Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 7:41
And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
41. and rejoiced ] It was not the voice of them that shout for the mastery, nor of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing which Moses (Exo 32:18) heard when he came down from the mount.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they made a calf – This was made of the ear-rings and ornaments which they had brought from Egypt, Exo 32:2-4. Stephen introduces this to remind them how prone the nation had been to reject God, and to walk in the ways of sin.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
They made a calf; in imitation of the Egyptians, who worshipped their god Apis in that, or the like form of an ox.
The idol; the calf which they had made, which they could not be so sottish as to terminate their worship in, knowing that they themselves had made it, and it had not made them; yet they are for this charged to have committed idolatry, 1Co 10:6,7.
Rejoiced; which joy they express by feasting, singing, and dancing, Exo 32:6.
The works of their own hands; so this idol, and idols generally, are called, Psa 115:4; 135:15 which is enough to speak their emptiness and vanity; vain man can make but vain gods.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they made a calf in those days,…. Whilst Moses was in the mount; this was done in imitation of the Egyptian idol Apis or Serapis, which was an ox or a bullock; and it was made of the golden earnings of the people, which were melted down, and cast into the form of a calf, and graved by Aaron with a graving tool, Ex 32:2 And so the Syriac version here reads in the singular number, “and he made them a calf”; this was a most shameful and scandalous piece of idolatry. The Jews themselves are so sensible of the horribleness of it, and of the guilt of it, and of the reproach that lies on them for it, that it is common for them to say c,
“there is not a generation, or an age, in which there is not an ounce of the sin of the calf.”
Or, as elsewhere d expressed,
“no punishment befalls thee, O Israel, in “which there is not an ounce of the sin of the calf”.”
And offered sacrifice unto the idol; an altar was built, and proclamation made, that the next day would be the feast of the Lord; and accordingly early in the morning the people rose, and offered both burnt offerings and peace offerings, Ex 32:5 and rejoiceth in the works of their own hands; for so the calf was; and which rejoicing they showed by eating, and drinking, and singing, and dancing.
c T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 68. 3. d Vid. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 102. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They made a calf (). First aorist active indicative of , here only in the N.T. and unknown elsewhere. The LXX (Ex 32:3) has from which phrase the word is evidently made. Aaron made the calf, but so did the people (Ex 32:35).
The idol ( ). Stephen calls it by the right name. The people said it was their way of worshipping Jehovah! So the Egyptians worshipped the bull Apis at Memphis as the symbol of Osiris (the sun). They had another sacred bull Mnevis at Leontopolis. (from , form or figure) is the image or likeness of anything. The heathen worship the god through the image or idol.
Rejoiced (). Imperfect, middle, kept on rejoicing (Exod 32:6; Exod 32:18) or making merry.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
They made a calf [] . Only here in New Testament, and not in Septuagint. Bengel says, “A very notorious crime is denoted by an extraordinary and newly – coined word.” This was in imitation of the Egyptian bull – worship. Several of these animals were worshipped at different places in Egypt. Apis was worshipped at Memphis. Herodotus says : “Now this Apis, or Epaphus, is the calf of a cow which is never afterward able to bear young. The Egyptians say that fire comes down from heaven upon the cow, which thereupon conceives Apis. The calf which is so called has the following marks : He is black, with a square spot of white upon his forehead, and on his back the figure of an eagle. The hairs in his tail are double, and there is a beetle upon his tongue” (3, 28). He was regarded by the Egyptians, not merely as an emblem, but as a God. He was lodged in a magnificent court, ornamented with figures twelve cubits high, which he never quitted except on fixed days, when he was led in procession through the streets. His festival lasted seven days, and all came forward from their houses to welcome him as he passed. He was not allowed to reach the natural term of his life. If a natural death did not remove him earlier, he was drowned when he reached the age of twenty – five, and was then embalmed and entombed in one of the sepulchral chambers of the Serapeum, a temple devoted expressly to the burial of these animals.
Another sacred bull was maintained at Heliopolis, in the great Temple of the Sun, under the name of Mnevis, and was honored with a reverence next to Apis. Wilkinson thinks that it was from this, and not from Apis, that the Israelites borrowed their notions of the golden calf. “The offerings, dancing, and rejoicings practiced on the occasion, were doubtless in imitation of a ceremony they had witnessed in honor of Mnevis during their sojourn in Egypt” (” Ancient Egyptians, ” 2 ser., vol 2 p. 197). A third sacred bull, called Bacis, was maintained at Hermonthis, near Thebes. It was a huge, black animal, and its hairs were said to grow the wrong way. Other bulls and cows did not hold the rank of gods, but were only sacred. Offered [] . Lit., led up. See on Jas 2:21.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they made a calf in those days,” (kai emoschopoiesan en tais hemerais ekeinais) “And they made a likeness, model, or look-alike of a calf in those days,” Exo 32:4; Psa 104:19-21; 1Ki 12:28-30. The calf was made of gold, perhaps molten over wood or clay, in imitation of Apis at Memphis, Egypt or Mnevis at Hechiopolis, Psa 106:19.
2) “And offered sacrifice unto the idol,” (kai anegagon thusin to eidolo) “And they brought up a sacrifice to the idol,” to the model, likeness, or look-alike of the calf that they had fashioned of their own handmaking, Exo 32:5-7; Exo 22:20. They professed to be worshipping God under or before this symbol, but he was neither then nor is he now with such worship, Exo 32:5.
3) “And rejoiced in the works of their own hands,” (kai euphrinonto en tois ergois ton cheiron auton) “And they made merry (worked up an excited merriment) in the works of their hands,” Their object of merriment, like the get excited” objects of merriment of fleshly religious objectives in this and every age, was the worship or adoration of that which had been fashioned of their own hands, Exo 32:8; Exo 34:11-16; Psa 115:1-8; 1Co 10:6-7. They simply had a festive celebration, bowing before, complementing themselves on their own achievement of making themselves a god, a false god, but a god, nevertheless, Exo 20:1; Exo 20:3; 1Co 8:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
41. And they made a calf. We may easily gather by that which goeth before, why they were more delighted in that figure than in any other. For although Egypt did swarm with innumerable idols, yet it is well known that they made the greatest account of an ox. And whence is it that they are so desirous to have an idol, save only because they were turned back into Egypt, as Stephen hath already said? We must note the speech when he saith that they offered sacrifice to the idol. Aaron commandeth the people to assemble themselves together to worship God; they come all together. Therefore they testify that they mean nothing less [any thing rather] than to defraud God of his worship, howsoever they translate the same unto the calf; yea, rather, they are determined to worship God in the image of the calf. But because they forsook the true God, by making an idol, whatsoever followeth afterward it is judged to be given to the idol, because God refuseth all wicked worshipping. For it is not meet to account that as bestowed upon him which he hath not commanded; and because he forbids them expressly to erect any visible image unto him, that is mere sacrilege whatsoever is done afterward in honor thereof.
They rejoiced over the works. This speech is taken out of Isaiah, yet, out of the prophets, who, in like sort, upbraid unto the Jews that they were delighted in their own inventions. And surely it is wonderful madness, when men arrogate unto themselves anything in God’s matters. I take this rejoicing to be that solemn dancing whereof Moses speaketh, in the thirty-second chapter of Exodus. Yet Stephen toucheth a common vice, wherewith idolaters are infected. For although it be altogether unlawful for men to attempt anything in religion which God hath not appointed, yet do they invent everything unadvisedly, and setting light by the Word of God, they make choice of the works of their own hands; but Stephen showeth that while they take such pleasure in this liberty, they displease God so much the more. But if we will have God to allow our worship, we must abstain from the works of our hands, that is, from our own inventions; for all that which men invent of themselves is nothing else but sacrilegious profanation. The idol is properly so called reproachfully, as it were a thing nothing worth, because no reason doth suffer man to make God. (450)
(450) “ Deum… fabricari,” to fabricate a god.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(41) They made a calf.The fact is stated in a compound word which is not found in the LXX. version, and which St. Stephen apparently coined for the purpose.
Rejoiced in the works of their own hands.The verb expresses specially the joy of a feast, as in Luk. 15:23-24; Luk. 15:29; Luk. 16:19; and is therefore specially appropriate for what is related in Exo. 32:5-6. The tense were rejoicing expresses the frequency or continuance of the sin.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
41-43. Stephen describes the complication of idolatries which the Israelites practised in rebellion against Moses and against God. They adopted the bullock-worship used by their old task-masters the Egyptians, who worshipped the bull Apis at Memphis, Upper Egypt, and the bull Muevis at Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. They adopted from the Phenicians or old Canaanites the star-worship of Moloch and of Remphan, the Egyptian name for Saturn. It was for these abominations that they suffered captivity in Babylon.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
41. Made a calf Stephen here, in order doubtless to express contempt for the base idolatry, probably coined a word found nowhere else in the Greek language, which may be literally rendered, they bullock-made.
Rejoiced in Revelled in. Alluding to the licentious rites of heathen worship.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.’
The people had quite blatantly made a calf and sacrificed to their idol, and rejoiced in what their own hands had made. There is a parallel between this last statement and the statement concerning the Temple as ‘made with hands’ (Act 7:48). They were always making things by which to worship God which were insufficient for the purpose, and that was true even of their Temple, because it was ‘made with hands’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 7:41 . ] they made a bull , Exo 32:4 : . The word does not elsewhere occur, except in the Fathers, and may have belonged to the colloquial language. The idol itself was an imitation of the very ancient and widely-spread bull-worship in Egypt, which had impressed itself in different forms, e.g. in the worship of Apis at Memphis, and of Mnevis at Heliopolis. Hence is not a calf , but (comp. Heb 9:12-13 ; Heb 9:19 ; Herod. iii. 28) equivalent to , a young bull already full-grown, but not yet put into the yoke.
Examples of (namely, to the altar, 1Ki 3:15 ) may be seen in Elsner, p. 393, and from Philo in Loesner, p. 189.
] they rejoiced in the works of their hands . By the interpretation: “they held sacrificial feasts ” (Kuinoel), the well-known history (Exo 32:6 ), to which the meaning of the words points, is confounded with that meaning itself.
] plural of the category , which presented itself in the golden calf. On . ( Sir 14:5 ; Sir 39:31 ; Sir 51:29 ; Xen. Hier. i. 16), to denote that on which the joy is causally based, compare , Luk 10:20 ; see on Phi 1:18 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Ver. 41. And offered sacrifice to the idol ] That is, to the devil, Psa 106:37 , who is , as Synesius calls him. Howbeit the idolaters pretended herein to worship Jehovah, Exo 32:4-5 . Their idol, if it would not make a god, would make an excellent devil; as the mayor of Doncaster told the wise men of Cockram concerning their ill-shaped crucifix.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
41. ] apparently in imitation of Apis, a bull worshipped at Memphis as the living symbol of Osiris. Herod. iii. 28. Diod. Sic. i. 21. Strabo, xvii. 805 (Winer, Realw. ‘Kalb’). The ox was a common symbolic form of idols in the East; it was one of the cherubic forms, Eze 1:10 ; and the most recent discoveries at Nineveh have brought to light colossal bulls. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson (second series, ii. 97, Winer) thinks the golden calves of Israel to have been imitations of Mnevis, a bull kept at Heliopolis (Diod. Sic. i. 21. Strabo, xvii. 803) as a living symbol of the sun. Jeroboam afterwards set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and with the same proclamation: see 1Ki 12:28 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 7:41 . : not in LXX or in classical Greek; in Exo 32:2 , . , cf. 1Ki 3:15 (and 2Sa 6:17 , A.), for similar use of the word, “quia victima in aram tollitur,” Grimm. , cf. Exo 32:6 ; Exo 32:18 ; the word is very frequent in LXX, and several times with , cf., e.g. , 2Ch 6:41 , Sir 14:5 , Mal 3:7Mal 3:7 ; , Luk 10:20 ; used only by St. Luke amongst the Evangelists, six times in his Gospel, twice in Acts (but Act 2:26 is a quotation). Bengel points out that God rejoices in the works of His own hands, and men in the work of God’s hands, but not as here half irony in the words.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
made a calf Greek. moschopoieo, a compound word, meaning “were calf-making” Only here.
idol. Greek. eidolon. The first of eleven occurances. Only word so rendered.
rejoiced = were rejoicing. Greek. euphraino. Same word as in Act 2:26.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
41. ] apparently in imitation of Apis, a bull worshipped at Memphis as the living symbol of Osiris. Herod. iii. 28. Diod. Sic. i. 21. Strabo, xvii. 805 (Winer, Realw. Kalb). The ox was a common symbolic form of idols in the East; it was one of the cherubic forms, Eze 1:10; and the most recent discoveries at Nineveh have brought to light colossal bulls. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson (second series, ii. 97, Winer) thinks the golden calves of Israel to have been imitations of Mnevis, a bull kept at Heliopolis (Diod. Sic. i. 21. Strabo, xvii. 803) as a living symbol of the sun. Jeroboam afterwards set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and with the same proclamation: see 1Ki 12:28.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 7:41. , they made a calf) A very notorious act of wickedness is signified by an extraordinary and newly-coined word. They imitated the Egyptians, whose God Apis was an OX.- ) A rare phrase. But so also in 1Ki 3:15, .- , unto the idol) They were idolaters, although they made the name of God their pretext.[48]-, they rejoiced) with great pageant.- , in the works of their own hands) It becomes GOD to rejoice in the works of His own hands: and it becomes us to rejoice in the works of His hands. Men are idolaters who rejoice in the works of their own hands.
[48] The calves were probably an imitation of the Cherubim, a recognised symbol of the true God. Hence Aaron says, These be thy Gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, Exo 32:4. The plural form, Gods, refers to the plural form of the name of God, Elohim.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
they: Exo 32:2-8, Exo 32:17-20, Deu 9:12-18, Neh 9:18, Psa 106:19-21
rejoiced: Isa 2:8, Isa 2:9, Isa 44:9-20, Hos 9:1, Hos 9:10, Hab 2:18-20
Reciprocal: Exo 32:4 – fashioned Exo 32:6 – sat down Exo 32:35 – General Deu 9:16 – I looked Jer 1:16 – worshipped Hos 8:5 – calf Rev 9:20 – worship
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Act 7:41. In response to the cry of the people, Aaron made the calf out of the gold they had brought from Egypt.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 7:41. And they made a calf in those days. The famous golden calf, made originally under the direction of the high priest Aaron, while his brother was in the mount of God, and which was subsequently destroyed by Moses, seems to have been a representation not of a calf, but of a full-grown bull, and was doubtless intended to represent a well-known Egyptian object of worship, either the Bull Apis adored at Memphis, or the Bull Mnevis worshipped at Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. The Israelites, perhaps from past associations, seem to have been peculiarly attached to this symbol of idolatry; for we find Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, after the separation of the monarchies, setting up, in opposition to the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, rival sanctuaries at Bethel and at Dan, dedicated each to a golden calf (1Ki 12:28). The strange attachment of the people to these idols is borne witness to by such passages as 2Ki 9:29, when kings like Jehu, famous for their enmity to idolatry, allowed these golden calves and their sanctuaries to remain in the land.
The explanation of this attachment of the children of Israel to this calf or bull worship is, that they persuaded themselves that it was the visible image or emblem of Jehovah the God of Israel. They had seen it worshipped in old days in Memphis or in On, and there it was the visible symbol of the Sun or of Osiris, and perhaps they loved to identify these with the Eternal One who had chosen Israel to be His people. There was much to attract the heart of man in the picturesque ritual with which these Egyptian deities were worshipped, and the wild licence which was permitted and even encouraged at some of their festivals presented a singular contrast to the simple worship of Jehovah, and the stern purity and severity of His moral law. The worship of these golden calves of Aaron, and later, of King Jeroboam, seems an attempt to continue the worship of the God of Israel, the God of their fathers, and then to enjoy still the benefits of their almighty Protector, without at the same time giving up the unlawful pleasures sanctioned and even encouraged by a less austere religion.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
41-43. Stephen next shows that the same people who so often rejected the servants of God, likewise rejected God himself. (41) “They made a calf in those days, and brought sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. (42) And God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven, even as it is written in the book of the prophets, O house of Israel, have you offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness? (43) You have even taken up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made, to worship them; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.” With this brief glance at the subsequent fate of the people who had so often rejected their deliverers, covering a period of many centuries, and terminating with their captivity in Babylon, Stephen concludes his summary of facts; but, previous to the final application, which he saw would raise a storm in the Assembly, he has a few words in reference to the temple.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 41
Rejoiced; that is, with festivities of religious worship, mentioned, in Exodus 32:6.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
7:41 And they made a {n} calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
(n) This was the superstition of the Egyptian’s idolatry: for they worshipped Apis, a strange and marvellous looking calf, and made beautiful images of cows.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Israelites turned from Moses to idolatry, and in this their high priest, Aaron, helped them. Consequently God gave them over to what they wanted (cf. Rom 1:24). He also purposed to send them into captivity as punishment (Amo 5:25-27).
By implication, turning from the revelation that Jesus had given amounted to idolatry. Stephen implied that by rejecting Moses’ coming prophet, Jesus, his hearers could expect a similar fate despite the sacrifices they brought to God.
"Stephen’s quotation of Amo 5:27, ’I will carry you away beyond Babylon,’ differs from the OT. Both the Hebrew text and the LXX say ’Damascus.’ The prophet Amos was foretelling the exile of the northern kingdom under the Assyrians which would take them beyond Damascus. More than a century later, the southern kingdom was captured because of her similar disobedience to God and was deported to Babylon. Stephen has merely substituted this phrase in order to use this Scripture to cover the judgment of God on the entire nation." [Note: Kent, pp. 70-71.]
Israel had turned from Jesus to idolatry, and her high priest had helped her do so. One of Stephen’s concerns in this speech then was false worship. The Israelites rejoiced in their idolatry in the wilderness and more recently since Jesus was out of the way. God had turned from them for their apostasy in the past, and He was doing the same in the present. They did not really offer their sacrifices to God, and He did not accept them since they had rejected His anointed Ruler and Judge. The Israelites were heading for another wilderness experience. They adopted a house of worship and an object of worship that were not God’s choice but their creations. God would remove them far from their land in punishment (i.e., in A.D. 70).
Stephen had answered his accusers’ charge that he had spoken against Moses (Act 6:11; Act 6:13) by showing that he believed what Moses had predicted about the coming prophet. It was really his hearers, like Jesus’ hearers earlier, who rejected Moses since they refused to allow the possibility of prophetic revelation that superseded the Mosaic Law.
"Joseph’s brethren, rejecting the beloved of their father, Moses’ people, turning with scorn and cursing on the one who only sought to give them freedom-these were prototypes which the audience would not fail to refer to themselves." [Note: Blaiklock, p. 76.]