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New American Standard Bible (1995)

Exodus 32:25

Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies—

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Adultery;   Dancing;   Idolatry;   Israel;   Obedience;   Reproof;   Shame;   Thompson Chain Reference - Degradation;   Honour-Dishonour;   Shame;   Shame, Sin's;   Sin;   Sin's;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Calf of Gold;   Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Idolatry;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Naked;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Aaron;   Priest;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Naked;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ahaz;   Egypt;   Moses;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Exodus, Book of;   Levites;   Tribes of Israel, the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Aaron;   Anger (Wrath) of God;   Calf, Golden;   Exodus;   Moses;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Levi;   Table;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Aaron;   Calf;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Moses;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Events of the Encampment;   Priesthood, the;   On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   Law of Moses, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Derision;   Enemy;   Intercession;   Moses;   Naked;   Sacrifice;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aquila (Βλώμβσ);   Bible Translations;   Small and Large Letters;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
When Moshe saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aharon had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)
King James Version
And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
Lexham English Bible
And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among their enemies.
New Century Version
Moses saw that the people were acting wildly. Aaron had let them get out of control and become fools in front of their enemies.
New English Translation
Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies.
Amplified Bible
Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to the point of being an object of mockery among their enemies—
New American Standard Bible
Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among their enemies—
Geneva Bible (1587)
Moses therefore sawe that the people were naked (for Aaron had made them naked vnto their shame among their enemies)
Legacy Standard Bible
Now Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies—
Contemporary English Version
Moses knew that the people were out of control and that it was Aaron's fault. And now they had made fools of themselves in front of their enemies.
Complete Jewish Bible
When Moshe saw that the people had gotten out of control — because Aharon had allowed them to get out of control, to the derision of their enemies —
Darby Translation
And Moses saw the people how they were stripped; for Aaron had stripped them to [their] shame before their adversaries.
Easy-to-Read Version
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control. They were being wild, and all their enemies could see them acting like fools.
English Standard Version
And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies),
George Lamsa Translation
And when Moses saw that the people had sinned; (for Aaron had caused them to sin, and to leave a bad name behind them);
Good News Translation
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies.
Christian Standard Bible®
Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, making them a laughingstock to their enemies.
Literal Translation
And Moses saw the people, that it was unloosed, for Aaron had let it loose for a derision among their enemies.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan Moses sawe, that the people were naked (for Aaron, whan he set them vp, made them naked to their shame)
American Standard Version
And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies),
Bible in Basic English
And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Moyses therfore sawe that the people were naked (and that Aaron had made them naked vnto their shame, amongest their enemies)
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose--for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies--
King James Version (1611)
And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had made them naked vnto their shame, amongst their enemies)
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And when Moses saw that the people was scattered, —for Aaron had scattered them so as to be a rejoicing to their enemies, —
English Revised Version
And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose; for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies:
Berean Standard Bible
Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Moyses siy the puple, that it was maad bare; for Aaron hadde spuylid it for the schenschip of filthe, and hadde maad the puple nakid among enemyes.
Young's Literal Translation
And Moses seeth the people that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron hath made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,
Update Bible Version
And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)
Webster's Bible Translation
And when Moses saw that the people [were] naked (for Aaron had made them naked to [their] shame, among their enemies:)
World English Bible
When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)
New King James Version
Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies),
New Living Translation
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.
New Life Bible
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people go wild and become a shame to those who hated them.
New Revised Standard
When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies),
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Moses saw the people, that unbridled, they were, - for Aaron had given them the rein, for a whispering, among their enemies.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had stripped them by occasion of the shame of the filth, and had set them naked among their enemies)
Revised Standard Version
And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to their shame among their enemies),
THE MESSAGE
Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is on God 's side, join me!" All the Levites stepped up.

Contextual Overview

21 Then Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?" 22 Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. 23 "For they said to me, 'Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 24 "I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." 25 Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies—26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves today to the LORD—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

naked: The term naked may mean either that they were unarmed and defenceless, or ashamed from the consciousness of guilt. Exodus 33:4-6, Genesis 3:10, Isaiah 47:3, Hosea 2:3, Micah 1:11, Revelation 3:17, Revelation 3:18, Revelation 16:15

Aaron: Deuteronomy 9:20, 2 Chronicles 28:19

shame: Ezekiel 16:63, Daniel 12:2, Romans 6:21

their enemies: Heb. those that rose up against them

Reciprocal: Genesis 2:25 - ashamed Exodus 32:35 - General Deuteronomy 33:9 - Who said Habakkuk 2:15 - that thou 2 Corinthians 5:3 - being

Cross-References

Genesis 19:22
"Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.
Genesis 32:3
Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Genesis 32:4
He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now;
Genesis 32:5
I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'"
Genesis 32:6
The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."
Genesis 32:7
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies;
Genesis 32:8
for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape."
Genesis 32:9
Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,'
Genesis 32:13
So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau:
Genesis 32:14
two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when Moses saw that the people [were] naked,.... Not in their bodies, being stripped of their ear rings; for parting with them was not sufficient to denominate them naked in a corporeal sense; nor as being without their armour, which was laid aside while they were eating, and drinking, and dancing about the calf, and so might be thought a proper opportunity for the Levites to fall upon them, by the order of Moses, and slay them: but it can hardly be thought that all the people bore arms, and that Moses took the advantage of their being without them: but rather they were naked in their souls, through their sin, and the shame of their nakedness appeared; their sin was made manifest, and they were discovered to be what they were; and they were now deprived of the divine protection; the cloud was departing from them, the symbol of the divine Presence, God being provoked by their sins; unless it is to be understood of their ceasing from work, and keeping holy day in honour of the calf, and so were loitering about, and not attending to the business of their callings, in which sense the word sometimes seems to be used, see Exodus 5:4

for Aaron had made them naked unto [their] shame amongst their enemies; to part with their ear rings, or lay aside their armour while feasting, could not be so much to their shame among their enemies; but to sin against God, in the manner they did, was to their shame, which Aaron was a means of by not doing all he could to hinder it, and by doing what he did to encourage it; and now he made them naked to their shame by exposing it, saying they were a people set on mischief, and given up to sin and wickedness; and what they had now done served to expose them to shame even among their enemies, both now and hereafter; when they should hear of their shameful revolt from God, after so many great and good things done for them, and of the change of their gods, and of their fickleness about them, which was not usual with the Gentiles: though the last word may be rendered, "among those that rise up from you"; that should spring from them, come up in their room, and succeed them, their posterity, as in Numbers 32:14 and so Onkelos renders it, "to your generations", and is so to be understood, as Abendana observes; and then the sense is, that this sin of making and worshipping the golden calf, and keeping a holy day, would be to their shame and disgrace, among their posterity, in all succeeding ages.

(If is quite possible the people were physically naked, having taken off all their clothes to indulge in the idolatrous worship of the calf and sexual immorality that usually is associated with such wicked practices. Editor.)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord’s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in consequence of his natural disposition. See Numbers 12:3; and compare Exodus 3:11. With this trial of Moses repeated in a very similar manner Numbers 14:11-23, may be compared the trial of Abraham Genesis 22:0 and of our Saviour Matthew 4:8-10.

Exodus 32:8

These be thy gods ... have brought - This is thy god, O Israel, who has brought ...

Exodus 32:10

Let me alone - But Moses did not let the Lord alone; he wrestled, as Jacob had done, until, like Jacob, he obtained the blessing Genesis 32:24-29.

Exodus 32:14

This states a fact which was not revealed to Moses until after his second intercession when he had come down from the mountain and witnessed the sin of the people Exodus 32:30-34. He was then assured that the Lord’s love to His ancient people would prevail God is said, in the language of Scripture, to “repent,” when His forgiving love is seen by man to blot out the letter of His judgments against sin (2 Samuel 24:16; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:10, etc.); or when the sin of man seems to human sight to have disappointed the purposes of grace (Gen 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:35, etc.). The awakened conscience is said to “repent,” when, having felt its sin, it feels also the divine forgiveness: it is at this crisis that God, according to the language of Scripture, repents toward the sinner. Thus, the repentance of God made known in and through the One true Mediator reciprocates the repentance of the returning sinner, and reveals to him atonement.

Exodus 32:17-18

Moses does not tell Joshua of the divine communication that had been made to him respecting the apostasy of the people, but only corrects his impression by calling his attention to the kind of noise which they are making.

Exodus 32:19

Though Moses had been prepared by the revelation on the Mount, his righteous indignation was stirred up beyond control when the abomination was before his eyes.

Exodus 32:20

See Deuteronomy 9:21. What is related in this verse must have occupied some time and may have followed the rebuke of Aaron. The act was symbolic, of course. The idol was brought to nothing and the people were made to swallow their own sin (compare Micah 7:13-14).

Exodus 32:22

Aaron’s reference to the character of the people, and his manner of stating what he had done Exo. 5:24, are very characteristic of the deprecating language of a weak mind.

Exodus 32:23

Make us gods - Make us a god.

Exodus 32:25

Naked - Rather unruly, or “licentious”.

Shame among their enemies - Compare Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4; Deuteronomy 28:37.

Exodus 32:26-29

The tribe of Levi, Moses’ own tribe, now distinguished itself by immediately returning to its allegiance and obeying the call to fight on the side of Yahweh. We need not doubt that the 3,000 who were slain were those who persisted in resisting Moses. The spirit of the narrative forbids us to conceive that the act of the Levites was anything like an indiscriminate massacre. An amnesty had first been offered to all by the words: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Those who were forward to draw the sword were directed not to spare their closest relations or friends; but this must plainly have been with an understood qualification as regards the conduct of those who were to be slain. Had it not been so, they who were on the Lord’s side would have had to destroy each other. We need not stumble at the bold, simple way in which the statement is made.

Exodus 32:29

Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord ... - The margin contains the literal rendering. Our version gives the most probable meaning of the Hebrew, and is supported by the best authority. The Levites were to prove themselves in a special way the servants of Yahweh, in anticipation of their formal consecration as ministers of the sanctuary (compare Deuteronomy 10:8), by manifesting a self-sacrificing zeal in carrying out the divine command, even upon their nearest relatives.

Exodus 32:31

Returned unto the Lord - i. e. again he ascended the mountain.

Gods of gold - a god of gold.

Exodus 32:32

For a similar form of expression, in which the conclusion is left to be supplied by the mind of the reader, see Daniel 3:15; Luke 13:9; Luke 19:42; John 6:62; Romans 9:22. For the same thought, see Romans 9:3. It is for such as Moses and Paul to realize, and to dare to utter, their readiness to be wholly sacrificed for the sake of those whom God has entrusted to their love. This expresses the perfected idea of the whole burnt-offering.

Thy book - The figure is taken from the enrolment of the names of citizens. This is its first occurrence in the Scriptures. See the marginal references. and Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, etc.

Exodus 32:33, Exodus 32:34

Each offender was to suffer for his own sin. Compare Exodus 20:5; Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20. Moses was not to be taken at his word. He was to fulfill his appointed mission of leading on the people toward the land of promise.

Exodus 32:34

Mine Angel shall go before thee - See the marginal references and Genesis 12:7.

In the day when I visit ... - Compare Numbers 14:22-24. But though the Lord chastized the individuals, He did not take His blessing from the nation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 32:25. Moses saw that the people were naked — They were stripped, says the Targum, of the holy crown that was upon their heads, on which the great and precious name [Ancient Hebrew] JEHOVAH was engraved. But it is more likely that the word פרע parua implies that they were reduced to the most helpless and wretched state, being abandoned by God in the midst of their enemies. This is exactly similar to that expression, 2 Chronicles 28:19: For the Lord brought Judah low, because of Ahaz king of Israel: for he made Judah NAKED, הפריע hiphria, and transgressed sore against the Lord. Their nakedness, therefore, though in the first sense it may imply that several of them were despoiled of their ornaments, yet it may also express their defenceless and abandoned state, in consequence of their sin. That they could not literally have all been despoiled of their ornaments, appears evident from their offerings. See Exodus 35:21, &c.


 
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