The Context of Moses’s
Intercession (32.1-6)
Moses’s intercessory prayers are
occasioned by the making and worshipping of the golden calf. Although the
people never seem to associate Yahweh with the golden calf (as Aaron did in
32.5), they seem to ascribe a separate entity to their object of worship. This understanding
is reinforced when Yahweh’ judges them for worshipping the calf and sacrificing
to it (32.8). Moses’s confession that Israel had made for themselves אלהי זהב, ‘gods
of gold’ (32.31) further indicates a separate entity other than Yahweh. By
making the golden calf and worshipping it, the Israelites abandon Yahweh as
their leader to embrace idolatry.
The Israelites claim the golden
calf as their אלהים who brought them out from Egypt (32.4). Echoing the words of
20.2, they credit the exodus from Egypt to the calf, exchanging Yahweh’s glory
for the calf (Ps. 106.20). If the acknowledgement of Yahweh as Israel’s
deliverer is foundational to the ensuing decalogue, the implied denial of
Yahweh as their deliverer effectively amounts to a rejection of his law as
well. Aaron’s declaration of a feast to Yahweh adds to the gravity of their sin
(32.5). The only other place in Exodus where burnt offerings and peace
offerings are offered is the covenant ratification ceremony of Exodus 24. At
the ratification of the covenant, the people beheld God and ate and drank (24.11).
Israel’s worship of the golden calf perverts the usual celebration, as they sat
down to eat and drink and rose to play (לצחק). Nowhere in cultic worship
does Yahweh sanction playing. The nuance of their play is ambiguous, precisely
because of its unorthodox relationship to burnt offerings and peace offerings. (Chanreiso Lungleng, Jonah’s Motive in
the Light of Exodus 32-34 [Hebrew Bible Monographs 117; Sheffield:
Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2025], 51)
