John Calvin Commentary Exodus 32

And when the people saw that Moses. In this narrative we perceive the detestable impiety of the people, their worse than base ingratitude, and their monstrous madness, mixed with stupidity. For their sakes Moses had been carried up above the state of terrestrial life, that he might receive the injunctions of his mission, and that his authority might be beyond the reach of controversy.

They perversely declare that they do not know what has become of him; indeed, they speak contemptuously of him as if he were a person unknown to them. It is for this that Stephen severely blames them: ³²⁴ This is that Moses (he says) whom your fathers rejected, though he was the minister of their salvation (Acts 7:35). They confess that he had been their deliverer, yet they cannot tolerate his absence for a short time, nor do they feel any reverence for him, unless they have him before their eyes.

Moreover, ³²⁵ although God offered Himself as if present with them by day and by night in the pillar of fire and in the cloud, they still despised so illustrious and vivid an image of His glory and power, and desired to have Him represented to them in the shape of a dead idol. For what could they mean by saying, “make us gods which shall go before us?” Could they not see the pillar of fire and the cloud? Was not God’s paternal care abundantly evident every day in the manna? Was He not near them in innumerable ways?

Yet, considering as nothing all these true, sure, and clear signs of God’s presence, they desired to have a figure that might satisfy their vanity. This was the original source of idolatry: that people supposed they could only possess God by subjecting Him to their own imagination.

Nothing, however, can be more preposterous; for since the minds of people and all their senses fall far short of the loftiness of God, when they try to bring Him down to the measure of their own weak capacity, they distort Him. In a word, whatever human reason conceives of Him is mere falsehood. Nevertheless, this depraved longing can hardly be repressed, so fiercely does it burst out.

They are also influenced by pride and presumption, when they do not hesitate to drag down His glory, as it were, from heaven, and to subject it to earthly elements. We now understand what motive chiefly impelled the Israelites to this madness in demanding that a figure of God should be set before them: namely, because they measured Him by their own senses.

Astonishing indeed was their stupidity, to desire that a God should be made by mortal men—as if he could be a god, or could deserve to be considered one who obtains his divinity at the caprice of men! Still, it is not probable that they were so absurd as to desire a new god to be created for them. Instead, they call “gods” by metonymy those outward images, by looking at which the superstitious imagine that God is near them.

This is evident from the fact that not only the noun but also the verb is in the plural number; for although they were satisfied with one God, still they, in a way, cut Him to pieces by their various representations of Him. Nevertheless, however they may deceive themselves under this or that pretext, they still desire to be creators of God.

Those who suppose that confusion is implied by the word “delayed,” are, in my opinion, mistaken; for, although the word בשש, boshesh, with its third radical doubled, is derived from בוש, bush, which means to be ashamed, still it is clear from Judges 5:28, that it is used simply for to delay, where it is said, in the address of the mother of Sisera, “Why ³²⁶ does his chariot delay (or defer) to come?”

Thus we can understand that hypocrites fear God in such a way that religion vanishes from their hearts, unless there is some taskmaster (exactor) standing by them to keep them in the path of duty. They properly obeyed Moses and reverenced his person; but, because they were only influenced by his presence, as soon as they were deprived of it they ceased to fear God. Thus, while Joshua was alive, and the other holy Judges, they seemed to be faithful in the practice of piety, but when they were dead, they immediately relapsed into disobedience.

And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden earrings. I do not doubt that Aaron, being overcome by the persistent clamor of the people, attempted to escape by means of a subterfuge; still, this is no valid excuse for him, since he should have strongly opposed them in a direct reply, and sharply inveighed against their wicked renunciation of God. By commanding them to give him gold, he might have quieted their excessive demands through fear of the expense; but it was a remedy more likely to be successful to snatch from them those ornaments and trinkets of which women do not willingly allow themselves to be deprived. He therefore purposely requires from them a hateful, or at least a very unpleasant thing, so that he might thus hinder their sinful design; but without success, for the power of superstition to carry people away is no less than that of lust.

Perhaps he also had the tabernacle in view, to prevent them from sacrilegiously laying hands on the sacred vessels; and there was a probability that, if it remained uninjured, the sight of it might eventually bring them to a better state of mind. Besides, the recollection of their recent great generosity might have extinguished or cooled their enthusiasm, from the fear of being utterly drained.

He says emphatically, Break ³²⁷ off the ear-rings from your wives and children, so that they might desist from their purpose out of fear of causing offense, since women are slow to part with such objects of gratification. But it is added immediately afterwards, that they were so blinded by the fervor of their foolish zeal, that they undervalued everything in comparison with their perverse desire, and thus the ornaments were taken from their ears. The readiness with which this was done was astonishing; and not by one person, or by a few, but by the whole people, as if competing with each other.

Even in these days ear-rings are worn by ³²⁸ people in Eastern lands, though it is not so common among us. Now, if unbelievers are so lavish in their absurdities as to throw away so carelessly and rashly whatever is precious to them, how can the tightfistedness of those who are so stingy in providing for the service of God be excused? Therefore, let us learn to be careful not to foolishly squander our possessions on unnecessary expenses, and to be generous where we should be; especially to be ready to spend ourselves, and what we have, when we know that our offerings are pleasing and acceptable to God.

And he received them at their hand. He briefly narrates this base and shameful deed. Yet, he sufficiently shows that while Aaron yielded to their madness, he still desired to cure it. At the same time, however, he was weak and frightened, pretending to give his assent because he feared the personal consequences of the tumult. For why does he not command the earrings to be thrown into some chest, so that he would not pollute himself by the contagion of the sacrilege? Since, therefore, he received them into his own hands, it was a sign of a servile and effeminate mind. Thus, he is said to have been the founder, or sculptor, of the calf, even though it is probable that workmen were employed on it. But the infamy of the crime is justly brought upon him, inasmuch as he was its main author and, by his guilt, betrayed the religion and honor of God.

The Hebrew word ³²⁹חרט, cheret, some translate as a stylus or graving-tool, and some as a mould. The former think that the rough mass was formed by sculpture into the shape of a calf; the latter, that the calf was cast or founded, as we say, jetter en mousle, to cast in a mould. Ridiculous, however, is the fable that when the gold was thrown into a furnace, it came forth like a calf without human workmanship; but thus unrestrainedly do the Jews trifle with their fond inventions. The more probable conjecture is that Aaron intentionally sought a remedy for the people’s folly.

It was a disgraceful thing to prostrate themselves before a calf, in which there was no connection or affinity with the glory of God. With this, the Prophet expressly reproaches them, saying that they changed their glory (i.e., God, in whom alone they should have gloried) into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass (Psalms 106:20). For, if it is insulting to God to force Him into the likeness of men, with how much greater and more inexcusable ignominy is His majesty defiled when He is compared to brute animals? Still, it had no effect in bringing them to repentance. This is expressed with much force immediately afterwards, when they said to each other, These be thy gods, O Israel. Surely the hideousness of the spectacle should have struck them with horror, inducing them voluntarily to condemn their own madness. But, on the contrary, they mutually exhorted one another to obstinacy. For there is no doubt that Moses indicates that they were like fans to each other, and thus their frenzy was reciprocally excited.

For, as Isaiah and Micah exhort believers that each of them should stretch out his hand to his brother and say to each other, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2), so perverse rivalry provokes unbelievers mutually to excite each other to progress in sin.

Still, they neither speak ironically nor in mockery of God, nor have any intention of falling away from Him. Instead, they cover their sin against Him under a deceitful pretext. It is as if they denied that by their new and unusual mode of worship, they desired to detract from the honor of their Redeemer; rather, they claimed it was magnified because they worshipped Him under a visible image.

Thus, nowadays, the Papists boldly obtrude their fictitious rites upon God and boast that they do more for Him by their additions and inventions than if they merely continued within the bounds He Himself prescribed. But let us learn from this passage that whatever coloring superstition may give to its idols, and by whatever titles it may dignify them, they remain idols still. For, however those who corrupt the pure worship of God by their inventions may pride themselves on their good intentions, they still deny the true God and substitute devils in His place.

The conjecture of those who suppose that Aaron devised the calf in accordance with Egyptian superstition is probable. For it is well known with what senseless worship that nation honored its god ³³⁰Anubis. It is true that they kept ³³¹a live bull to be consulted as the supreme god. But, since the people were accustomed to this fictitious deity, Aaron seems, in obedience to their madness, to have followed that old custom from which they had contracted the error so deeply rooted in their hearts. Thus, from bad examples, contagion easily creeps into the hearts of those who were otherwise untainted. Nor is it without good reason that David protests that idols should be held in such abomination by him that he would not even take up their names into his lips (Psalms 16:4). For, unless we seriously abhor the ungodly and withdraw ourselves as far as possible from their superstitions, they immediately infect us with their pestilential influence.

And, when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. When he sees the people so infuriated that he despairs of being able to resist their conspiracy, in treacherous cowardice he yields to compliance.

And this end awaits all those who do not dare sincerely and firmly to maintain what is right, but who bargain, as it were, and descend to compromises; for, after they have wavered for a while,³³² they eventually succumb altogether, so that they stop at nothing, however unworthy and disgraceful.

He seems, indeed, by his proclamation to uplift their minds to the worship of the true God; but, when he is violating the law just given, it is a wretched pretext to shield their offensive and degenerate worship under God’s sacred name.

And they rose up early on the next day. The earnestness of the people in pursuing their error is again described; for there is no doubt that it was at their demand that Aaron proclaimed the solemn sacrifice; and now it is not only added that they were ready for it on time, but their extraordinary diligence is shown in that they appeared at the very dawn of day.

Now, if, at the instigation of the devil, unbelievers are thus driven recklessly to their destruction, how shameful our inactivity is, if at least an equal eagerness does not show itself in our zeal! Thus it is said in Psalm 110:3:

Your ³³³ people (shall come) with voluntary offerings in the day
(of the assembling) of your army.

What follows about the people sitting down “to eat and to drink,” many ³³⁴ ignorantly twist to mean intemperance; just as they also wrongly interpret their “rising up to play” as meaning lasciviousness; while Moses instead describes the sacred banquet and games engaged in, in honor of the idols. For, as we have seen elsewhere, the faithful feasted before God at their sacrifices, and so also heathen nations celebrated sacred feasts while they worshiped their idols with games.

Paul is the surest interpreter of this point, who quotes this passage in condemnation of the idolatry of the ancient people, and skillfully adapts it to the purpose he had in mind; for the Corinthians had not gone to such an extreme as to bow their knees to idols, but were close companions of unbelievers in their polluted sacrifices (1 Corinthians 10:20).