Bible Strands
Exodus 32:31
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses speaks directly to Yahweh immediately after descending from Sinai and witnessing the Israelites' idolatry. He addresses God at the moment of intercession, right after telling the people he would go up the mountain to seek atonement.
The words — The Hebrew term חָטָא (cha.Ta') literally means "it has sinned," stating the completed fact of the people's violation. The particle אָנּא ('a.Na') translates as "I beg you" or "now," establishing the urgent, pleading posture of the appeal.
The thread — This explicit naming of idolatry runs directly back to the covenant prohibition against crafting gods of silver or gold in Exodus 20:23. The pattern of corporate sin confession and intercessory pleading reappears in the shame and repentance described in Daniel 9:8.
Why it lands — The text requires a precise identification of the transgression before any request for mercy can be made. It asks the reader to face the concrete reality of covenant breaking and the necessity of direct mediation rather than vague regret.
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 Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
Cross-references
- Exodus 20:23 You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- Exodus 32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
- Daniel 9:8 O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
- Daniel 9:11 All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.
- Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Exodus 34:28 So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
- Deuteronomy 9:18 Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
- Ezra 9:6 and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Ezra 9:15 O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”
- Nehemiah 9:33 You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.