John Calvin Commentary Exodus 32:19

"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." — Exodus 32:19 (ASV)

And it came to pass, as soon as he came near the camp, he who had before humbly pleaded for the safety of the people, now, when he sees the calf, bursts forth into rage, and the hideousness of the crime awakens him to different feelings.

Now, since anger is here mentioned with praise, the Stoics must abandon their paradox that all the passions (motus animi) are vicious. I allow, indeed, that while men are led by nature, they are never angry without vice, because they always exceed due bounds and often also do not aim at a proper object.

But it must be observed that this occurs from the corruption of nature; and, consequently, anger is not in itself or absolutely to be condemned. For the principle which the Stoics assume, that all the passions are perturbations and like diseases, is false and has its origin in ignorance. To grieve, or to fear, or to rejoice, or to hope, is by no means contrary to reason, nor does it interfere with tranquility and moderation of mind; it is only excess or intemperance which corrupts what would otherwise be pure.

And surely grief, anger, desire, hope, and fear are affections of our unfallen³⁴¹ (integrae) nature, implanted in us by God, and such as we may not find fault with without insulting God Himself.

Moreover, the anger which is here ascribed to Moses is, in Deuteronomy 9, attributed to the person of God Himself. From this we infer that, since it emanated from the impulse of the Spirit, it was a virtue worthy of praise.

In breaking the tables, however, he seems to have forgotten himself; for what sort of vengeance was this, to deface the work of God? However detestable the crime of the people was, still the holy covenant of God ought to have been spared.

Therefore certain Rabbis,³⁴² to excuse him, invent one of their customary fables: that when the tables were brought into the polluted place, the writing became erased. Others think that he was carried away by his wrath and did not sufficiently consider what he was doing, as he would have done had his mind been composed.

I have no doubt, however, that he broke the tables in reference to his office, as if to annul the covenant of God for a time. For we know that God commits both charges to the ministers of His word: to be the proclaimers of His vengeance, as well as the witnesses of His grace.

Thus, whatever they bind on earth is bound also in heaven, and they retain sins to condemnation, and are armed with vengeance against the unbelieving and rebellious (Matthew 16:19; John 20:23; 2 Corinthians 13:10)³⁴³.

Therefore God rejected the people by the hand of Moses, renouncing the covenant which He had recently established in a solemn ceremony. This severity was more useful as an example than if He had sent Moses back empty-handed; for otherwise it would never have occurred to the Israelites what an incomparable treasure they had been deprived of.

It was then necessary that the tables should be produced, as if God so presented Himself to their sight and showed His paternal countenance. But when, on the other hand, the monstrous abomination of the calf was encountered, it was fitting that these same tables should be broken, as if God turned His back upon them and withdrew.

Meanwhile, it must be borne in mind that the covenant of God was not altogether annulled, but only, as it were, interrupted until the people had heartily repented. Still, this temporary rupture, if I may so call it, did not prevent the covenant itself from remaining inviolable.

In the same manner also, God afterward put away His people, as if He had utterly renounced them; yet His grace and truth never failed, so that He at least had some hidden roots from which the Church sprang up anew, as it is said in Psalm 102:18, The people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

³⁴¹ “Mises en nous en l’integrite, qui estoit en notre pere Adam;” implanted in us in the integrity which was in our father Adam. — Fr.

³⁴² C. found in . found in S. M.’s notes the Rabbinical fancies about the vanishing of the letters, etc. — notes the Rabbinical fancies about the vanishing of the letters, etc. — W..

³⁴³ The reference here in the original, and in the French translation, (which always copies such errors, and, alas! they are multitudinous,) is to 2 Corinthians 11:15. I have substituted one, which appears to me more probable, and which the reader may compare with its parallel passages; but I am not so certain of my correction here, as I generally am.. I have substituted one, which appears to me more probable, and which the reader may compare with its parallel passages; but I am not so certain of my correction here, as I generally am.