Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 32:3
And all the people broke off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron.
Verse 3. And all the people brake off the golden ear-rings] The human being is naturally fond of dress, though this has been improperly attributed to the female sex alone, and those are most fond of it who have the shallowest capacities; but on this occasion the bent of the people to idolatry was greater than even their love of dress, so that they readily stripped themselves of their ornaments in order to get a molten god. They made some compensation for this afterwards; see Ex 35:22, and See Clarke on Ex 38:9.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whereby they show both their madness upon their idols, and their base ingratitude to their God, who had transferred these jewels from the Egyptians to them, Exo 12:35,36, which therefore God upbraids them with, Eze 16:11, &c.
In their ears, i.e. the mens ears, for the affix is of the masculine gender; whereby it seems the men were more set upon idolatry than the women, parting with their earrings for it, which the women would not do.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. all the people brake off thegolden earringsThe Egyptian rings, as seen on the monuments,were round massy plates of metal; and as they were rings of this sortthe Israelites wore, their size and number must, in the generalcollection, have produced a large store of the precious metal.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And all the people brake off the golden earrings, which were in their ears,…. The men took off their earrings, and persuaded their wives and children, or obliged them to part with theirs; though the Targum of Jonathan says the women refused to give their ornaments to their husbands, therefore all the people immediately broke off all the golden ornaments which were in their ears x, so intent were they upon idolatry. This is to be understood not of every individual, but of the greatest part of the people; so apostle explains it of some of them, 1Co 10:7. Idolaters spare no cost nor pains to support their worship, and will strip themselves, their wives, and children, of their ornaments, to deck their idols; which may shame the worshippers of the true God, who are oftentimes too backward to contribute towards the maintenance of his worship and service:
and brought [them] unto Aaron: presently, the selfsame day; they soon forgot the commands enjoined them to have no other gods, save one, and to make no graven image to bow down to it, and their own words,
Ex 24:7.
x So Pirke Eliezer, c. 45.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) All the people brake off the golden earrings.Aaron had miscalculated the strength of the peoples fanaticism. Not the slightest resistance was offered to his requirement, not the slightest objection made. All the people, with one accord, surrendered their earrings. Some measure is hereby afforded of the intensity of the feeling which was moving the people and urging them to substitute an idolatrous worship for the abstract and purely spiritual religion which had reigned supreme since their departure from Egypt.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. All the people brake off Kurtz observes that Aaron had “counted upon the vanity of the women and youth, and their love for golden ornaments, and he hoped that in this way he would excite such opposition in the community itself as would suffice to save him from having to offer a resistance which appeared to be dangerous . But he had entirely miscalculated . He knew but the surface of the human heart; the depths of its natural disposition were beyond his reach . All the people cheerfully broke off the golden ornaments from their ears, for they were about to accomplish an act of pure self-will; and in that case there is no sacrifice which the human heart is not ready to make . ”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
What an awful account! Psa 106:20-21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron.
Ver. 3. Brake off the golden ear-rings. ] Which they had got of the Egyptians. Exo 12:35 To make use of heathen authors for ostentation, is to make a calf of the treasure gotten out of Egypt.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 17:3, Jdg 17:4, Isa 40:19, Isa 40:20, Isa 46:6, Jer 10:9
Reciprocal: Gen 24:22 – took Exo 33:6 – General Exo 35:22 – bracelets Exo 36:5 – General Jdg 8:24 – give me
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 32:3. The people brake off their ear-rings Whereby they showed both their madness upon their idols, and their base ingratitude to God, who had transferred these jewels from the Egyptians to them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
32:3 And all the people brake off the {c} golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron.
(c) Such is the rage of idolaters, that they spare no cost to satisfy their wicked desires.