Tg: Heb Today ordain yourselves
32.1–35 Making the golden calf violates 20.4, 23; cf. King Jeroboam’s calves (1 Kings 12.25–33; see note on 32.4), which functioned historically not as idols but as pedestals for the deity (like the cherubim; see note on 25.18), but which are viewed as idolatrous in 2 Kings 17.16; Hos 8.4–6; 10.5–6; 13.2. Cf. the variations in Deut 9.8–21, 25–29; also Neh 9.16–18.
32.1 Delayed. Readers know Moses will be on the mountain forty days (24.18), but the Israelites do not. Around, rather “against” (e.g., Num 16.3). Aaron. See 24.14. Gods, or “a god.” This, an expression of contempt (e.g., 1 Sam 10.27; 21.15). The man, or “this man Moses.”
32.2 Rings, associated in Gen 35.4 with foreign gods that must be suppressed at Bethel, one of Jeroboam’s cult sites (see note on 32.1–35).
32.4 Image. “Molten” is connoted. Calf, or young bull (cf. Ps 106.19–20, where the word translated “ox” means “bull”), an image applied to leading Canaanite gods; but see note on 32.1–35. These. The plural pronoun, which is more appropriate in 1 Kings 12.28 (a verse in which the words are virtually identical to this one), evokes Jeroboam’s calves; cf. Neh 9.18.
32.5 Saw. Cf. v. 1. Altar. Cf. the legitimate altar (27.1–8). It, the calf (v. 4). Festival. Cf. 23.14–17.
32.6 Revel. Cf. v. 19; the verb has sexual overtones (“fondling” in Gen 26.8). The ritual seems to parody 24.5, 11; see also note on 32.8.
32.7 Go down, counterposed to v. 1. Your…you. The Lord follows suit in disavowing the people; cf., e.g., 20.2; 29.46. Perversely, translated “corrupt” in Gen 6.11–12; “dealt falsely” in Deut 32.5a.
32.8 Worshiped. Cf. 24.1; see note on 4.31. These. See note on 32.4.
32.9 Seen. Cf. v. 5. Stiff-necked, like an unresponsive draft animal (cf. Num 22.23).
32.10 Consume, in the sense of “put to an end,” perhaps a pun in Hebrew on “devour” (Deut 4.24). Great nation. See Gen 12.2; cf. Num 14.12. Moses responds in v. 32.
32.11 Your people. Cf. v. 7; 33.13.
32.12 Egyptians. Cf. Num 14.13–16. Mountains. See note on 19.1. Consume. See note on 32.10. Fierce, burning (vv. 10–11). Change your mind, in Hebrew a pun on let me alone (v. 10); cf. Jon 3.9–10. Disaster, the same term rendered evil intent.
32.13 Israel, not Jacob as in 2.24, reiterating the bond between the people and its namesake. Swore. See Gen 22.16–17. Forever. See Gen 17.7–8.
32.14 His people. See v. 11.
32.15 Turned, “about-faced” (see note on 32.11). Carrying, not in the Hebrew. Hands, “hand” in Hebrew.
32.17 Joshua. See note on 24.13. Noise, rendered sound in v. 18. As they shouted, in Hebrew a pun on with evil intent (v. 12).
32.18 Made by victors, more precisely “of singing triumph,” as in 15.1–18. Made by losers, more precisely “of singing defeat.” Revelers, “singing” (the same Hebrew verb as in 15.21; Isa 27.2).
32.19 Dancing, as in 15.20. Anger. Cf. Num 20.10–11. Burned hot. Cf. vv. 10–11.
32.20 Drink it, a detail that goes beyond Deut 9.21; cf. Num 5.24. The calf is annihilated like a god in Ugaritic myth.
32.22 Aaron echoes Moses in v. 11. Bent on evil. The soundalike running wild (v. 25) is read here by another version.
32.23 Cf. v. 1.
32.24 Threw echoes Moses’ action in v. 19; cf. v. 4. In Deut 9.20 Moses prays for Aaron’s life.
32.25 Let them run wild. The Hebrew (pera’o) puns on “Pharaoh” and perhaps “Peor” (Num 25); see note on 32.28.
32.26 Gate, the place of assembly (e.g., Gen 23.10; Ruth 4.1). Camp. Cf. 19.2; see also Num 2. On the LORD ’s side, lit. “for the LORD.” Levi. The Levites are subordinated to Aaron narratively in Num 16–18; cf. Deut 10.8–9; they are first consecrated for cultic service in Num 8.
32.27 Neighbor, or “relative” cf. Deut 33.9.
32.28 Cf. Num 25.6–12.
32.29 Ordained. See note on 28.41. For the service of, Hebrew “for,” as in v. 26 (see note on 32.26). So have brought, rather “so that he (the LORD) will bring.”
32.30 Great sin. Cf. v. 21.
32.31 Returned, ironic for Moses, who had begged the Lord to turn (same Hebrew verb, v. 12). Gods. See note on 32.1.
32.32 Book. See note on 17.14. That the names of those who are to live is recorded on high is an ancient Near Eastern tradition; cf. Ps 69.28; Isa 4.3; Mal 3.16; also cf. Num 11.15.
32.34 Lead, a play in Hebrew on let me alone (v. 10). Angel. See 33.2. For punishment; lit. “of my accounting” (cf. 20.5).
32.35 Plague. See note on 30.12; the plague may result from the account in v. 20.
EXODUS 33
The Command to Leave Sinai
1The LORD said to Moses, “Go, leave this place, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, or I would consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
4When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. 5For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” 6Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
The Tent outside the Camp
7Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each of them, at the entrance of their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. 10When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and bow down, all of them, at the entrance of their tent. 11Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp; but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent.
Moses’ Intercession
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12Moses said to the LORD, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. 16For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”
17The LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” 19And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The LORD’a and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” 21And the LORD continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; 22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”
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a Heb YHWH; see note at 3.15
33.1 Leave, lit. “go up” (cf. 32.7). You. Cf. 32.7. Jacob. See note on 32.13.
33.2 Angel. Cf. 23.20. Drive out. Cf. 23.28; 34.11.
33.3 Milk and honey. Cf. 3.8. I will not. See vv. 16–17. Or, “lest,” an anticipation of rebellions to come (e.g., Num 11; 14). Consume. See note on 32.10.
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