Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 32:1

"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him." — Exodus 32:1 (ASV)

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down. — After seven chapters of directions, which belong to the Mosaic or Levitical Law, the writer here resumes his historical narrative. Leaving Moses still on the mountain, he returns to the plain at its base in order to relate the events which had occurred there during Moses’ absence. It has been suggested that Exodus 31 was originally followed by Exodus 35, and that Exodus 32–34 form a “distinct composition,” which was subsequently inserted at this point (Cook). But this supposition is improbable.

Exodus 35 does not cohere with Exodus 31. Passing from one to the other, we would be aware of a gap which required filling up. Neither does Exodus 32 commence like an independent narrative. It rests on the fact of the long delay of Moses on Sinai, which requires Exodus 25–31 to explain it; and its mention of “the people,” and “the mount,” without further designation, implies reference to something that has gone before. Exodus 32–34 occur, really, in their natural, their proper, and, no doubt, in their original place.

The people gathered themselves together to Aaron. — Moses, before his departure, had left directions that the people, in any difficulty, should take the advice of Aaron and Hur (Exodus 24:14). It is not surprising, however, that when the difficulty arose, Aaron alone was consulted. Aaron had been a joint leader with Moses from the first (Exodus 5:1; Exodus 5:4; Exodus 5:20, etc.); Hur had only very recently been advanced to a position of authority (Exodus 17:10; Exodus 24:14). He was, at most, the Lepidus of the Triumvirate.

Up, make us gods. — Rather, make us a god. The religious condition of the Israelites during the sojourn in Egypt has been so entirely passed over in the previous narrative that this request comes upon us as a surprise and a shock. True, there have been warnings against idolatry, reiterated warnings (Exodus 20:4–5; Exodus 20:23; Exodus 23:32–33), but no tendency toward it has manifested itself; no hint has been given that it was an immediate and pressing danger. When, however, we carefully scrutinise the rest of Scripture, we find reason to believe that a leaning toward idolatry had, in fact, shown itself among the people while they were in Egypt and had even attained some considerable development. (Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:8; Ezekiel 23:3).

This tendency had been checked by the series of extraordinary manifestations which had accompanied the exodus. Now, however, in the absence of Moses, in the uncertainty which prevailed about whether he still lived or not, and in the withdrawal from the camp of that Divine Presence which had until then gone before them, the idolatrous instinct once more came to the front. The cry was raised, “make us a god”—make us something to take the place of the pillar of the cloud, something visible, tangible, on which we can believe the Divine Presence to rest, and which may “go before us” and conduct us.

This Moses, the man that brought us up ... — Contemptuous words, showing how short-lived human gratitude is, and even human respect. An absence of less than six weeks, and a belief that he was dead, had sufficed to change the great deliverer into “this Moses, the man who brought us up.”