Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary Verse 1. When the people saw that Moses delayed] How long this was before the expiration of the forty days, we cannot tell; but it certainly must have been some considerable time, as the ornaments must be collected, and the calf or ox, after having been founded, must require a considerable time to fashion it with the graving tool; and certainly not more than two or three persons could work on it at once. This work therefore, must have required several days.
The people gathered themselves together] They came in a tumultuous and seditious manner, insisting on having an object of religious worship made for them, as they intended under its direction to return to Egypt. See Acts vii. 39, 40.
As for this Moses, the man that brought us up] This seems to be the language of great contempt, and by it we may see tho truth of the character given them by Aaron, ver. 22, they were set on mischief. It is likely they might have supposed that Moses had perished in the fire, which they saw had invested the top of the mountain into which he went.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-6 - While Moses was in the mount, receiving the law from God, the people made a tumultuous address to Aaron. This giddy multitude were weary of waiting for the return of Moses. Weariness in waiting betrays to man temptations. The Lord must be waited for till he comes, and waited for though he tarry. Let their readiness to part with their ear-rings to make an idol, shame our niggardliness in the service of the true God They did not draw back on account of the cost of their idolatry; an shall we grudge the expenses of religion? Aaron produced the shape of an ox or calf, giving it some finish with a graving tool. They offere sacrifice to this idol. Having set up an image before them, and s changed the truth of God into a lie, their sacrifices were abomination Had they not, only a few days before, in this very place, heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image? Had they no themselves solemnly entered into covenant with God, that they would d all he had said to them, and would be obedient? ch. 24:7. Yet befor they stirred from the place where this covenant had been solemnly made they brake an express command, in defiance of an express threatening It plainly shows, that the law was no more able to make holy, than it was to justify; by it is the knowledge of sin, but not the cure of sin Aaron was set apart by the Divine appointment to the office of the priesthood; but he, who had once shamed himself so far as to build a altar to a golden calf, must own himself unworthy of the honour of attending at the altar of God, and indebted to free grace alone for it Thus pride and boasting were silenced.
Original Hebrew וירא7200 העם5971 כי3588 בשׁשׁ954 משׁה4872 לרדת3381 מן4480 ההר2022 ויקהל6950 העם5971 על5921 אהרן175 ויאמרו559 אליו413 קום6965 עשׂה6213 לנו אלהים430 אשׁר834 ילכו1980 לפנינו6440 כי3588 זה2088 משׁה4872 האישׁ376 אשׁר834 העלנו5927 מארץ776 מצרים4714 לא3808 ידענו3045 מה4100 היה׃1961
