Exodus 32:4

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּקַּ֣ח מִיָּדָ֗ם וַיָּ֤צַר אֹתוֹ֙ בַּחֶ֔רֶט וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֖הוּ עֵ֣גֶל מַסֵּכָ֑ה וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵ֤לֶּה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

Transliteration

And wayyiqqaḥ from their miyyādām and wayyāṣar ʾōtô with the ḥereṭ and wayyaʿăśēhū ʿēgel massēkāh, and wayyōmərū, These your ʾĕlōheykā Yiśrāʾēl, who heʿĕlūkā from ʾereṣ Miṣrāyim.

Grammar Details

• *wayyiqqaḥ*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he took
• *miyyādām*: preposition + noun feminine dual with 3rd masculine plural suffix - from their hand
• *wayyāṣar*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he formed/fashioned
• *ʾōtô*: direct object marker with 3rd masculine singular suffix - it/him
• *ḥereṭ*: noun, masculine singular - engraving tool/stylus
• *wayyaʿăśēhū*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular with waw consecutive + 3rd masculine singular suffix - and he made it
• *ʿēgel*: noun, masculine singular - calf
• *massēkāh*: noun, feminine singular - molten image/cast idol
• *wayyōmərū*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine plural with waw consecutive - and they said
• *ʾĕlōheykā*: noun masculine plural with 2nd masculine singular suffix - your gods/God
• *Yiśrāʾēl*: proper noun - Israel
• *heʿĕlūkā*: Hiphil perfect 3rd masculine plural with 2nd masculine singular suffix - they brought you up

Word Meanings

• *ḥereṭ*: engraving tool/stylus/chisel/mold
• *massēkāh*: molten image/cast idol/molten metal
• *ʾĕlōheykā*: your gods/your God/your divine beings

Referenced Verses

• Neh 9:18 : 18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
• Deut 9:16 : 16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against Jehovah your God; ye had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you.
• Acts 7:41 : 41 And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
• Exod 32:8 : 8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
• Judg 17:3-4 : 3 And he restored the eleven hundred [pieces] of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred [pieces] of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
• 1 Kgs 12:28 : 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
• 1 Kgs 12:32 : 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made.
• 2 Kgs 10:29 : 29 Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, [to wit], the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.
• 2 Chr 11:15 : 15 and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made.
• 2 Chr 13:8 : 8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.
• Exod 20:2 : 2 I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
• Exod 20:23 : 23 Ye shall not make [other gods] with me; gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you.
• Exod 28:9 : 9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
• Exod 28:11 : 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be inclosed in settings of gold.
• Exod 32:1 : 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.
• Ps 106:19-21 : 19 They made a calf in Horeb, And worshipped a molten image. 20 Thus they changed their glory For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass. 21 They forgat God their Saviour, Who had done great things in Egypt,
• Isa 40:18-19 : 18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The image, a workman hath cast [it], and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth [for it] silver chains.
• Isa 44:9-9 : 9 They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses see not, nor know: that they may be put to shame. 10 Who hath fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?
• Isa 46:6 : 6 Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship.
• Hos 8:4-5 : 4 They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. 5 He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
• Hos 10:5 : 5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in terror for the calves of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced over it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
• Hos 13:2 : 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
• Acts 17:29 : 29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.
• Rom 1:21-23 : 21 because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.