Exodus 32 - Introduction

The Episode of the Golden Calf, and incidents arising out of it, or mentioned in connexion with it.

The narrative of these Chapter s, read from a purely religious point of view, is remarkably beautiful and impressive; a striking picture is given not only of Moses" affection and noble self-devotion for his people, but also of the long intercession by which (cf. Genesis 18) he at last succeeds in winning from Jehovah Israel's forgiveness, His promise again to be with His people, and the vision of His moral glory for himself. But -the connexion between its different parts, and the progress of the narrative, is often so imperfect and so far from clear" (Di.) that to the historical student it presents problems and difficulties which are not readily solved. As Di. points out, -the want of connexion both backwards and forwards is most remarkable in Exodus 33:7-11: why the Tent of Meeting is here suddenly introduced, is not explained, and can only be conjectured, and v.12 goes on as if vv.7 11 or vv.4 11 were not there at all. The connexion between Exodus 34:9-10 is also imperfect: it is surprising in v.9 to find Jehovah entreated to go with the people, when He has already in Exodus 33:14-16 promised to do so; and it is also surprising that Exodus 34:10 is no direct answer to the entreaty of v.9. Even in ch. 32, where the narrative wears the appearance of being more consistent, it is remarkable that the questions put to Aaron in vv.21 24 lead to nothing further, that in spite of the punishment inflicted in v.27 f. further punishment is threatened in v.34b, and that while in v.35 a punishment is described vaguely, it does not read like the punishment threatened just before in v.34b. Further, while in P the erection of the Tent of Meeting is not described till ch. 40, in Exodus 33:7-11 there appears, as already in regular use, a tent, called by precisely the same name. The angel of Jehovah, again, is in Exodus 33:3; Exodus 33:5 represented as distinct from, and exclusive of, Jehovah Himself, whereas in Exodus 23:20 he appears as His full and sufficient representative. The covenant of Exodus 34:10-27 is described as if it were one made for the first time; neither v.10 nor v.27 suggests that it is a second, or new, covenant. The laws in Exodus 34:10-26 are mostly identical verbally with a particular section of those contained in chs. 21 23": what is the relation subsisting between the two recensions, and how is the repetition to be explained? It must be evident that all these difficulties and inconsistencies are due simply to the amalgamation and sometimes the imperfect amalgamation of different sources: they are lessened, though they can hardly be said to disappear, when these sources are recognized and disengaged from one another. Details will be better considered in the notes on the separate Chapter s, Exodus 34:29-35 belongs clearly to P: the rest of the three Chapter s is due principally to J, or the compiler of JE, but parts belong to E. The excerpts from J and E are also in several cases plainly incomplete at the beginning or the end, so that details or explanations are missing which can only be supplied by conjecture.