Exodus 32:2 kjv
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exodus 32:2 nkjv
And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
Exodus 32:2 niv
Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."
Exodus 32:2 esv
So Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
Exodus 32:2 nlt
So Aaron said, "Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me."
Exodus 32 2 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Idolatry & False Worship | ||
| Exod 20:3-4 | "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself any carved image..." | God's explicit prohibition against idolatry. |
| Deut 4:15-16 | "Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, since you saw no form... so that you do not act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves..." | Warning against creating any idol. |
| Isa 44:9-10 | "All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in will not profit; their own witnesses neither see nor know... to their own shame. Who has fashioned a god or cast an image...?" | Critique of futility of idol making. |
| Psa 115:4-7 | "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak..." | Describes the impotence of idols. |
| Rom 1:22-23 | "Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." | Humanity's exchange of God for idols. |
| Covenant Breaking & Rebellion | ||
| Exod 24:7 | "Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.'" | The people's fresh promise of obedience. |
| Deut 9:12 | "Up! Go down quickly from here, for your people, whom you brought from Egypt, have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside..." | God tells Moses of Israel's swift corruption. |
| Josh 24:16-18 | "Then the people answered, 'Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods...'" | Israel's initial commitment vs. later failings. |
| Neh 9:18 | "...even when they had made for themselves a metal calf and said, 'This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies." | Later recollection of the golden calf sin. |
| Psa 106:19-20 | "They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox that eats grass." | Poetic lament over their act of rebellion. |
| Acts 7:40-41 | "Saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us... And they made a calf in those days, and brought an offering to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.'" | Stephen's recount of the idolatry. |
| Giving for Idolatry | ||
| Exod 12:35-36 | "The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them... thus they plundered the Egyptians." | The origin of Israel's gold and silver. |
| Exod 25:1-3 | "The LORD said to Moses, 'Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution... gold, silver, and bronze...'" | Command for freewill offerings for the Tabernacle. |
| 1 Kgs 12:28 | "So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, 'You have gone up enough to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" | Jeroboam's replication of the golden calf sin. |
| Hosea 8:4 | "They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction." | Using precious materials for idols. |
| Consequences & Divine Reaction | ||
| Exod 32:7-8 | "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go down, for your people... have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them...'" | God's immediate judgment of their sin. |
| Deut 29:16-18 | "You know how we lived in the land of Egypt... and saw their detestable things... Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart turns away... to go and serve the gods of those nations..." | Warning against similar apostasy. |
| 1 Cor 10:7 | "Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.'" | Warning against idolatry based on Israel's example. |
| Materialism & False Trust | ||
| Matt 6:24 | "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." | Divided loyalties: God vs. possessions/idols. |
| 1 Tim 6:10 | "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." | The danger of misplaced devotion to wealth. |
| The Danger of Quick Departure from God | ||
| Judg 2:11-13 | "And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals... And they abandoned the LORD..." | Recurring cycle of idolatry. |
| 2 Tim 4:4 | "...and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." | Turning away from truth to fables. |
Exodus 32 verses
Exodus 32 2 Meaning
This verse records Aaron's command to the Israelites, urging them to break off and bring their golden earrings. These earrings, worn by men and women, were collected for the specific purpose of constructing the golden calf, which the people demanded as a god to lead them. It marks a critical step in their immediate defection from the Mosaic covenant and the worship of the True God, even after experiencing divine deliverance and the covenant at Sinai.
Exodus 32 2 Context
Exodus chapter 32 recounts the pivotal event of Israel's rebellion at Mount Sinai, famously known as the Golden Calf incident. Moses had ascended the mountain for forty days and nights to receive the Ten Commandments and instructions for the Tabernacle from the Lord. Below, the people, grown impatient and anxious at Moses' prolonged absence, demanded that Aaron make them a god to go before them. This verse (32:2) is Aaron's response to their demand, initiating the collection of precious gold for the construction of the idol. The historical context includes the recent dramatic deliverance from Egyptian slavery, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the immediate establishment of the covenant at Sinai where they had just solemnly pledged obedience to the Lord. Their turning to idolatry so soon after witnessing divine power and receiving divine law highlights profound spiritual failure and distrust. Culturally, the act of making a golden image resonated with the bull worship common in ancient Near Eastern religions, including Egyptian cults (e.g., the Apis bull), possibly making it an intuitive, yet prohibited, form of worship for the Israelites, who were still shedding Egyptian influences.
Exodus 32 2 Word analysis
- And Aaron said: Aaron, the appointed high priest and Moses' brother, despite his prominent spiritual role, succumbs to the pressure of the people. This demonstrates the immense sway of the demanding crowd and a momentary lapse in his leadership and faith. His failure is significant as it sets a poor example for future spiritual leaders.
- to them: Refers to the "people" (Exod 32:1), specifically the Israelites, the very people whom God had delivered from Egypt and established as His chosen nation, bound by a fresh covenant. This highlights the collective nature of their apostasy.
- 'Break off: (Hebrew: pā·rqū - פָּרְקוּ). This imperative verb suggests a forceful, decisive, and perhaps even urgent removal, not a mere request or donation. It implies they were to divest themselves immediately and completely of these items. It also contrasts sharply with the "freewill offering" (Exod 25:2) requested by God for the Tabernacle.
- the golden earrings: (Hebrew: niz·mê haz·zā·hāḇ - נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב). "Earrings" (nizmei) were ornaments often made of precious metals, worn by both men and women in ancient cultures (cf. Gen 35:4, Judg 8:24-26). "Golden" (hazzahav) emphasizes the value and allure of the material. This was the gold they had plundered from the Egyptians (Exod 12:35-36), thus initially from a source associated with paganism, now repurposed for another pagan object. Their willingness to part with personal adornments underscores the intensity of their desire for a visible god.
- that are in the ears: Specifies the exact location of the ornaments. Ears are metaphorically associated with hearing and obedience in Scripture (e.g., Deut 32:46, Isa 6:10). The removal from the ears, the organ for hearing God's commandments, might symbolically reflect their deaf ear to divine instructions and their eager hearing of pagan demands.
- of your wives, your sons, and your daughters: This detailed listing indicates that the demand for gold extended to every household member, including women and children, implying a community-wide contribution and participation in the idolatrous act. It suggests the pervasive nature of the impending sin within the Israelite community, affecting all ages and genders. This collective pooling of resources for a false god mirrors, in perversion, the unified efforts for God's true sanctuary.
- and bring them to me: Aaron's direct command for the collection signifies his active participation in facilitating the idolatry. He is centralizing the material, effectively taking responsibility for the ensuing idolatrous creation. This phrase demonstrates his misguided authority, channeling the people's resources away from true worship toward pagan imitation.
Exodus 32 2 Bonus section
The type of earring, a nezem (נֶזֶם), can refer to either a nose ring or an ear-ring. In contexts like Gen 24:47 where Rebekah is given a nezem by Abraham's servant, it is often translated as a nose-ring, while in others like Prov 25:12 it is an ear-ring. In Exodus 32:2, "in the ears" specifies it as an earring. Some scholars suggest that the prominence of earrings for pagan religious purposes in ancient Egypt (e.g., cultic prostitution, adornments for deities like Hathor) might have made these specific items particularly susceptible to being used in syncretic worship, reinforcing the need to relinquish them as Jacob did with foreign gods and earrings in Gen 35:4. The demand to break off them further underscores their immediate and compulsory sacrifice to a false god, reflecting an impetuous spiritual impulse rather than thoughtful devotion.
Exodus 32 2 Commentary
Exodus 32:2 serves as a chilling testament to the swiftness of human defection and the corruptibility of even respected spiritual leaders when faced with popular demand. Aaron, momentarily losing his divine perspective, accedes to the people's craving for a tangible deity, instructing them to strip themselves of their valuable gold adornments. This command reveals the Israelites' ready willingness to surrender their precious possessions not as a freewill offering to the living God for His sanctuary (as later commanded), but as a compulsory contribution to fashion a pagan idol. This act is not a genuine expression of devotion, but rather a response to impatience and a deep-seated spiritual insecurity, clinging to the familiar practices of their past (Egypt's bull worship) rather than embracing the unseen, transcendent God of Israel. It lays bare the immediate breakdown of the covenant principles, particularly the first and second commandments received directly from God's own voice just weeks prior. The collected gold, a symbol of their newly acquired freedom and wealth from Egypt, immediately becomes the material for their bondage to sin and spiritual adultery. The incident highlights the ever-present danger of misplaced faith and the allure of visible, man-made gods over the invisible, living God who truly delivers and sustains.