Deuteronomy 9:12

And the LORD said to me, “Get up and go down from here at once, for your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten image.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses Moses directly following the forty days and forty nights of receiving the stone tablets. This occurs at the moment the covenant documents are delivered but before Moses descends the mountain.

The words — The imperative ק֣וּם (kum) commands Moses to “arise,” while מַהֵר֙ (ma.Her) modifies the action as “quickly.” Paired with רֵ֤ד (red), meaning “go down,” the syntax establishes immediate divine urgency.

The thread — The descent command and accusation of corruption reappear in Exodus 32:7. The pattern of swift covenant failure resurfaces in Deuteronomy 31:29 and Judges 2:17.

Why it lands — The passage requires readers to acknowledge that covenant privilege does not guarantee moral stability. It forces a direct confrontation with the speed at which commanded paths are abandoned for self-made substitutes.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And the Lord said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

Cross-references

Exodus 32:7 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
Deuteronomy 31:29 For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. And in the days to come, disaster will befall you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger by the work of your hands.”
Judges 2:17 Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.
Hosea 6:4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.
Galatians 1:6 I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence.
Deuteronomy 4:16 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
Deuteronomy 9:16 And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
Deuteronomy 32:5 His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the blemish on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation.
Psalms 78:57 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.