Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 32:22

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they [are set] on mischief.

22. Aaron first excuses himself by casting the blame upon the people: they are set on evil, and he merely ( v. 33) responded to their request.

my lord ] as Num 11:28; Num 12:11.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 22. Thou knowest the people] He excuses himself by the wicked and seditious spirit of the people, intimating that he was obliged to accede to their desires.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Heb. are in evil, i.e. are altogether wicked, addicted to, or bent upon wickedness, so that it was impossible for me to stop or divert their course.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

22. And Aaron said, Let not theanger of my lord wax hotAaron cuts a poor figure, making ashuffling excuse and betraying more dread of the anger of Moses thanof the Lord (compare De 9:20).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Aaron said, let not the anger of my lord wax hot,…. He addresses him in a very respectful manner, though his younger brother, being in a superior office, the chief ruler of the people, king in Jeshurun; and he perceived a violent emotion rising in him, great indignation in his countenance, and an high resentment of what was done, and therefore he entreats his patience to hear him, in a few words, what he had to say, and he begins with the well known character of the people:

thou knowest the people, that they [are] set on mischief; or are “in wickedness” q; wholly in it, and under the power and influence of it, given up to it, and bent upon it; and there was no restraining them from it; and he appeals to the knowledge of Moses himself for the truth of this, of which their several murmurings against him, since they came out of Egypt, were a proof; see 1Jo 5:19.

q “in malo”, Montanus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

22. And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot Aaron extenuates his crime as much as He can. The sum, however is, that the people, whom Moses himself knew to be depraved and perverse, had tumultuously assailed him, and compelled him against his will. Now, although the commencement of his address has an appearance of modesty, still the excuse is frivolous. Rightly, indeed, does Aaron, though the elder, submit himself with reverence to his brother; since he acknowledges him as God’s minister, and trembles at his reproof; but it would have been better ingenuously to confess his guilt, than to escape the ignominy of condemnation by subterfuge; for it was the business of the chief to guide the whole body, and to quiet the tumult by authority and firmness; and, if their extravagance had even advanced to madness, rather to die ten times over than to yield such base and servile compliance. But from the close it appears that, whilst in our anxiety for our reputation, we take pains to conceal or excuse our faults, our hypocrisy will at length appear ridiculous. It is obvious that when Aaron says he cast the gold into the fire, and the calf came out, he endeavors, at any rate, to cover the fault, which he cannot altogether efface, by this poor and flimsy tale; but by this childish trifling he only betrays his impudence, so that such stupid confidence does but complete his condemnation. This is the just reward of our ambition, when we take refuge in disguises, and set our hypocrisy against God’s judgment.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(22-24) Aarons conduct was really without excuse; but he attempts two pleasthe first insufficient, the second false and fatuous. (1) The people compelled him; they were set on mischief; they made the proposalthey would have it so. (2) He threw the gold into the furnace, and it came out a calf, as if he had not ordered the construction of the mould. In Deuteronomy, Moses informs us that Aarons whole conduct so angered God that God would have destroyed him but for his own intercession (Deu. 9:20).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Exo 32:22-24. That they are set on mischief In the original, this is only, that they in mischief. Houbigant renders it, thou knowest, effrenatam mentem, the unbridled disposition of this people: but this does not seem to come up to the force of the original, which expresses the total depravation and wickedness of this people. See 1Jn 5:19. Houbigant observes justly, that this was a very poor excuse in Aaron; who, the more prone the people were to wickedness, ought therefore the more strongly to have resisted them. Indeed, the manner in which he speaks of the calf, Exo 32:24 shews great disingenuousness: I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf; as if not design, but chance had produced the idol; when it is evident from Exo 32:4 that he was the principal person concerned in the fashioning of it: ready enough to confess the people’s, he was desirous to extenuate his own guilt. Compare this with Adam’s excuse, Gen 3:12.

Note; 1. Aaron was first in office, and therefore first in guilt. The sins which magistrates suffer with their consent, or through their connivance, God will heavily reckon for, when he judgeth. 2. Aaron’s mean evasion. When we sin, how often and naturally does the devil help us to excuse ourselves at the expence of others. Like Aaron, we seek to cover our sins, and thus shew our folly as well as our wickedness. From God they cannot be concealed. Aaron seems to have been more solicitous to avert Moses’s anger than God’s displeasure. He begs him not to be wroth, as if it were of importance what man thought of him. But how often does the fear of man thus frighten us more than all the wrath of an offended God! See the deep unbelief of the heart when hardened by sin!

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Observe how all sinners endeavor to put off their sins on others; see Gen 3:12-13 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Exo 32:22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they [are set] on mischief.

Ver. 22. That they are set on mischief. ] The whole world is so. 1Jn 2:16 ; 1Jn 5:19 Quomodo Plautus, “In fermento toto iacet uxor.”

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)