Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 20:23

"Ye shall not make [other gods] with me; gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you." — Exodus 20:23 (ASV)

You shall not make with me gods of silver. —The expression “make with me” is unusual, but does not seem to have any particular force. Gods of silver and gods of gold are specifically forbidden, because it was to idolatry of this kind that the Israelites were particularly inclined.

The golden calf is no isolated phenomenon. Molten images of gods, generally of silver, sometimes of gold, were objects of worship to Israel throughout the ages that preceded the Captivity. Jeroboam set up molten images at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 14:9; 2 Kings 17:16). Baal was worshipped under the semblance of a molten image (2 Chronicles 28:2), as were probably Ashtaroth, Chemosh, and Moloch.

The animal worship of the Egyptians had no attractions for the Hebrews. They did not make offerings to images of stone or marble, like the Assyrians or the Greeks; much less was it their habit to “bow down to stocks,” like so many of the pagan nations around them.

The “molten image,” generally completed by a certain amount of engraving, was the form of idol that most appealed to them, and the more precious the material, the more satisfied they were to worship it (Isaiah 42:17; Jeremiah 10:14; Hosea 13:2, and other similar passages). Occasionally, indeed, they overlaid wood or stone with plates of gold or silver to produce an idol (Habakkuk 2:19), but such images were at once less common and valued less.