Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 32:18
And he said, [It is] not the voice of [them that] shout for mastery, neither [is it] the voice of [them that] cry for being overcome: [but] the noise of [them that] sing do I hear.
18. Lit. It is not the sound of the answering of might, neither is it the sound of the answering of weakness; the sound of answering-in-song do I hear; i.e. not the answering cries of victors and vanquished, but the answering voices of singers, are what Moses hears. The passage (Di.) ‘has a highly peculiar, almost poetical character’ (cf. v. 25); and there is a play on the double sense of the word ‘answer.’ For the sense of answering responsively in song, see on Exo 15:21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. And he said] That is, Moses returned this answer to the observations of Joshua.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The voice of them that shout for mastery, Heb. of a cry of strength, i.e. of strong men, or of the stronger and victorious party, who use to express themselves with triumphant shouts.
The voice of them that cry for being overcome, Heb. of a cry of weakness, i.e. of weak, and wounded, and vanquished men, who use to break forth into doleful cries.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said,…. Not Joshua, as Saadiah Gaon thinks, but Moses, in answer to what Joshua had said:
[it is] not the voice of [them that] shout for mastery; that have got the better of it, and have obtained the victory, and shout on that account; or, “not the voice of a cry of strength”, or “of a strong cry” h; that is, of men who have got the victory, and are in high spirits, and shout with a strong voice; and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan,
“not the voice of strong men that overcome in battle:”
neither [is it] the voice of [them that] cry for being overcome; which is not a voice of shouting, but of howling; or, “not the voice of the cry of weakness”, or “of a weak cry” i; who being unable to stand their ground are conquered, and make a bitter outcry on falling into the enemy’s hands, or being wounded shriek terribly, and so the above Targums,
“not the voice of the weak who are overcome by the enemy in battle:”
[but] the noise of [them that] sing do I hear; as at a merry entertainment, either on a civil or religious account: Moses, who knew what the children of Israel had done, and what they were about, could better judge of the nature of the sound he heard than Joshua could, who knew nothing of what was transacting,
h “vox eorum qui respondeant fortiter”, Tigurine version; “vox clamoris fortis”, Drusius. i “vox eorum qui respondeant infirmiter”, Tigurine version; “vox clamoris debilis”, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(18) Shout . . . cry . . . sing.The Hebrew verb is the same in all three clauses. Translate: It is not the voice of them that cry for victory, nor is it the voice of them that cry for defeat; the voice of them that cry do I hear. Moses sense of hearing conveys to him no positive result. We must remember that the camp was still distant, and that the sound was conveyed circuitously, since the descent from the Ras Sufsafeh is by a side valley, from which the sight of the plain is shut out (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 44).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 32:18. Of them that sing The Hebrew word anoth, signifies singing alternately, or by antiphons, as was the custom both in sacred and prophane worship.
Note; How often does the sinner in fatal security thus sing and dance on the brink of the grave, though all God’s fiery law is armed against him!
Moses, with the sacred charge of the tables of the covenant, now descends. Joshua waited for him, and the noise in the camp soon reaches their ears. Joshua was a man of war, and construes it the sound of war; but Moses knew the cause, and these songs of melody were in his ears jarring discord. Shall the praises of a golden calf, shall the songs of the drunkard, and the wanton strains of pleasure, ring so loud? And shall we be silent to, or ashamed of, the praises of our Immanuel? God forbid!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Exo 32:18 And he said, [It is] not the voice of [them that] shout for mastery, neither [is it] the voice of [them that] cry for being overcome: [but] the noise of [them that] sing do I hear.
Ver. 18. It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery. ] As Joshua, a man of a warlike spirit, was ready to imagine. Non est vox clamoris fortitudinis, vel clamandi fortitudinem: so the original hath it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shout . . . cry . . . singular. The same word in Hebrew.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
being overcome: Heb. weakness
but the: Exo 15:1-18, Dan 5:4, Dan 5:23
Reciprocal: Exo 32:17 – they shouted 1Sa 4:6 – What meaneth Ezr 3:13 – and the noise Eze 21:22 – to lift Eze 23:42 – a voice Dan 3:10 – the cornet Amo 6:13 – which