Exodus 32:19

17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”

18 But Moses replied: “It is neither the cry of victory nor the cry of defeat; I hear the sound of singing!”

As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.

20 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.

21 “What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
KJV
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
WEB
As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
ASV
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses` anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
DARBY
And it came to pass, when he came near the camp, and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses' anger burned, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and shattered them beneath the mountain.
BLB
And it came to pass as soon as he came near to the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing; and the anger of Moses burned, and he cast from his hands the tablets, and he shattered them at the base of the mountain.
ÅB
Og da Moses kom nær til leiren, så han kalven og dansen; da ble hans vrede tent opp; han kastet tavlene fra seg og slo dem i stykker ved foten av fjellet.
OTB
Så snart Moses nærmet seg leiren og så kalven og dansen, brant hans vrede, og han kastet tavlene fra hendene sine og knuste dem ved foten av fjellet.
B1930
Og da Moses kom nær til leiren, så han kalven og dansen; da optendtes hans vrede; han kastet tavlene fra sig og slo dem i stykker ved foten av fjellet.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Deuteronomy 9:16–17

    And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

    Read in context
  • 2 Samuel 6:14

    And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD,

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 27:26

    ‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

    Read in context
  • Ephesians 4:26

    “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

    Read in context
  • Exodus 32:4–6

    He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

    Read in context
  • Numbers 12:3

    Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.

    Read in context
  • Exodus 15:20

    Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 31:32

    It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt— a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

    Read in context