Sin of the Golden Calf/2

Sin of the Golden Calf

Exegetical Approaches

Foreign God

The nation viewed the calf as a god and worshiped it either together with or instead of Hashem.

Sources:PhiloThe Special Laws, III XXII:125About Philo, BavliSanhedrin 63aAvodah Zarah 53bAbout the Bavli, TanchumaKi Tisa 19Shemini 4About the Tanchuma, Targum Pseudo-JonathanShemot 32:3-6About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer45About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, R. Saadia GaonCommentary Shemot 32:1-6About R. Saadia Gaon, RashiShemot 32:1-6About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, Lekach TovBereshit 32:1About R. Toviah b. Eliezer, R. Avraham b. HaRambamShemot 32:4-9Shemot 32:22About R. Avraham Maimonides,

"עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים" – These sources understand the word "אֱלֹהִים" to mean deity.  However, they disagree whether, in building the calf, the nation was totally forsaking Hashem in favor of a new god,¹ or if they were planning on worshiping the calf together with Hashem (שיתוף).‎²

Why does Moshe's delay spur the sin?

• Lost access to Divine – R. Avraham b. HaRambam claims that the Israelites believed that only someone as perfect as Moshe could access Hashem and that without him, they did not have the power to do so.  As such, when they assumed that Moshe was not coming back,³ they decided to return to the idolatry they had known earlier.⁴
• Lost a perceived deity – Alternatively, this position could posit that the nation had actually perceived Moshe Himself as a god, thinking that all the miracles he performed stemmed from his own powers.  Thus when they believed him gone, they created a new god to take his place.

Why a calf? Philo and R. Avraham b. HaRambam assert that the choice was intentional as a bull held significance for the people from their time in Egypt:⁵

• Egyptian god – Philo maintains that the people chose a bull to imitate the Egyptian God, Typhos, with whom they would have been familiar.⁶
• Astrological sign – R. Avraham b. HaRambam cites his father who posits instead that the people might have asked for a calf thinking that it was under the influence of that astrological sign that they left Egypt.  Thus, they refer to it as, "אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם".

"חַג לַי"י מָחָר" – This position must explain why Hashem's proper name is used here, if the people were looking to the calf as an alternative god:

• This approach could understand this phrase to mean that "tomorrow there will be a feast for the god who is replacing Hashem".
• Rashi, however, asserts that, in contrast to the nation, Aharon had no idolatrous thoughts, and really was speaking about Hashem Himself when he said "חַג לַי"י מָחָר".  He was certain that by the morrow, Moshe would arrive and the people would return to serving Hashem.

Offering sacrifices – The fact that the people bow down⁷ and offer sacrifices before the calf supports the idea that they were worshiping it as a god.

"וַיָּמִירוּ אֶת כְּבוֹדָם בְּתַבְנִית שׁוֹר" – According to this approach the honor of the people referred to in this verse is Hashem.  The psalmist, too, reads the sin as one of foreign worship, claiming that in building the calf the nation replaced Hashem with the likeness of an ox and bowed down to it.

Breaking of the Luchot – According to Rashi, after Moshe saw how the people had betrayed Hashem he considered them unworthy of receiving the Torah.  This position might also suggest, like Ibn EzraShemot Short Commentary 32:19About R. Avraham ibn Ezra below, that the tablets were like a marriage document; when the people proved unfaithful it was torn up.⁸

Drinking of the calf's ashes – Rashi, following R. Yose in Bavli Avodah ZarahAvodah Zarah 43b-44aAbout Bavli Avodah Zarah,  asserts that this was comparable to the test of a suspected adulteress (sotah).  Moshe used the water to test and punish who had been unfaithful to Hashem.⁹  One might also posit that in destroying the calf and having the people actually eat it, Moshe highlighted how powerless and unworthy of worship it was.¹⁰

Role of Aharon – These sources agree that Aharon did not worship the calf, but defend his active role in different ways:

• Test the people – R. Saadia compares Aharon to Yehu,¹¹ who gathered the people to worship the Baal so as to test who was guilty and then kill them.  So, too, Aharon only acquiesced to the nation's request so as to determine who was guilty of idolatry.
• Delay tactics – Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer and Rashi, instead, maintain that throughout Aharon tried to delay the people, hoping that Moshe would arrive before they sinned.  Thus, he asked the women specifically for their jewelry, assuming they would not give them up so easily,¹² and pushed off the feast until the next day.

Sinning so soon after Matan Torah

• Influence of mixed multitudes (ערב רב) – Tanchuma, Rashi and R. Avraham b. HaRambam (in the name of his grandfather) attempt to defend the people by suggesting that the idolatry was not really their initiative, but that of the mixed multitudes who had joined the nation upon leaving Egypt.  Tanchuma claims that it was their magic which produced the calf and animated it leading the people to believe in it.¹³  As support, Rashi points to the fact that the people say "אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל", speaking from the perspective of outsiders and non-members of Israel.¹⁴
• Influence of Satan – Tanchuma, Rashi and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer also suggest that the Satan further negatively influenced the nation, leading the people to believe that Moshe had died, or helping to create the calf.
• Slow to change – Alternatively, it is possible that the people had never really forsaken the idolatrous beliefs they held in Egypt.¹⁵ One time miracles, even on the scale of Hashem's revelation, are not enough to change a person's mindset for good.  To instill long lasting belief the people needed continuous education and miracles.¹⁶  Thus, as soon as Moshe left, without a teacher to guide them, the people naturally fell back into their old ways.

Aharon's self  defense – R. Avraham b. HaRambam asserts, in the name of his grandfather, that Aharon was blaming the ערב רב.  Aharon's words, "כִּי בְרָע הוּא" are understood to mean that the nation was mixed with evil people.

Severity of punishment – According to this approach, Hashem's initial desire to wipe out the nation is understandable, as they sinned severely.  Both Rashi and R. Avraham b. HaRambam assert that even after Moshe's prayers, many people were punished by death. Though only 3,000 were killed by the Levites,¹⁷ many more died at Hashem's hand through the plague.

Graven Image of Hashem

The people viewed the calf as a means through which they could worship Hashem.  They did not transgress the command of "you shall have no other gods besides me" but only the prohibition against making a graven image, even one which represented Hashem Himself.

Sources:Kuzari1:97About R. Yehuda HaLevi, Ibn Ezra,Shemot Long Commentary 20:19Shemot Long Commentary 32:27Shemot Short Commentary 32:19Shemot Long Commentary 32:20About R. Avraham ibn Ezra RadakMelakhim I 12:28About R. David Kimchi, CassutoShemot 32:1Shemot 32:4About Prof. Umberto Cassuto,

Why does Moshe's delay spur the sin?

• R. Yehuda HaLevi asserts that when Moshe ascended the mountain, he was supposed to return with the Tablets and Ark which would serve as a tangible object to which the nation could direct their service to Hashem. Since the nation was used to people who worshiped their gods via idols, they, too, felt a need for some concrete representation of God's presence, and greatly anticipated Moshe's descent.  However, when forty days passed they feared that Moshe would never return,¹⁸ and decided to create their own physical symbol of Hashem instead.
• Cassuto explains similarly but suggests that the nation looked to create a throne for Hashem's providence, similar to the role played by the Keruvim (cherubs) in the Mishkan.¹⁹ 

Why a calf?

• Image of Hashem seen at Sinai – Lekach TovShemot 32:4About R. Toviah b. Eliezer posits that the people chose a calf since that was the image of Hashem that they saw at Sinai²⁰ and was thus the logical form to represent Him. 
• Hashem's choice of "throne" – It is possible that in building a throne for Hashem, Aharon decided to make Keruvim,‎²¹ or an image of a bull, as this is what Hashem Himself had designated as the site of His presence in the Mishkan.  R.  Bazak²²  points to the parallel verses in Yechezkel 1:10 and 10:14 to prove that "שור" and "כרובים" are identical²³ and to the entire vision there which suggests that these were meant to be Hashem's "chariot" and the foot of his throne.
• Convention  of the time – N. Sarna²⁴ points out that throughout the Ancient Near East, deities were often depicted as standing on pedestals of beasts, often a bull. Aharon might have simply copied the standard artistic convention, with the important difference of not adding any image of Hashem Himself atop the pedestal.

Sinning so soon after Matan Torah – According to this approach, Hashem's revelation at Mt. Sinai might itself have contributed to the sin.  The experience left the nation with a desire for continued connection. Having heard Hashem's voice, they had a need for a more tangible expression of His presence.

Aharon's role – This approach is largely motivated by a desire to defend Aharon and present him as acting in the name of Hashem throughout.  He made the calf with the sole intention of using it to serve Hashem. R. Kasher²⁵ portrays him as making an understandable mistake; if Keruvim were allowed in the Mishkan, Aharon thought that they or their equivalent should be allowed outside as well.  R. Kasher²⁶ even suggests that the prohibition "לֹא תַעֲשׂוּן אִתִּי אֱלֹהֵי כֶסֶף" found at the end of Shemot 20 is written out of place and was only given in the aftermath of and as a corrective to Aharon's error.²⁷

"עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים" – These sources understand the word "אֱלֹהִים" to refer to Hashem.  The people were not requesting that Aharon create a new deity, but a vehicle through which they could access Hashem.

"אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם" – The people refer to the calf as the one who took them out of Egypt because the calf was representative of Hashem who did in fact do so.²⁸

"חַג לַי"י מָחָר" – As Aharon and the people never intended to worship anyone but Hashem, Aharon naturally announced that there would be a feast for Hashem tomorrow.

Offering sacrifices – Ibn Ezra explains that the sacrifices were intended not for the calf but Hashem.²⁹

Severity of punishment – If the people were acting for Hashem and not intending any disloyalty to Him, it is not clear why Hashem would desire to annihilate the nation.  As a result, these sources all suggest that despite the positive intentions, people did end up worshiping the calf itself.  It was this minority that led to Hashem's anger.³⁰

"וַיָּמִירוּ אֶת כְּבוֹדָם בְּתַבְנִית שׁוֹר" – This approach would suggest that this verse is referring to those members of the nation who forgot that the calf was supposed to represent Hashem and viewed it as a deity in its own right.

Breaking of the Luchot

• A lesson to the nation – This approach might claim that Moshe realized that before bringing another concrete symbol of Hashem's presence to the people, he needed to make sure they recognized that it was just a symbol, and not itself worthy of worship.  Destroying the tablets was a lesson to the people, dispelling any notion that it was a power on its own.
• Nullifying the covenant – Since the nation transgressed one of the conditions of the covenant, "לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל וְכׇל תְּמוּנָה", they voided the covenant as a whole.³¹

Drinking of the calf's ashes – Ibn Ezra, like Rashi above, asserts that this was similar to the test of the suspected adulteress (Sotah).  Since it would have been impossible for the Levites to distinguish which of the worshipers acted for idolatry and which for Hashem, the water tested and marked the former.

Difference between the Keruvim/Ark and calf – The Kuzari suggests that the only difference between the two is that one was commanded by Hashem, and thus t legitimate, while the other was not, and thus prohibited.  One might add that Hashem did not fear lest the people come to worship the ark/keruvim since they were hidden away from the public eye.  Cassuto (in contrast to R. Bazak above) further asserts that the Keruvim were intentionally made as fantastical rather than realistic creatures to safeguard against the people worshiping them as deities.

Biblical parallels – Cassuto compares this sin to the calves set up by Yerovam,³² which he claims were also originally meant only to represent Hashem's presence. The Efod established by Gidon³³ was similarly intended only to remind the people that Hashem was their true King.  In both cases, however, with time the people mistook the representation of Hashem for an alternative god and began to worship it.³⁴

People's perception of Moshe

Purpose of the mishkan – This approach might suggest that the sin confirmed the need for a Mishkan as a physical symbol of Hashem's presence, but also the necessity for it to be structured in a way that would distance the people from coming to mistake it for Hashem or an alternative god.

Aharon's self defense

Guide in the Wilderness

Bereft of Moshe's leadership and his connection to the Divine, the people looked for an alternative to guide them in the wilderness.

Sources:Ibn EzraShemot Long Commentary 32:1Shemot Long Commentary 32:27Shemot Short Commentary 32:1Shemot Short Commentary 32:4Shemot Short Commentary 32:19Shemot Long Commentary 32:20About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 32:1-8Shemot 32:20Shemot 32:25-26Shemot 33:7Shemot 34:30About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambanShemot 32:1About R. Moshe b. Nachman, RalbagShemot Beur HaParashah 31:18Shemot Beur HaParashah 32:1About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelShemot 32:1-7About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, R. Eliezer AshkenaziMa'asei Hashem Ma'asei Torah 11Ma'asei Hashem Ma'asei Torah 12About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (Ma'asei Hashem), ShadalShemot 32:4Shemot 32:8-9Shemot 32:27About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto,

Why does Moshe's delay spur the sin?

"עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ" – Though all these sources agree that the people were looking for something to guide and literally "go before them" in the wilderness, they differ regarding the nature of the guide requested, and hence of the meaning of the word "אֱלֹהִים":

• Human replacement – R. Yosef Bekhor Shor posits that the nation requested a human alternative to Moshe, and that "אֱלֹהִים" here takes its secular connotation of judge or leader.³⁵  It was Aharon who decided to create an object instead of appointing a person.
• Object of supernatural powers – Ralbag and Abarbanel³⁶ maintain that the Children of Israel requested a talisman which could foretell the future, and the word "אֱלֹהִים" refers to something with supernatural abilities.
• Replacement for the Aron – R. Eliezer Ashkenazi posits Moshe had promised to bring them an Aron whose job would be to guide them until they reached settled lands. but he does not explain what the words means.

Why a calf?

"אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם"

"חַג לַי"י מָחָר"

Offering sacrifices

Breaking of the Luchot

Drinking of the calf's ashes

Aharon's role

Sinning so soon after Matan Torah

Severity of punishment

Biblical parallels

Polemical motivations

Combination

As the nation was not a homogeneous group, it is possible that while some people viewed the calf as an alternative god, others believed that it was simply a tangible representation of Hashem and yet others looked to it to guide them in their travels.

¹ See Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer who claims that they "forgot Hashem".

² R. Yochanan in Bavli Sanhedrin points to the plural form of the statement, "אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם" to prove that the people still believed in Hashem, but had just added another god to their pantheon.  R. Shimon b. Yochai, in contrast, says the plural form does not lessen the sin's severity but rather intensifies it, as it implies that the nation desired multiple gods even beyond the calf.  See Rashi who explains similarly, but picks up on the plural form of the verb "יֵלְכוּ" in the pharse "עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ".

³ Cf. Rashi who asserts that the Satan had brought chaos and darkness to the world, leading the people to conclude that Moshe had died.

⁴ R. Avraham b. HaRambam suggests that Hashem calls the nation an "עַם קְשֵׁה עֹרֶף" because they had turned back towards the idolatry of Egypt.

⁵ According to Rashi, Aharon had no intention of making a calf specifically but the  mixed multitudes which had joined from Egypt (הערב רב) used their magic to make this form.

⁶ Cf. Hoil Moshe who connects the choice to Apis, the bull-deity of Egypt.

⁷ Though this is not mentioned in the narrator's description of the event, when Hashem tells Moshe what the people have done, he includes their bowing.

⁸ One could similarly say that the tablets were representative of the covenant between the nation and Hashem; once the people transgressed its conditions, the covenant was nullified.

⁹ According to Rashi drinking the water actually caused the deaths of those who transgressed, but there were no witnesses to their deeds. The Levites, in contrast, punished those who acted in front of witnesses and with warning, according to judicial law.

¹⁰ See Ramban.

¹¹ See Melakhim II 10:18-28.

¹² Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer even asserts that the tactic should have worked since the women refused to hand over their jewelry and even told their husbands that they were planning on building something with no power to save.  The husbands, however, did not listen and gave of their own jewelry.

¹³ Cf. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer which has the Satan play this role.  The midrash points to the verse in Tehillim 106 which describes the calf as "תַבְנִית שׁוֹר אֹכֵל עֵשֶׂב" to show that they enabled it to eat.

¹⁴ As further support, Rashi also points to Hashem's choice of language when speaking to Moshe about the nation: "כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ".  He explains that Hashem was chastising Moshe for having accepted the Erev Rav into the nation; it was only "Moshe's nation" that sinned, not Hashem's.  R. Avraham b. HaRambam similarly claims that Hashem pointed to the "אספסוף" as being n Moshe's charge.

¹⁵ For more about the people's beliefs while in Egypt, see Religious Identity in Egypt.

¹⁶ See N. Leibowitz, עיונים חדשים בספר שמות (Jerusalem, ):399-400, who develops this idea.  See also R. Bachya regarding the request to leave Egypt or  A Three Day Journey,  who claims that originally Hashem had planed on gradually moving the nation into belief of Hashem, knowing that they were not ready.

¹⁷ According to Rashi, these were the people who had been warned and whose actions had been viewed by two witnesses.

¹⁸ R. Yehuda HaLevi points out that the people might have thought that Moshe was supposed to return within a day or two. Seeing that Moshe had not taken any food with him and that weeks had passed, they naturally concluded the worst.

¹⁹ Just as the Keruvim were where Hashem's presence descended, the calf would serve as a pedestal for His glory.

²⁰ In Shemot 24 it says, "וַיִּרְאוּ אֵת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר" which Lekach Tov assumes refers to the legs of angels which resemble the feet of calves.  Cf. R. Bazak, "The Ideological Basis of the Sin of the Golden Calf," who connects the nation's vision of "מַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר" with Yechezkel's prophecy of the chariot (Yechezkel 1), in which he saw "כְּמַרְאֵה אֶבֶן סַפִּיר".  There Yechezkel describes the four headed creature that he sees as having "the legs of a calf" (וְכַף רַגְלֵיהֶם כְּכַף רֶגֶל עֵגֶל), suggesting that at Sinai, too the people saw a calf.

²¹ See R. Bazak in the article cited above and R. Kasher, Torah Sheleimah, Volume 21 (Jerusalem, 1992): 206-208 who both develop this general idea.  R. Bazak claims that the people wanted to model the calf after their vision of Hashem at Sinai, which was idnetical to the vision of Keruvim mentioned in Yechezkel.

²² See above citation.

²³ Yechezkel 1:10 lists the four faces of the beast of Yechezkel's vision as being man, lion, ox, and eagle.  The parallel verse in 10:14 lists, cherub, lion, man and eagle, suggesting that the ox and cherub must be synonymous.  Cf. Cassuto below who, in contrast, distinguishes between the form of the cherubs and that of the calf, claiming that the former were fantastical creatures.  It was for this very reason that they were allowed in the Mishkan; they could not be mistaken for a real animal which could eventually come to be worshiped in place of Hashem.

²⁴ See Exploring Exodus (New York, 1996): 217-219.

²⁵ See citation in above note.

²⁶ See the NetzivShemot 32:2About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin who precedes him in this defense.

²⁷ Cf. Ibn Ezra  who asserts that this was the command that Aharon and the people transgressed in creating the calf.

²⁸ Cassuto also raises the possibility that despite the original intentions, at some point many of the people mistook the calf for an actual god. It was these people who cried, "אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם".  Their plural language suggests that although they did not forget Hashem, they thought that the calf, too, deserved to be worshiped in its own right.

²⁹ He adds that nonetheless some of the people erred and viewed the calf itself as a deity and began to sacrifice to it. See Cassuto as well.

³⁰ The Kuzari points out that really this number only amounted to 3,000 from amongst the 600,000, those killed by the Levites.  [He apparently understands that the plague mentioned at the end of the chapter refers back to the actions of the Levites, and that there were no other casualties.]  Moreover, Hashem did not abandon the nation; the manna continued to fall and the cloud to protect them.

³¹ See Ibn Ezra and Cassuto.  Ibn Ezra also posits that Moshe might have smashed the tablets in his zealous anger over the sin, or as a sign that the nuptials between Israel and Hashem were broken.  This fits with the position that part of of the nation actively committed idolatry

³² See Melakhim I 12:28-30.

³³ See Shofetim 8:23-27.

³⁴ The bronze serpent created by Moshe also eventually became a stumbling block, with the people sacrificing to it throughout the monarchic period.  See Bemidbar 21:4-9 and Melakhim II 18:4.

³⁵

R"Y Bekhor Shor points to the word's usage in Shemot 7:1or Shemot 22:8.  Cf. Ramban who posits that the people were looking for something to act as an "איש אלהים".  According to him, however, they never asked for a human to fulfill this role.

³⁶ See also RashbamShemot 32:1-4About R. Shemuel b. Meir