Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 32:19
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.
19. the dancing ] For dancing at a religious ceremony, see on Exo 15:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. He saw the calf, and the dancing] Dancing before the idol takes place in almost every Hindoo idolatrous feast.-Ward.
He cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them] He might have done this through distress and anguish of spirit, on beholding their abominable idolatry and dissolute conduct; or he probably did it emblematically, intimating thereby that, as by this act of his the tables were broken in pieces, on which the law of God was written; so they, by their present conduct, had made a breach in the covenant, and broken the laws of their Maker. But we must not excuse this act; it was rash and irreverent; God’s writing should not have been treated in this way.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Not through rash anger, but by Divine instinct, partly to punish their idolatry with so great a loss, and partly to show that the covenant made between God and them, so much to their advantage, which was contained in those tables, was by their sin broken, and now of none effect, and not to be renewed but by bitter repentance.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. Moses’ anger waxed hot, and hecast the tables out of his handsThe arrival of the leader,like the appearance of a specter, arrested the revellers in the midstof their carnival, and his act of righteous indignation when hedashed on the ground the tables of the law, in token that as they hadso soon departed from their covenant relation, so God could withdrawthe peculiar privileges that He had promised themthat act,together with the rigorous measures that followed, forms one of themost striking scenes recorded in sacred history.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, as soon, as he came nigh unto the camp,…. To the bottom of the mountain, and pretty near where the people were encamped:
that he saw the calf, and the dancing; the golden image of the calf, and the people dancing about it, in honour of it, and as glad they had got a symbol and representation of God to go before them; and so the Egyptians did before the golden ox; as Philo says, before observed:
and Moses’s anger waxed hot: he fell into a passion of indignation at the sight of such execrable idolatry, though he was so meek a man, and though he had himself expostulated with the Lord why his wrath should wax hot against this people; but, when he saw it with his own eyes he could not contain himself, but his spirit was raised to a very great pitch of anger, and could not forbear showing it in some way or another, and particularly in the following manner:
and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount; of Sinai; at the foot of it: he brought the tables, though he knew what they had done, and no doubt showed them to them, told them what they were, and enlarged on the wonderful condescension and goodness of God in giving them such laws, and writing them with his own hand, engraving them himself on such tables of stone; and then broke them to pieces, to denote that they had broken these laws, and deserved to be broke in pieces and destroyed themselves; and this he did before their eyes, that they might be the more affected with it, and be the more sensible of their loss; and this was not the mere effect of passion, at least a sinful one, but was under the influence and direction of God himself; since we never read he was blamed for this action, though afterwards ordered to make two tables like them: the Jews say k, this was done on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, which answers to part of June and part of July, and is observed by them as a fast on account of it.
k Misn. Taanith, c. 4. sect. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But when he came nearer to the camp, and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned, and he threw down the tables of the covenant and broke them at the foot of the mountain, as a sign that Israel had broken the covenant.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 19-24:
The full extent of Israel’s sin became evident to Moses as he came in full view of the gold calf and the licentious revelry surrounding it.
“The dancing,” mecholah; the definite article is not in the Hebrew text. The term in its various forms occurs 13 times in the Old Testament.
Dances were an important part of religious ritual in most all ancient nations. At times they were solemn and grave, like that of David before the Ark, 2Sa 6:5-22. At times they were festive and joyous, as Jer 31:4. But most often, especially among Orientals, they were licentious. Among the Egyptians, dancers were usually a degraded class of professionals, and the dances were depraved and immoral. Among the Syrians, Babylonians, and other Orientals, dancing took the form of wild orgies, and often produced extreme frenzy. This reminds one of the frenetic gyrations of modern “rock” groups and their devotees of modern times. Such exhibitions are invariably accompanied by drug and alcohol abuse, and unrestrained immorality.
The text implies that Israel’s dancing about the statue of Apis was of the latter kind: wild, licentious, degrading to Jehovah and those who wore His Name.
Moses was infuriated. He threw the two tablets of stone violently to the ground, and they shattered. God did not reprove him for this. It appears to be the natural result of a righteous wrath, provoked by Israel’s extreme wickedness. This illustrates that there is an appropriate occasion for anger, see Eph 4:16. God’s child is to feel anger toward those things which anger God.
Verse 20 implies something about the construction of the gold calf: that it was made of a framework of wood, overlaid with gold Moses “burnt” the calf; gold does not burn, but wood does. Then Moses ground the gold to powder, mixed it with water from the brook flowing from Sinai, and commanded Israel to drink it. This shows that each one must bear the fruit of his sin, just as the Law provided for the woman charged with adultery to drink of the ashes of the writing of her curse, see Nu 5:24.
Moses demanded an accounting of Aaron. He was left in charge; how could he have been so dilatory in his duty as to allow such a thing to be done! Aaron’s dereliction placed Israel in grave jeopardy, see Jas 3:1; Lu 12:48.
Aaron sought to excuse his guilt, by shifting the blame to the people. They demanded an idol; he merely gave them what they asked.
Aaron further sought to evade personal responsibility by implying a supernatural manifestation: he gathered the gold from the people, cast it into the fire, and much to his surprise, out came the gold calf! No mold, no engraving tool, no design; just a miraculous idol!
This illustrates the foolish extent people will go to in order to excuse their personal responsibility for their actions.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp He who had before humbly pleaded for the safety of the people, now, when he sees the calf, bursts forth into rage, and the hideousness of the crime awakens him to different feelings. Now, since anger is here mentioned with praise, the stoics must abandon their paradox, that all the passions (motus animi) are vicious. I allow, indeed, that whilst men are led by nature, they are never angry without vice; because they always exceed due bounds, and often also do not aim at a proper object. But it must be observed that this occurs from the corruption of nature; and, consequently, anger is not in itself or absolutely to be condemned. For the principle which the Stoics assume, that all the passions are perturbations and like diseases, is false, and has its origin in ignorance; for either to grieve, or to fear, or to rejoice, or to hope, is by no means repugnant to reason, nor does it interfere with tranquillity and moderation of mind; it is only excess or intemperance which corrupts what would else be pure. And surely grief, anger, desire, hope, fear, are affections of our unfallen (341) (integrce) nature, implanted in us by God, and such as we may not find fault with, without insulting God Himself. Moreover, the anger which is here ascribed to Moses is, in Deu 9:0, attributed to the person of God Himself. Whence we infer, that, since it emanated from the impulse of the Spirit, it was a virtue worthy of praise.
In breaking the tables, however, he seems to have forgotten himself; for what sort of vengeance was this, to deface the work of God? Howsoever detestable the crime of the people was, still the holy covenant of God ought to have been spared. Therefore certain Rabbins, (342) to excuse him, invent one of their customary fables, that, when the tables were brought into the polluted place, the writing became effaced. Others think that he was carried away by his wrath, and did not sufficiently consider what he was about, as he would have done had his mind been composed. I have no doubt, however, but that he broke the tables in reference to his office, as if to annul the covenant of God for a time; for we know that God commits both charges to the ministers of His word, to be the proclaimers of His vengeance, as well as the witnesses of His grace. Thus, whatever they bind on earth is bound also in heaven, and they retain sins unto condemnation, and are armed with vengeance against the unbelieving and rebellious. (Mat 16:19; Joh 20:23; 2Co 13:10. (343)) Therefore God rejected the people by the hand of Moses, renouncing the covenant which He had recently established in a solemn ceremony; and this severity was more useful as an example than as if He had sent Moses back empty-handed; for else it would never have suggested itself to the Israelites of how incomparable a treasure they had been deprived. It was then necessary that the tables should be produced, as if God so presented Himself to their sight and shewed His paternal countenance; but when, on the other hand, the monstrous abomination of the calf was encountered, it behoved that these same tables should be broken, as if God turned His back upon them and retired. Meanwhile, it must be borne in mind, that the covenant of God was not altogether annulled, but only as it were interrupted, until the people had heartily repented. Still this temporary rupture, if I may so call it, did not prevent the covenant itself from remaining inviolable. In the same manner also afterwards God put away His people, as if He had utterly renounced. them, yet His grace and truth never failed; so that He at least had some hidden roots from whence the Church sprang up anew; as it is said in Psa 102:18, “The people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.”
(341) “Mises en nous en l’integrite, qui estoit en notre pere Adam;” implanted in us in the integrity which was in our father Adam. — Fr.
(342) C. found in S. M.’s notes the Rabbinical fancies about the vanishing of the letters, etc. — W.
(343) The reference here in the original, and in the French translation, (which always copies such errors, and, alas! they are multitudinous,) is to 2Co 11:15. I have substituted one, which appears to me more probable, and which the reader may compare with its parallel passages; but I am not so certain of my correction here, as I generally am.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) And the dancing.Heb., and dances. What Moses saw was the calf which had already been mentioned, and dances which had not been mentioned, but which were now going on after the usual fashion of idolatrous festivity. Such dancing among Oriental nations was uniformly of a lascivious character. (Comp. Exo. 32:25.)
He cast the tables out of his hands.Comp. Deu. 9:17. In righteous indignation, but perhaps with some revival of the hot temper which had led him astray in his younger days (Exo. 2:12).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Moses’ anger waxed hot He who had pleaded so powerfully in the mount (Exo 32:11-13) now feels the kindlings of a wrath akin to that which moved Jehovah to retributive judgment . Fiery indignation against sin is a passion as pure and worthy of God or man as love for truth and righteousness, for, indeed, the former is begotten of the latter .
Cast the tables and brake them Significant sign that Israel had broken the law written thereon.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 32:19. He cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them Moved with just indignation at this notorious breach of that covenant which the people had so lately made with God, Moses broke these sacred tables which contained the chief articles of the covenant, as a symbolical representation of what the people had done: see Deu 9:16-17.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 105
MOSES INDIGNATION AGAINST THE WORSHIPPERS OF THE GOLDEN CALF
Exo 32:19-20. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing. And Moses anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
IT is painful to reflect how transient is the effect of the most laborious ministry, and in how many instances hopeful appearances of piety come to nought. If ever man was faithful, it was Moses; of whom God himself says, He was faithful in all his house. And if ever there was reason to expect that the work of conversion had taken place upon many hundreds of thousands of people, it was when Israel were singing praises to their God on occasion of their deliverance at the Red Sea. It might well be supposed, that their gratitude to God on that occasion, deepened by the awe impressed upon their minds at the thunders of Mount Sinai, would never be forgotten. But, behold! Moses, summoned as he was by God into the holy mount, in order that he might receive from Jehovah a written copy of that Law which had been just proclaimed, had not been absent from the people forty days, before they all concurred in desiring Aaron to make for them a god whom they might worship, and who should go before them in their way to the promised land: and even Aaron himself became an active confederate in this horrible apostasy. As for Moses, they seem to have lost all respect for him, as well as all becoming reverence for Jehovah, whose minister he was. Of this, God apprised Moses; and at last sent him down in haste to the people, that he might see with his own eyes what impiety they were committing. Moses, therefore, hastened down from the mount: and, filled with indignation against them for their wickedness, he testified his displeasure in the way recorded in our text.
Let us consider,
1.
The grounds of his indignation
The worshipping of the golden calf was a sin of most extraordinary enormity
[Such interpositions in their behalf had that people seen, as never had been witnessed by any other people under heaven. And they were still within sight of that burning mount where Jehovah himself, their great Deliverer, yet vouchsafed to them his visible presence. They had but just before, too, received an express command to make no symbol of the Deity [Note: Exo 20:4.], nor to keep in existence any of the gods of the heathen, but to destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire; and not so much as to desire the silver or gold that was on them, or to take it unto them, lest they should be snared therein; but they were utterly to detest and abhor it, as an accursed thing [Note: Deu 7:5; Deu 7:25-26.]. Yet, behold! within less than forty days, they desire Aaron to make them a golden image, similar, probably, to what they had seen in Egypt [Note: Eze 20:8.] ; and they take the ear-rings from their sons and from their daughters for the purpose of forming it; and, having formed it, they offer sacrifices to it, and ascribe to it the honour of all their past deliverances, saying, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt [Note: ver, 18.].
This was plain and unequivocal idolatry. Perhaps they might be ready to deny this charge, just as the Papists have since done; and to say, that they only looked to the calf as a symbol, to remind them of the Deity, to whom alone they had respect in all the worship that they paid. They might say, that they could not be supposed to ascribe their deliverance to that, which but a few days before was in their own ears, and had no collective existence till it was cast into a mould and made a calf. But God declares it to have been idolatry, as all the worship paid to images and crucifixes by the Church of Rome also is; as the Apostle, in reference to this very transaction, says; Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them: as it is written, The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play [Note: Compare with 1Co 10:7.]. Here, then, was ample occasion for the hot displeasure of Moses.]
And is there no similar evil prevalent amongst us?
[As Protestants, we have discarded the idolatrous practices of the Church of Rome. But we may set up idols in our hearts [Note: Eze 14:3.], as well as in our houses: we may have the love of money there; and that is expressly designated by the opprobrious name of idolatry: Covetousness, says the Apostle, is idolatry [Note: Col 3:5.]. We may be addicted to sensual appetites: and then we make, as we are told, a god of our belly [Note: Php 3:19.]. The loving and serving of the creature more than the Creator [Note: Rom 1:23.], in whatever way we do it, is the very essence of idolatry; and provokes the Lord to jealousy [Note: 1Co 10:22.], as much without an external symbol, as with one. God says, My son, give me thy heart: and if that be withheld from him, he is justly filled with indignation against us.
Let me, then, bring home this matter more closely to your hearts and consciences. The Israelites professed to celebrate their redemption from Egypt: and having presented their sacrifices of burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, they sat down to eat and to drink (of the portion of the peace-offerings which was allowed to them, and rose up to play. And, when Moses came down from the mount, he heard, whilst yet at some distance, their carnal revelry: which they judged a becoming mode of honouring their great Deliverer. Now at this season [Note: Sermon for Christmas.] we profess to commemorate the Redemption, not of a single nation, but of the whole world: and not by power only, but by price, even the precious blood of Gods only dear Son: we commemorate, I say, the Incarnation of the Son of God, for the deliverance of our souls from sin and Satan, death and hell. And in what way do we commemorate it? Is not this season even proverbially devoted to carnal mirth? We present our offerings, if I may so say, on the day appointed; and throughout the whole season, with the exception of two or three hours, we sit down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play. Such is our religion, precisely like that of those impious idolaters. To the honour of the Levites, it must be acknowledged that they did form an exception to this national transgression. Would to God the like could be said of our Levites! or even of our Aarons! But, with us, Levites and Aarons too are found, for the most part, sanctioning, by their presence and example, these sad enormities; as if Christ had come for no better purpose than to give us a more ample occasion for carnal indulgence.
Judge ye, then, whether God may not well be filled with indignation against us, as he was against his less enlightened and less indebted people of that day?]
Having seen the grounds of Moses indignation, let us proceed to mark,
II.
His expressions of it
1.
He broke before their eyes the tables of the Law, which God had committed to him
[Was this done in a paroxysm of rage? No: [Note: The manner in which Moses, forty years afterwards, relates it, sufficiently proves this. See Deu 9:16-17.] it was a significant action, declaring, in effect, to the whole people, that they had made void all their solemn engagements with the Deity [Note: Deu 5:27.] ; and that therefore the covenant he had made with them, of which. these tables were a testimony [Note: 5.], was utterly annulled.
And are not all the provisions of the Gospel, too, made void by wilful and deliberate sin? They are: and all hope in the Gospel, whilst our hearts are alienated from God, and fixed on earthly vanities, is nothing but delusion. Our Lord has faithfully warned us, that it is in vain for us to cry, Lord! Lord! if we do not the things which he says: and that however we may debate the matter with him in the last day, saying, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? he will reply, I never knew you: depart from me, ye who work iniquity [Note: Mat 7:21-23.]. Whoever then ye be, who, instead of delighting yourselves in God, are addicted to carnal mirth, I break the tables of the covenant before your faces this day; and declare, that whoso doeth not righteousness, is not of God; but that, on the contrary, whosoever committeth sin, is of the devil [Note: l Joh 3:6; Joh 3:8-9.]. It is needful that we declare this faithfully: for, whilst dancing about your golden calf, you conclude that all is well, and little think in what light your conduct is viewed by a holy and jealous God. And to learn it, first, when your Lord shall descend from His holy mount to judge the world, will be too late: for, as the Levites passed through the camp, and avenged the cause of God on the offenders without favouring even their nearest relatives, so will the angels at that day inexorably and irresistibly execute on all the violators of Gods covenant the judgments denounced against them [Note: Compare Isa 37:36 with Mat 13:41-42.]. Let all, then, bear in mind, that God is a jealous God; and that he will neither give, nor suffer us to give, his glory to another.]
2.
He ground the calf to powder, and constrained the people to swallow it with their drink
[We need not look for any recondite mystery in this, because the obvious effect of the act itself was sufficiently instructive. No greater indignity could be offered to this worthless idol, than that which he devised; nor any more humiliating punishment be inflicted upon the people, than to compel them to swallow their god, and to cast him out into the draught with their common food.
And shall not we, also, be made ashamed of the gods that we have chosen? Yes: if we will choose vanity, we must have vanity for our recompence. Do I say, We must? Let me rather change the word, and say, We hare: for I may ask of all the votaries of earthly gain or pleasure, What fruit have ye ever had of those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? What have ye done, but filled your belly with the east wind? I must warn you, then, that ye shall all eat of the fruit of your own ways, and be filled with your own devices. The day is quickly coming, when you shall be as much ashamed of those things which you now regard with idolatrous affection, as ever the Israelites were of their golden calf: yea, and when you yourselves also shall wake to shame and everlasting contempt [Note: Dan 12:2.].]
From this subject we may fitly learn,
1.
The danger of sanctioning the evils around us
[Aaron should have rejected with abhorrence the measure proposed to him: but he acquiesced, and even made himself a ringleader in this vile apostasy. With such a sanction as his, it is not to be wondered at if the people went forward with unsuspecting alacrity, and sacrificed with readiness their most valuable ornaments for the furtherance of their plans. But who does not see how aggravated his guilt was, in comparison of theirs? He, from his nearer intercourse with God, had far greater information than they; and, from the high office which he sustained, he was bound to use his influence for the suppression of evil, and the enforcing of Gods commands. The same I must say of all who are possessed of influence amongst ourselves. Whether it be magisterial or ministerial influence that we possess, or only that which is connected with our respective situations in life, we are bound to exert it for God; and, if we neglect to do so, the blood of those who perish through our neglect may well be required at our hands.
I know that we have excuses without number to offer in our behalf; just as Aaron had when reproved for his conduct on this occasion. But, behold, what a pitiful figure he made, when attempting to justify himself before his reprover! Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. (This was a reason why he should have withstood them, and not a reason for concurring with them.) Again, The people said to me, Make us gods who shall go before us. Then I said to them, Whosoever hath any gold, let him break it off. So they gave it me: and I cast it into the fire; and there came out this calf [Note: 124.]:came out accidentally, I suppose, and without any mould prepared for the formation of it! What a tissue of folly and of falsehood! See to what a state this man was reduced, even he who was so eloquent, that he was appointed to be a mouth to Moses. But thus it will be with sinners in the last day, with Aarons as well as others; (for official dignity is of no account in the sight of God;) or rather, their mouths will be shut through their utter incapacity to offer the smallest vindication of their folly [Note: Mat 22:12.]. Remember this, Brethren; and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them [Note: Eph 5:11.].]
2.
In what way we should be affected with them
[See what a contrast there was between the conduct of Moses and of Aaron on this occasion! Whilst Aaron was uniting with the people in their transgression, Moses was filled with indignation against the sin, and with pity for the sinners. His indignation we have seen: and no sooner had he expressed it in the way that became him, than he returned to God, to implore mercy in their behalf. Forty days and forty nights had he already fasted: and he went up to the mount and fasted forty more days and forty nights, wrestling with God in fervent intercession, if that by any means he might prevail to obtain pardon for their sin [Note: Deu 9:18-19.]. Here was a man of God indeed! This, then, is the way in which we should act in reference to the sins around us. We should weep over them before God: yea, rivers of tears should run down our eyes, because men keep not Gods law. Such men as he are blessings to the world: for, as God hearkened unto him at that time also [Note: Deu 9:18-19.], so will he do to us, if we stand in the gap before him, to avert his wrath from an ungodly world [Note: Psa 106:23.]. Little did that people think to whom the preservation of their lives was owing: and little do an ungrateful world know to whom they are indebted for the forbearance that is yet daily exercised towards them [Note: Mat 24:22.]. But let it be sufficient for us, that God knows and approves our labours of love; and that, whether we prevail for others or not, our prayers shall surely return into our own bosom, to the everlasting benefit of our own souls.] with Eze 22:30.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
This zeal of Moses is not reproved, see Deu 9:17 . Reader! remember his zeal, Joh 2:13-17 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
Ver. 19. And Moses’s anger waxed hot.] Meekness in this case had been no better than mopishness. How blessedly blown up was Moses here! So, Cranmer the martyr, though in his own cause so meek and mild, that it was grown to a proverb, “Do my Lord of Canterbury a shrewd turn, and you shall be sure to have him your friend for ever after,” yet in the truth’s cause, opposed by any man, no general in battle ever showed greater courage and constancy than he, saith our Churchantiquary. a
He saw the calf, and the dancing.
a Antiq. Eccl. Brit., p. 341
b Joh. Maulii, loc. com., 187.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dancing. Compare Exo 32:6. As in the worship of Apis.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he saw: Exo 32:4-6, Deu 9:16, Deu 9:17
the dancing: Exo 15:20, 2Sa 6:14, Lam 5:15
anger: Exo 32:11, Num 12:3, Mat 5:22, Mar 3:5, Mar 10:14, Eph 4:26
brake them: Deu 9:17, Deu 27:26, Jer 31:32, Zec 11:10, Zec 11:11, Zec 11:14
Reciprocal: Gen 30:2 – anger Exo 32:10 – my wrath Exo 34:1 – Hew Lev 10:16 – angry Num 16:15 – very wroth Num 31:14 – wroth Jdg 9:27 – the house 1Sa 11:6 – his anger 2Ch 5:10 – save Est 1:12 – burned Job 32:5 – his wrath Eze 23:42 – a voice Dan 3:10 – the cornet Amo 6:13 – which Act 17:16 – his spirit 1Co 10:7 – The people 2Co 3:7 – written
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 32:19. He saw the calf and the dancing, and his anger waxed hot It is no breach of the law of meekness to show our displeasure at wickedness. Those are angry and sin not, that are angry at sin only. Moses showed himself angry, both by breaking the tables, and burning the calf, that he might, by these expressions of a strong passion, awaken the people to a sense of the greatness of their sin. He broke the tables before their eyes, (as it is Deu 9:17,) that the sight of it might fill them with confusion when they saw what blessings they had lost. The greatest sign of Gods displeasure against any people is his taking his law from them.