Bible Strands
Exodus 32:23
They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Aaron speaks to Moses after the Israelites demanded a visible deity while Moses remained on Mount Sinai. The speech occurs during Aaron’s defense of his role in the golden calf incident.
The words — עֲשֵׂה־ (‘a.seh-) means “make,” and אֱלֹהִים (’E.lo.him) translates to “gods,” forming the command to fashion a divine representation. אֲשֶׁר (’a.Sher) functions as a relative pronoun linking the command to the purpose clause “who will go before us.”
The thread — The demand for a guiding deity echoes the initial gathering in Exodus 32:1, while the dismissal of Moses’ absence parallels God’s later rebuke in Exodus 32:8 regarding their swift abandonment of His command.
Why it lands — The verse records a direct rejection of divine leadership in favor of immediate, human-made alternatives. It requires the reader to confront how quickly reliance on God dissolves when visible guidance disappears.
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
For they said unto me, 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 wot not what is become of him.
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
- Exodus 32:8 How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”