Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 32:22-24

"And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are [set] on evil. For they said unto me, 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. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." — Exodus 32:22-24 (ASV)

Aaron’s conduct was really without excuse; but he attempts two pleas—the first insufficient, the second false and fatuous.

1. The people compelled him; they were “set on mischief;” they made the proposal—they would have it so.
2. He threw the gold into the furnace, and “it came out a calf,” as if he had not ordered the construction of the mold.

In Deuteronomy, Moses informs us that Aaron’s whole conduct so angered God that God would have destroyed him but for his own intercession (Deuteronomy 9:20).